| La Linea | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:La_linea_.jpg) La Linea | |
| Genre | Animation, Comedy, Cartoon series |
| Created by | Osvaldo Cavandoli (Cava) |
| Voices of | Carlo Bonomi (all voices) |
| Theme music composer | Franco Godi |
| Country of origin | Italy |
| Original language | Grammelot (gibberish) |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 90 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 2-6 minutes |
| Production companies | B. Del Vita (season 1) HDH Film/TV (season 2) Telecip-Belokapi (season 2) Wagner-Hallig Film GmbH (seasons 2-3) Quipos srl (season 3) |
| Original release | |
| Network | RAI |
| Release | 1971 – 1986 |
| Related | |
| Carosello | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
La Linea ("The Line") is an Italian animated series created by the Italian cartoonist Osvaldo Cavandoli. The series consists of 90 episodes, which were originally broadcast on the Italian channel RAI between 1971 and 1986. The background tune for the series was created by Franco Godi.[1]
The series features a man known as "Mr. Linea" (voiced by Carlo Bonomi in a grammelot similar to the Milanese dialect) drawn as a single outline of an infinite line, which encounters various obstacles during his walking, and often turns to the cartoonist, represented as a live-action hand holding a pencil, to draw him a solution. All episodes are short subjects, ranging from 2:30 to 6:40 in runtime.[1]
The series aired in more than 50 countries around the world;[2] due to the short length of episodes, it has often been used in many networks as an interstitial program, including in the United States. Over the years, La Linea gained a widespread popularity worldwide,[1][2][3] and it is considered to be a cult classic.[4] It also spawned a comic strip, books, additional short movies, merchandising gadgets and objects, and countless homages and parodies, with many appearances of the protagonist in other media.[2]
Even though the episodes are numbered up to 225, there are actually 90 La Linea episodes. The 1971 series had 8 episodes, the 1978 series had 56 (101–156), and the 1986 series had 26 (200–225). All episodes of the series are also available on DVD.
- ^ a b c "La Linea del grande Osvaldo Cavandoli". Webalice (in Italian).
- ^ a b c "La Linea". Licensing Italia (in Italian).
- ^ "Watch La Linea, the Popular 1970s Italian Animations Drawn with a Single Line". Open Culture.com. 10 April 2015.
- ^ Michele Serra. "La Linea di Osvaldo Cavandoli simbolo dell'Italia del boom". La Repubblica (in Italian).