While Ortolani laments some of the "absurd" and belated requests from RAI to change scripts and even finished episodes, it sounds like a normal give-and-take with a network; but he makes a clear point about the lack of objectivity in censorship. "There is no real child psychologist or other professional" to lend objectivity to the odd requests from the executives on behalf of the sensibilities of children. He recounts being pressured to change the name of the statuettes that grace lawns worldwide -- "garden midgets," as they are called. A midget working at the studio might be offended.

The far greater problem, however, was a disjunction between RAI Fiction and the programming department at RAI. Once the series was finished, the programming arm of RAI, despite commanding three broadcast and two satellite channels, did not seem to know what to do with it. They first put it in an obscure children's time slot, right after the Power Rangers show. "They called in the media and gave it a proper launch, with an appropriate lead time," Ortolani said grimly. "Twenty-four hours." The irony of the writing was lost on the few young children watching during that time slot. "Shortly thereafter, the entire children's programming block from three in the afternoon to six went up in smoke. People credited me for having finally gotten Power Rangers off the air."

Festival artistic director Luca Raffaelli (center) has a height disadvantage in a family feud between media critics Loredana Lipperini (right) and Roberto Maragliano.

Next, they tried a morning weekend slot, where Rat Man did quite well. Summer ended and so did the series, without broadcasting half of the episodes. Once again this fine series is in limbo, awaiting a time slot. "All that money that was spent on the series," Ortolani sighed, "couldn't they have spent it better than finding exquisite ways to torture me for three years?"

Joshua Held, co-creator of the wildly popular Gino the Chicken series and the current goofball cooking show Cooking Italian with Arturo and Kiwi, is sympathetic. "Now we have a consistent airing time," he says, "but it changed twice before that," stranding the acerbic Gino the Chicken at times when young children could only watch the jokes fly over their heads. "There must be a reason," Held nods sincerely, "but it's not.... evident."

We hope that a courageous programming executive [sic] will find a time slot for the show that allows children and adult co-viewing, the original intention of the exercise. Hint: RAI 2 shows classic Warners and Disney cartoons in the evening before dinner time. Why not put some real funding into a domestic product that might have a chance to fly in that spot?

Leo Ortolani running away from the censor's scissors.

Good Girl Stereotyping
And what would an Italian family get-together be without a good argument?

The question of whether cartoons lead culture or are simply reflective of it became the hot topic of debate as two authors presented their books at the festival. Authors Loredana Lipperini and Roberto Maragliano both have published books recently about media and its influence on children, with conclusions that may be less far apart than they apppear. Lipperini admits that her book Ancora della Parte delle Bambine (Once Again on the Side of Children) has an "angry" tone. She points in particular to the popular fairy school-based Winx Club TV series as having a particularly pernicious effect on girls, pointing them toward a vapid consumerism. "We have gone from 'with great power comes great responsibility,'" she points out, "to 'with great power comes great popularity.'"

Maragliano, who has just published Immaginare l'Infanzia (Imaginging Childhood), points out that he does not particularly disagree with Lipperini, he simply believes that children are more aware of irony and better able to distinguish play from reality than we give them credit for. He also points out that direct attempts to get networks to censor ideas and shows are harmful and counterproductive.

The discussion carried out into the bar, but it was impossible to maintain an impassioned tone while Nick Phelps and David Silverman were playing clarinet and tuba duets. Once again, everything ended in taralucci e vino -- wine and cookies.