Mr. Rossi


Mr. Rossi is a cartoon character created by Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto. He was first seen in several short films, about ten minutes each. The show had a life span of 15 years with 6 episodes, 3 movies and 11 skits.
In Italy, Rossi is the most common surname, suggesting to the Italian viewer that Mr. Rossi stands for the average Italian man and that he could be anyone. He also appears in a couple of feature length animations, including one where he is seen unhappy in life and single, until he befriends his neighbour's talking dog Harold and a witch who grants him wishes, where they have many exciting adventures. In Italy the show was known as Il Signor Rossi cerca la felicità, whilst in English-speaking countries it was known as The Fantastic Adventures of Mr. Rossi or Mr. Rossi Looks for Happiness.

Episodes

The Mr. Rossi short films were as follows :
  1. An Award for Mr. Rossi '
  2. Mr. Rossi goes Skiing '
  3. Mr. Rossi on the Beach '
  4. Mr. Rossi Buys a Car '
  5. Mr. Rossi at Camping '
  6. Mr. Rossi at the Safari '
  7. Mr. Rossi in Venice '
These short films contained no spoken dialogue and any captions to accompany the film usually appeared in Italian, English, French, Spanish and German.
The feature length Mr. Rossi films include:
  1. Mr. Rossi Looks for Happiness '
  2. Mr. Rossi's Dreams '
  3. Mr. Rossi's Vacation '
In 1975, there was a short mini series called Mr. Rossi's Sporting Feats. It contained 11 episodes and each one was two minutes long approximately. Each episode focused on Mr. Rossi attempting to partake in one sport, with very unusual results.
These episodes featured the following:
  1. Rowing
  2. Fencing
  3. Skiing
  4. Gymnastics
  5. Cycling
  6. Athletics
  7. Basketball / volleyball
  8. Tennis
  9. Swimming
  10. Running
  11. Football
In Bruno Bozzetto's 1976 feature-length film Allegro non troppo, Mr. Rossi briefly appears in an animation embedded in a live-action sequence.