ALLEGRO NON TROPPO (1976) – Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the infamous Italian parody of Disney’s Fantasia. In our current year, where the avaricious Disney corporation has engulfed and devoured countless film properties and tried to trademark so many figures from world folklore, writer and director Bruno Bozzetto’s satirical poke at The Mouse That Ate Entertainment deserves to be revisited.
Allegro Non Troppo was the only film until Shrek to take satirical aim at the Disney Empire. Bruno Bozzetto’s film combined black & white live action scenes with state of the art animation for the 1970s. Bozzetto introduces us to an Italian film producer, played by Maurizio Micheli, who thinks he’s come up with an original idea: an animated film with its episodes set to classical music.
Right up front the film takes a shot at Disney’s (even then) notoriously litigious nature by having the overly unctuous producer/ presenter receive a phone call warning legal action since this premise has been done before, in Fantasia. The producer, equal parts used car salesman and circus ringmaster, shrugs off the threats from “Prisney or whoever” and goes on with the show.
Micheli’s character keeps his animator (Maurizio Nichetti) in chains in a dungeon as another swipe at the House of Mouse. As if that’s not enough he also keeps his musicians in a cage, letting them loose only to do their work for him.
Once the browbeaten, put-upon animator begins drawing the illustrations spring to life as the color cartoons sprinkled throughout the movie. In between those cartoons are comedy sketches with the presenter, animator, orchestra and conductor (Nestor Garay). The comedy sketches range from acceptable to cringe-inducing and never approach the brilliance or bite of the opening salvos against Disney.
As for the cartoons and the works of classical music to which they are set: Continue reading
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