''VIP my Brother Superman'' ( it, VIP, mio fratello superuomo), often known in English as ''The SuperVips'', is a 1968 Italian

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

directed by

Bruno Bozzetto Bruno Bozzetto (born 3 March 1938) is an Italian cartoon animator and film director, creator of many short pieces, mainly of a political or satirical nature. He created his first animated short "Tapum! the weapons' story" in 1958 at the age of ...

. It is a parody of superheroes and enjoyed a good commercial and critical success. In 2008 it was produced a spin-off TV-series in

3D animation Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...

, ''PsicoVip''.

Plot

Recounting the adventures of the last in a line of Supermen, the film pokes fun at the processes that lie behind advertising, politics and our consumer society. Bruno Bozzetto's animated satire about two descendants of superpowered beings, known as the Vips. One of these modern day superheroes—SuperVip, to be exact—is easily recognizable as such, possessing an Adonis-like physique, a dynamic personality and an array of heightened abilities. The other—MiniVip—is not quite so prepossessing. His growth is stunted, he wears horn-rimmed glasses, his paunch is wider than his chest, and his powers are a bit more limited than his brother's, being able only to fly through two little wings while emitting a small glow at night that makes him similar to a firefly. But both Vips are needed when a Happy Betty, lady tycoon with a taste for ruling the world, rears her ugly head. The question is, can MiniVip defeat his worst enemy—his intimidated ego—to help save the day?

Cast

Oreste Lionello Oreste Lionello (18 April 1927 – 19 February 2009) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Lionello was born in Rhodes (which was then a possession of Italy), to Calabrian parents, and grew up in Reggio Calabria. He began his career a ...

as Mini VIP *

Fiorella Betti Fiorella Betti (1927–2001) was an Italian actress.Roberto Chiti, Roberto Poppi. ''I film: Tutti i film italiani dal 1930 al 1944''. Gremese Editore, 2005. p.56. She was also a voice actress, dubbing a number of actresses in postwar Italian film ...

as Lisa * Micaela Esdra as Nervustrella *

Corrado Gaipa Corrado Gaipa (13 March 1925 – 21 September 1989) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Gaipa was a well known actor of Italian cinema as well as dubbing voices. However, he was widely known for his role as Don Tommasino in ''The Godfather''. ...

as the Colonel *

Pino Locchi Giuseppe "Pino" Locchi (10 November 1925 – 21 November 1994) was an Italian actor and voice actor. After starting his screen career as a child actor in the 1930s, Locchi later became a very prominent voice actor dubbing foreign films for relea ...

as Schultz *

Lydia Simoneschi Lydia Simoneschi (4 April 1908 – 5 September 1981) was an Italian actress and voice actress. During her career, she gave her voice to actresses mainly during the Golden Ages. Biography Born in Rome and the daughter of silent film actor and dire ...

as Happy Betty

Production

''VIP, My Brother Superman'' was the second feature length animation made by director

after his

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

spoof ''

West and Soda ''West and soda'' (also known as ''The West Way Out'') is a 1965 traditionally animated Italian feature film directed by Bruno Bozzetto. It is a parody of the traditional American Western. In an interview, Bozzetto claimed to have invented th ...

''. Bozzetto felt that an American he refers to as Lady Robinson was "a real pain in the ass!" as she would come to Milan and felt "entitled to talk about the film, and came up with mind-blowing bullshit!" The character known as Happy Betty has slave employees in the film who are Asian, which led to American finances of the film to make objections. Bozzetto stated that Lady Robinson felt the film could not be sold to Japan with the Asian slave characters and asked to make them green.

Release

''My Brother Superman'' was released in Italy in 1968. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and some other English-speaking countries, it is titled ''The SuperVips''. An airing on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in the U.K. in 1990 also used this title. The film was released on DVD in the United States by DigiView Entertainment as ''Vip, My Brother Superman''. The film was also released on October 7, 2014 on All Regions DVD. This is a restored version of this film and the picture quality is improved compared to the DigiView release. The audio is in Italian 5.1 and Italian dual mono. This DVD has extra content, including a 45 minute interview with Bruno Bozzetto, storyboards and original promotional material.

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

Official website
* {{Bruno Bozzetto 1968 films 1968 animated films 1960s parody films Italian animated science fiction films Italian animated films Italian superhero films 1960s Italian-language films Films directed by Bruno Bozzetto Superhero comedy films Animated superhero films 1960s superhero films 1968 comedy films 1960s Italian films