Biography
Born in Milan, Bruno Bozzetto showed a distinct gift for drawing from a very young age. As a member of the Cine Club Milano he began what would become a lifelong obsession with animation and, aged 20, he produced his first animated short Tapum! La Storia Delle Armi. The film brought him much critical acclaim and into the public eye. Two years later he founded Bruno Bozzetto Films where much of his commercial and animated shorts were produced.
Bozzetto is one of the foremost exponents of the Italian cartoon style fumetto, or smokey, adult comics - often compared with their Japanese equivalent, manga. The introduction of his most famous character, Mr Rossi, revealed a unique style, which combined both adult-oriented humour with a very personal design - a successful combination which led to the production of several feature length animations: West and Soda (1965), The Super Vips (1968), Allegro Non Troppo (1977) and three features in the Mr Rossi series of the mid-70s.
Although most famous internationally for Allegro Non Troppo, Bruno Bozzetto has won numerous awards for his short films, including a Golden Bear (Best Short Film) for Mister Tao (1989) and an Oscar nomination (Best Short Film) for Grasshopper (1991). His oeuvre ranges from animated shorts with a didactic purpose (for the science television program Quark), to live action shorts, animated features, an animated short for Hanna Barbera (Help, 1995) and a live action feature, Under the Chinese Restaurant (1987). Several of these works have been the focus of numerous theses at over 10 universities.
Bozzetto's more recent work has been in the development of Flash animation, specifically with an internet-based audience. He is often invited to the jury panels of significant film festivals and has published several works in magazines such as Donna Moderna, Valore and Qui Bergamo. Having delved into a variety of mediums, Bozzetto has displayed his exceptional gifts for parody, wit and illustration as well as providing a dazzling array of entertainment for several generations of viewers from the 60s to the present.
