''Mr Rossi'' (Italian: Signor Rossi) is a

cartoon character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, i ...

created by Italian animator

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 ...

. He was first seen in several short films, about ten minutes each. The show had a life span of 15 years with 6 episodes, 3 movies and 11 skits. In

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Rossi is the most common surname, suggesting to the Italian spectator that Mr. Rossi stands for the average Italian man and that he could be anyone. He also appears in a couple of feature length animations, including one where he is seen unhappy in life and single until he befriends his neighbour's talking dog Harold (Gastone in original Italian) and a Witch who grants him wishes where they have many exciting adventures. In

the show was known as "Il Signor Rossi cerca la felicità" whilst in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

-speaking countries it was known as ''The Fantastic Adventures of Mr. Rossi'' (where it was broken down into a TV series for children's TV) or ''Mr. Rossi Looks for Happiness''. In the United States Mr. Rossi has become known not only as a children's film but also as a cult "druggie" film for its psychedelic coloring, jokes and mushroom references. The recent adoption of the Mr. Rossi series to the "druggie" culture is not unlike what has happened to other classic children's films.

Episodes

The Mr. Rossi short films were as follows (Original Italian titles in parenthesis): #An Award for Mr Rossi (1960) ''(Un Oscar per il Signor Rossi)'' #Mr Rossi goes Skiing (1963) ''(Il Signor Rossi va a sciare)'' #Mr Rossi on the Beach (1964) ''(Il Signore Rossi al mare)'' #Mr Rossi Buys a Car (1966) ''(Il Signor Rossi compra l'automobile)'' #Mr Rossi at Camping (1970) ''(Il Signor Rossi al camping)'' #Mr Rossi at the Safari (1971) ''(Il Signor Rossi al safari fotografico)'' #Mr Rossi in Venice (1974) ''(Il Signor Rossi a Venezia)'' These short films contained no spoken dialogue and any captions to accompany the film usually appeared in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

. The feature length Mr Rossi Films include: - # Mr. Rossi Looks for Happiness (1976) ''(Il Signor Rossi cerca la felicità)'' # Mr. Rossi's Dreams (1977) ''(I Sogni del signor Rossi)'' # Mr. Rossi's Vacation (1978) ''(Le Vacanze del signor Rossi)'' In 1975, there was a short mini series called "Mr Rossi's Sporting Feats". It contained 11 episodes and each one was two minutes long approximately. Each episode focused on Mr Rossi attempting to partake in one sport, with very unusual results. These episodes featured the following: - #Rowing #Fencing #Skiing #Gymnastics #Cycling #Athletics #Basketball / Volleyball #Tennis #Swimming #Running #Football In

's 1976 feature-length film '' Allegro Non Troppo'', Mr Rossi briefly appears in an animation embedded in a live-action sequence.

References

External links

Bruno Bozzeto
Italian animated short films Italian children's animated fantasy television series Films directed by Bruno Bozzetto Rossi 1960 Italian television series debuts 1978 Italian television series endings Comics characters introduced in 1960 Rossi Rossi {{italy-tv-prog-stub