"Piero Tonin: Illustration, Animation, Cartoons": An homage to Osvaldo Cavandoli and La Linea

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"CAVANDOLI!", from an idea by Hurrican Ivan in collaboration with Piero Tonin and Emanuele Fossati, is an affectionate tribute to the beloved humorist Osvaldo Cavandoli, also known as Cava, father of the world-famous cartoon character La Linea (The Line).

The story is a shocking, horrific journey in the Afterlife. The Comics Committee is in crisis: cartoons are not funny anymore! What happened? What terrible spell lingers over their ink souls? And above all, who will save them from their grim fate?
Puck the Dwarf, Dirty Bastard and The Cow are sent to the Comics Paradise to seek advice from cartoon legend Osvaldo Cavandoli.
Will the trio be able to come back from the Other Side and revive their miserable careers with the help of a jar of jam*?
"CAVANDOLI!" is a unique comic-strip story drawn by 30 of the best Italian cartoonists, all of which, in one way or the other, are connected to the Maestro.
From the legendary cartoonists of Carosello** (Bruno Bozzetto, Gino Gavioli, Nedo Zanotti, Carlo "Perogatt" Peroni), to Cavandoli's closest collaborators (Lucio Tomaz, storyboard artist, and Mauro Gariglio, animator), to his friends and colleagues, all teamed up for the first time to pay homage to one of the pioneers of Italian animation.
The great Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moraes also makes a special appearance. Cavandoli was a big fan of de Moraes' work and wrote many poems himself: some verses from "Allo specchio" ("At the mirror") are cited in the Comics Paradise sequence.
"CAVANDOLI!" also pokes fun at Italian media, that have regrettably neglected Cava and his work over the years.
But we don't need their approval, right Osvaldo?

Piero Tonin
(Many thanks to Stefano Baratti for helping me write this in English)

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*Cavandoli loved to cook in his spare time. In a little kitchen by his studio, he would prepare fruit jams and other delicatessen for his friends and visitors. The jars were labeled "Premiata Conserveria del Cava" ("Cava's Award-Winning Fruit Preserve"). You can see them in Comics Paradise sequence.

**Carosello (The Carousel) was a television advertising program aired by RAI (the Italian national broadcasting company) from 1957 until 1977, with an approximate 10-minute running time.
Carosello was a unique and unprecedented phenomenon, created to circumvent the strict Italian laws that made it virtually impossible to insert commercials during television programs.
The show was divided in two segments: a longer comedy sketch bearing no direct reference with the advertised product, followed by a very short commercial message. Basically, the objective of the program was to provide sponsored entertainment as opposed to a hard sell.
Carosello was aired at 8.50 p.m, seven days a week, and every commercial lasted 135 seconds. No commercial could be broadcast more than once, so, over the span of 20 years, more then 7,000 unique caroselli were produced (all shot in dazzling black and white, 35mm film).
The shows were often shot either as animations or played by major Italian celebrities of the time including Totò, Mina, Vittorio Gassman, Virna Lisi, Ugo Tognazzi, Alberto Sordi, Raffaella Carrà, Nino Manfredi, Sandra Milo.
They also often featured foreign stars such as Frank Sinatra, Brigitte Bardot, Jerry Lewis, Pelè, Jayne Mansfield, Orson Welles, Fernandel, Yul Brynner, the Kessler twins.
Many caroselli were directed by celebrated film directors, often uncredited, such as Ermanno Olmi, the Taviani brothers, Richard Lester, Sergio Leone, Gene Deitch, Pier Paolo, Pasolini, Federico Fellini, Luciano Emmer (by many considered the father of Carosello).
For two decades, Carosello provided a unique showcase for Italy's talented actors, film directors, scriptwriters, musicians and artists.
As a matter of fact, La Linea was created by Osvaldo Cavandoli to advertise Lagostina stainless steel pots.