Zorba the cat from Lucky and Zorba. © Lanterna Magica.

Demand does certainly exist as Lanterna Magica is now working on two new films under D'Alò's direction. Momo from a Michael Ende novel for the German producer Taurus in conjunction with Trickcompany, the German animation company known for their two successful films based on the Werner comic strip (grossing $20-31 million). The second film is for the Italian state television, RAI, and will be, at last, an Italian version of Pinocchio.

Maria Fares claims, "You see, for Italy there's only one problem to solve -- the offer. What I mean is that the production forces aren't up to it yet in Italy. Our company has a strong `art workshop' feeling dealing predominantly with features, even though we also do TV productions. We've set up a solid and well-tested team for high quality productions, so in addition to D'Alò's films, we are moving ahead with other projects from other important Italian authors. First of all, we've got a film by Guido Manuli shown successfully to Cecchi Gori. The script is ready and we are developing the characters. A second project is Juanin Padan, by Giulio Cingoli, one of the great veterans of Italian animation, together with Dario Fo, actor, writer, jester and Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1998."

In other words, Fares underlined a problem which the Italian sector is facing: that of production ability. Italian animation from the `50s to the `70s was predominantly used for publicity, with a wide variety of unusual and imaginative characters, and animated mini-series. Then for a long period between the `70s and `80s it underwent a severe crisis due to the withdrawal of advertising funds and a near total disinterest on the part of both TV and cinema producers. Market growth, MEDIA Program's actions and, above all, the awakening interest of the State television has started a regeneration in the productive tissue and is bearing its first fruits in TV series as well. Lanterna Magica's features are at the forefront of this reawakening.

The Lanterna Magica Approach
A 20-minute promo of Lucky and Zorba was officially presented at the Venice Film Festival in September, with excellent reviews from the media, producers and distributors. The sreenplay is by Umberto Marino and Enzo D'Alò. The adaptation has been approved by Sèpulveda himself and his voice will be used in the Italian version. The music has an extremely important role and has been entrusted to Peter Gabriel's Real World organization and composed by David Rhodes. Prestigious, classic, but innovative, choices have been made for this film.

Lucky the seagull from Lucky and Zorba. © Lanterna Magica.

"Whether to release Lucky and Zorba at Christmas against Disney and Spielberg or more prudently in January? I don't know, it's a decision for the producer," says Enzo. "I only know that I want to finish the film for Christmas. This means we will have produced a feature in record time: one and a half years. I won't do it again ... but it had to be in the cinemas this year, two years after The Blue Arrow. We're doing this because our relations with the producer are very good and the team is experienced, plus dealings with Cartoonia [the company for coloring and shooting services] have got better and better. Even external help, that for The Blue Arrow was a multitude of free-lancers, has become more structured and organized with real animation services."

With Lanterna Magica's help the Italian production industry has grown and is becoming a consolidated structure. Cartoonia, a computer services company in which Lanterna Magica has a share with one of the leading video production and post-production companies, Roman Etabeta, can now, thanks to the feature experience, offer high quality services on a par with the competitive Far East.

Marco Massa, managing director of Cartoonia, explains, "There has been an enormous effort on the graphic elements of the Lanterna Magica films. We have found solutions to give both the characters depth and the backgrounds a multitude of shades. We use Pegs but I don't think it's simply a choice of software. We have to find solutions to problems continually as they come up. The quality of the film requires this. Working with Enzo is stimulating and lends a new experience but at the same time a service company can't be tied to only one producer. Cartoonia is working a lot for TV series for Italy and Europe."