Arrivano i Moschettieri dell’Animazione Italiana

The Italian Museum of Comic Strips in Lucca pays tribute to the great Italian artists of Cartoon Cinema with the exhibition “Arrivano i Moschettieri dell’Animazione Italiana”.
The exhibition, the biggest ever dedicated to Italian cartoon cinema, forms part of the national programme of events celebrating 150 years of National Unity.
There are four different shows, exhibiting more than 3000 original pieces, including drawings, preparatory sketches, celluloids, backdrop illustrations and photograms from cartoons, illustrations and comic strips.
All sections are accompanied by a wide selection of cartoon films, consisting of no less than 300 hours of audiovisual material shown in 22 specially created spaces.

Opening exhibition
The first section of the opening exhibition is dedicated to the birth of the pioneering Italian cartoon studios, that from the 1950’s to 70’s specialised in cinematographic interlude advertising and then in television, with the programme Carosello (1957-1977).
The second section offers a broad retrospective of the important figures in Italian animation (Calimero, Draghetto Grisù, Coccobill, El Merendero, Toto e Tata, Angelino, Vigile Concilia, Tacabanda, Cimabue, Capitan Trinchetto, Svanitella, La Linea, Cavallino Michele, Gli amici di Gioele, Carmencita, Pippopotamo, Gli abitanti del pianeta Papalla, Riccardone e Riccardella, Ciuffo e Cioffo, La Smorfia, Vitaccia Cavallina, Pallina, Mammut, Babut e Figliut, etc…)

Studio Pagot
The second exhibition shows the most complete collection to date of material on the first Italian animation studio, Studio Pagot, set up by the brothers Toni and Nino Pagot, and now run by their children Marco and Gi.
Hundreds of original drawings, made available by the studio Pagot, reccount the activities of the studio that created the first full-length Italian cartoon film: ”I Fratelli Dinamite”. The Studio Pagot has produced cartoons for Hanna & Barbera and Warner Bros. (among many others Yogi Bear, Sylvester the Cat,  Speedy Gonzales, The Flintstones, Huckleberry Hound, The Jetsons) and has collaborated with large Japanese cartoon studios (Studio Miyazaki, Tezuka, Dezaki, Himazawa, and NHK for Japanese television).

Studio Paul Film
The third exhibition offers a rich retrospective of work by the Studio Paul Film in Modena of Paul Campani, one of Italy’s leading talents, and creator of famous characters such as the Omino coi Baffi for Bialetti, or Miguel “son sempre mi”.

Studio Gamma Film
The fourth exhibition is dedicated work by the Studio Gamma Film of Gino and Roberto Gavioli, that in the 1970’s was the biggest cartoon cinema studio in Europe, with a staff of around 300.