In tribute to the life and career of Joseph Barbera, AWN has collected the thoughts and memories of many in the animation community remembering the influence this legend had on their lives and careers.
Elizabeth Dami is not the author of the Geronimo Stilton books, or so she would have us believe. Insisting that she met the mouse scribe in her travels, and that he speaks to her often, she asserts that Geronimo Stilton is the real author of the books. "The dream of the child is the most important matter," she insists. "That is why my name does not appear on the books."
Publisher Pietro Marietti's Atlantyca Ent. was showing off Geronimo Stilton in all of his glory in order to celebrate the impending Geronimo Stilton movie, a co-production between Canada's 9 Story Ent., France's MoonScoop Prods. and "an Italian company to be named later." Geronimo Stilton books are familiar in 175 countries and have been translated into 29 languages. It's worldwide appeal is in part due to the fact that Dami spent many years as an editor before launching the character and had a very clear idea of what would make the book series universal.
"Finding our French partner was fairly simple," laughs Marietti. "The children of the boss, told him 'Dad, why don't you make this into a movie? I want to meet Geronimo Stilton.'" Marietti is from a long family of book publishers, having begun work in editorial offices when he was 13. He has been coming to the Bologna Children's Book Fair under his Piemme label for 35 years, and sums of the experience very succinctly: "When you spot a trend, it's already too late."
