Carosello and the Giornalino Crew: From Comic Strip to TV and Back

Abstract

William Mitchell argues that the most manifest contemporary relationship between power and image occurs in advertising. As TV can be considered one of the ecosystems or habitats of images, a study focusing on visual culture and childhood in Italy cannot overlook the analysis of a foundational page in the history of television like Carosello. This advertising broadcast represents a significant iconic turning point – what the American scholar describes as a pictorial turn – important for Italian society. The childhood imagination – and beyond – was strongly influenced by it. How does the advertising world of Carosello connect to children’s literature? This contribution, supported by documentary material from the RAI Teche Archive at the Micheletti Foundation, a research center on contemporary history, and the archive of «Il Giornalino», aims to demonstrate the interaction between the famous program and Italian comics. Is it possible that these two iconic modalities influenced each other? Many of the animators of Carosello’s animated commercials were, at the same time, illustrators for the magazine «Il Giornalino», founded by the Pia Società San Paolo in 1924. Gino Gavioli – creator in 1953 of Gamma Film, which brought characters like Caio Gregorio er guardiano der pretorio and Capitan Trinchetto to life for Carosello – was simultaneously creating a series of comic antiheroes for the weekly, such as the paladin Orlando lo Strambo and the wolf Saltapasto. Additionally, two other cartoonists from «Il Giornalino», Paolo Piffarerio and Carlo Peroni, also worked at Gamma Film. Toni Pagot (Antonio Pagotto, 1921-2001) was concurrently an animator, director, and comic artist. While he created characters that became historical figures for Carosello, such as Grisù the little dragon and Calimero the chick, he also created Micromino, one of the most beloved characters among readers for «Il Giornalino».