Il signor Rossi cerca la felicità

I used to watch a lot of television when I was a boy. And one cartoon that has always stayed dear to my heart was "Die Avonture van Mnr Rossi." Of course, that was a translated from Italian, with the three movies divided into a series of aproximately 20 minutes each. That would have made the series about 12 episodes. I'm not even sure if the series was translated from an earlier foreign series or just divided up by the local broadcaster.

But still these cartoons that have reached animation cult classic status in continental Europe are far better, in a certain sense, than any of the cartoons that the US comes up with.

Signor Rossi is about the adventures of a big nosed man and his dog and their sureal situations that they find themselves in. It is much better than Animaniacs, although there is less anarchy and more character building. Not that developes a lot, really, but it shows that it has at least depth.

"Signor Rossi cerca la felicità" specifically, although the second movie, it is really, chronologically, the first.

Rossi is a small man who has formed a routine. He eats his breakfast (overlooking his heartless boss' mansion who just happens to be his neighbour), gets attacked by Gastone (Harold in the English versions) the Boss' dog, works at a fish-packing plant, then goes home and eat a fish. The routine is driving him nuts and he calls out for help!

Suddenly a Fairy godmother appears on a wooden horse and hands him a magic whistle that let's him travel through time and space! Soon Rossi and Gastone go the Middle Ages, ancient Egypt and the bizarre fairy land. And all this with truly SUREAL song numbers. The Cannibal's Song (Boo-Boo-Bo-Hanna-Boo) is the most memmorable of them all, next to "Tut-Ankhkamen Cha-cha-cha" and in "Mr Rossi's Dream" the "Cat Blues Tune". These songs have no real words, not even in Italian, but they are great! Moulin Rouge, beware!

Mr Rossi, unlike Tintin the Reporter (one of my favourites), Superman, Batman, Asterix, et cetera is that it Mr Rossi is an everyman. He could be you, me, anyone! His dreams of breaking free from routine and finding happiness is really what we all desire!

Does the movie has a message? Sure! But that would be giving away the ending! The other two movies don't really have messages or character building, but they are great!

Three cheers for Bonzotto!

I wouldn't mind having this on DVD!

I've been familiar with the soundtrack of this movie since its re-release on cd in 1999 (crippled dick hot wax). The tunes are amazing and colorful. I've tried but never was able to get a hold of the animation, until recent. I was a bit affraid to watch, kind of like when a movie is made of a favorite book. I didn't want these soundtrack tunes to be colored in by something disappointing.

But how could it. I was surprised in many ways. Psychedelic illustrations, humain characters, a silly witch, underlying social/political criticism. It was more than rewarding to watch. And, apparently, the 1999 cd holds more songs than used in this movie alone. On to finding the others!

The pathetic, little image of proletarian Mr. Rossi packing fish in a factory and being constantly humiliated by his boss has lingered in my mind and my life since I first saw the series on Spanish television as a child. So many years later, I've managed to get a tape with the "Mr.Rossi looks for Happiness" movie (what was aired on TV was the movie fragmented into episodes). Now that I write for television and that I am a University professor teaching European Television, I understand, even more,how marvelous and humane Mr. Rossi was. My students are American, and whenever they tell me how "countercultural" The Simpsons or South Park are, I make them watch "Mr. Rossi Looks for Happiness". Have you ever seen a more acute criticism of our society? If you want to know more about that series, contact me. I'll be publishing an article on it soon.

This was shown on Children's ITV in the UK during the school holidays when I was a kid but it wasn't a children's cartoon as it dealt with the subject of loneliness and depression. This is a cartoon catered more to adults.

Mr. Rossi is a lonely, single man who has an unfulfilling life working at a fish cannery and all he has is a pet dog for company. Bullied and belittled by his boss at work, he wants escape from the drudgery of his life when one day, a fairy comes up and gives him a whistle which enables him to an exciting life of adventure every time he blows it.

It's a lot like Mr. Benn, the amination series that was shown on the BBC around the same time. The themes are similar but Mr. Rossi goes far deeper than Mr. Benn about the characters feelings about being alone, depressed and lost and his want for something more out of life. It's quite dark at times and was probably wasted being shown at 10 am during the British summer time holidays to a bunch of bored kids sat in front of the telly.

Despite that, it is a quality piece of amination from continental Europe. Something we don't get to see a lot of on British TV screens these days and it's a pity.