Enzo D'Alò. Photo courtesy of Lanterna Magica.

A good story is at the heart of every good film, therefore, Enzo D'Alò didn't have any doubts when, two years ago, he came across the Luis Sépulveda novel The Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly and decided to make it into a film. He didn't even hesitate when he presented it to Vittorio and Rita Cecchi Gori, some of Italy's leading producers, who have produced amongst other programs the Cannes Festival Grand Prix winner La vita è bella by Roberto Benigni. In addition to the vitality of the characters, strong narrative and visual potential of the short story, Sépulveda is almost a household name after a string of publishing successes in Italy and Europe. Furthermore, it is a tale with a moral, a fable, calling for respect for both nature and man's differences. The story, featuring a gang of cats and a seagull, has a straightforward message, with explicit moral values which are accessible and enjoyable for all readers from children to adults.

Lucky and Zorba: A Fortunate Encounter
As a result, Enzo D'Alò and executive producer Maria Fares had a strong proposal, both in the film's story and their ability to produce an animated version with their Lanterna Magica company. It seems that it was one of those happy occasions where a valid idea comes at a favorable moment when it is in tandem with the market's requirements. However, it was certainly not by chance. The Lanterna Magica, founded in Turin in 1983, has slowly built up a wide range of animation experience in advertising production, social information with strong involvement in the education and training sectors, as well as with specials and short TV series.

The Blue Arrow has been very successful, and will be distributed on video by Miramax. © Lanterna Magica

Above all, they had a precious ace up their sleeves with The Blue Arrow, a full-length animated film released in 1996 and produced with Monipoly and Fama Film. As Maria Fares explains, "As with the majority of European animated films, possibly worse still for Italian ones, we had enormous problems with the distributors. We had the usual complications of setting up the necessary financial backing and producing in a country that has produced little or nothing for many, many years. This is why I jumped for joy when Mikado, a relatively small but prestigious Italian distributor, took on our film. The market penetration wasn't strong and distribution investments were meager but the film cut out an important space on the quality film circuit. It was these positive results we got from The Blue Arrow that gave us credibility. I'm not talking commercial results, but rather those from critics and the media. Cecchi Gori saw the film twice. We signed the contract in three months and Lucky and Zorba was financed with 10 billion lire. Cecchi Gori has shown great sensitivity but I also think there is a lot of interest from investors for full-length animated features today. We have a good relationship with Cecchi Gori which will continue after Lucky and Zorba. We are looking at other projects both for cinema and home video."

Distribution and Production Difficulties
As Fares stated, the real obstacle for European features is the distribution. Relations between animation producers and distributors are not structured well enough to guarantee adequate promotion of the film. According to Cartoon, the animation division of MEDIA, a good 70 features have been made in Europe in the last seven years. There is no lack of talent, projects or even investors. The demand is there. What is lacking, however, is a distribution strategy capable of overcoming linguistic and cultural differences. The Blue Arrow's outcome is symptomatic: in Italy it was mediocre because of restricted showings, in France (distributed by Gebeka) it fared better and sold 110,000 tickets in 5 months.

This obstacle seems to be overcome with Lucky and Zorba since the producer can also guarantee cinema, TV and home video distribution themselves. The aim is for an international market and the prospects look promising as deals are underway with Miramax.