Take two classic ingredients from Italian popular fiction …
1. Generations of Italians have grown up with Disney’s comics “Topolino” (Little Mouse), the Italian version of Mickey Mouse, whose hobby is playing the private detective. These comics are extremely popular here in Italy, and rather than being simply a translated version of the original they are specifically ‘made in Italy’, that is, designed and created for an Italian audience with some original all Italian characters. There is Amelia, for example, the witch who lives on the Vesuvius and is desperate to get hold of Paperon de Paperoni’s (Uncle scrooge’s) legendary first cent.
2. You may have heard of Salvo Montalbano Italy’s most famous fictional detective, created in 1994 by writer Andrea Camilleri, and wonderfully interpreted by the actor Luca Zingaretti in the extremely popular TV series “Commissario Montalbano”. Salvo Montalbano, like his creator Camilleri, is Sicilian, and lives and woks in Vigata (a made up name) in a house facing the beach (my dream house!). He speaks a mixture of Italian and Sicilian dialect, and is eternally engaged to, but never marries or lives with, Livia, a Police colleague who lives and works in the north of Italy. Translated into English, Inspector Montalbano has been very popular in the U.K. where it was screened by the BBC
… now put these two classic ingredients together and what do we get?
Salvo Topalbano! The name Topalbano is obviously an amalgam of Montalbano and the word topo (mouse), and naturally Topalbano the Sicilian mouse detective lives and works in Vigatta, that’s Vi plus gatta (cat), rather than Vigata!
La Trama (The Story Line):
Topolino and his lifelong fiancé Minnie are on holiday in Sicily visiting la Valle dei Templi (the Valley of the Temples) near Agrigento, when Minnie is kidnapped. In order to rescue his beloved Minnie, Topolino accepts help from Topalbano, who introduces himself with a version of the classic Montalbano line: “Topalbano sono” (I’m Topalbano). During his stay in Vigatta, Topolino learns to speak Vigattese, and to appreciate local ‘delicacies’ such as la pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines).
How did Andrea Camilleri react to the creation of Topalbano? Speaking in a TV interview he said he was ”onorato e felice, è come prendere un Nobel” (honoured and happy, it’s like receiving a Nobel prize). Camilleri was, of course, contacted in advance by Disney to get his permission, and he got great satisfaction from watching his creation, Commissario Montalbano, being transformed into the cartoon character Topalbano with the help of scriptwriter Francesco Artibani and graphic artists Giorgio Cavazzano (drawings) and Mirka Andolfo (colour).
Comments:
Allan Mahnke:
Where can we find these fumetti? We are ardent fans of Salvo, Mimi, Catarella, Fazio etc, both in the novels (thanks to Amazon.it) and the television series.
Geoff:
@Allan Mahnke Salve Allan, I’m not sure how you can get hold of the magazine in your country. Topolino is a weekly magazine published by Mondadori, and this particular one with Topalbano was on the market last week. I had a quick look on the internet and found this web address: http://abbonamenti.disney.it/contattaci.jsp
You might need to contact the special number for ARRETRATI (back numbers).
Buona fortuna
Serena
William Auge:
Salve Serena,
Abbiamo guardato spesso il TV spettacolo “Commissario Montalbano.” I episodi hanno sottotitoli e una TV stazione publica ci porta. Ho letto un “easy reader” libro italiano delle storie di Montalbano e un nuovo tradutto in inglese. Ma, mi piace di piu il personaggio interpretato da Luca Zingaretti.
Salvo Topalbano e’ qualcosa di nuovo per mi.
a presto, Bill
Eros Laguardia:
Mondadori didnt’ publish Topolino since 1988… In 2013 Topolino was published by Disney, now is published by Panini Comics, and with the change of publisher maiby you have more problems to find it.
But the next week is going to leave the sequel of the story, “Topolino e lo zio d’America” (Mickey Mouse and the uncle from America): Topalbano will go in USA for a survey, and there he meet again Mickey. The writer of the comic is again Francesco Artibani (one of the best authors of Topolino), but the drawer now is Giampaolo Soldati. Maiby you will fid it.
A little note on the article: Amelia wasn’t created in Italy, she was created by Carl Barks, also creator of uncle Scrooge, in America. She’s original name was Magica de Spell.
Serena:
@Eros Laguardia Salve Eros, thank you for your information. I haven’t read Topolino for many years so I’m a bit out of touch with it and its publisher.
Saluti da Serena