Topo Gigio was the lead character of a children's puppet show on Italian television, in the early 1960s. The character was created by artist Maria Perego in 1958 and has been customarily voiced by actor Giuseppe (Peppino) Mazzullo. The Italian name could be translated as "Louie Mouse".
Topo Gigio, a soft foam mouse with dreamy eyes and childish personality, was very popular in Italy for many years — not only on TV but also in children's magazines, such as the classical Corriere dei Piccoli, animated cartoons, movies, and merchandising. Its popularity spread to the world after being featured on Ed Sullivan's weekly TV show in the U.S. Today Topo Gigio still has a cohort of faithful fans, and has become an icon of Italian pop culture. He performs regularly at Zecchino d'Oro festival and other programs created by Antoniano and RAI. In 1965, a feature length motion picture Le Avventure di topo Gigio (The Adventures of Topo Gigio) was released internationally.
The endearing puppet has made appearances and has a fan base in many other countries — including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela.
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Ed Sullivan Show
During the 1960s, the American TV audience was charmed by the antics of the adorable mouse, Topo Gigio, on the long-running CBS-TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. Created by a highly creative troupe of Italian puppeteers, it took four people to bring the 10" tall character to life, three to manipulate him and one to create his sweet voice. The puppet stood in a special "limbo" black art stage with black velvet curtains, designed to absorb as much ambient light as possible, which helped hide the puppeteers, who also dressed in black from head to toe. Each puppeteer operated a different part of Gigio's foam rubber body by using several wooden dowel rods (also painted black). The illusion was quite remarkable, since unlike traditional hand puppets, Topo Gigio could actually appear to walk on his feet, sing, make subtle hand gestures, and even walk up Ed Sullivan's arm and perch on his shoulder. Careful lighting and TV camera adjustment made the "black art" illusion perfect for the television audience, though on at least one appearance, Ed asked the puppeteers to come out and take a bow, revealing their black-clad appearance (though deftly hiding Gigio's mechanisms to conceal the secret).
In more than fifty appearances on the show, the little Italian mouse would appear on stage and greet Ed with a sugary "Hello Eddie!". Gigio also was quite the lover, often speaking of his girlfriend "Rosie", but the enduring image is how Gigio ended his weekly visits, literally crooning to the host, "Eddie, Keesa me goo'night!".
Topo Gigio closed the final Ed Sullivan Show in 1971, but his success wasn't limited to his airtime with Ed. The character was introduced in South America, Spain and in Japan, which spawned a successful Japanese animated series. There was also a feature film released in 1965 entitled The Magic World of Topo Gigio and Gigio continues, to this day, as a well-known character in mainstay of Italian and Spanish speaking territories. He is also "the spokes-mouse" for the United Nations.
References in popular culture
- In Japan, Topo Gigio was the protagonist of Topo Gigio and the Missile War (1966, dir. Kon Ichikawa) and a 1988 cartoon produced by Nippon Animation.
- In Latin America, Topo Gigio became a smash hit in 1968, widely remembered even now, featuring Braulio Castillo, Julio Alemán and later, Raul Astor (Raúl Ignacio Spangenberg). Gigio had several LPs with songs sung by Gabriel Garzón. The show was produced in Peru, and then in Mexico. He made a comeback for the 2006 Germany World Cup, in short segments of a sports show.
- In 1966, Topo Gigio appeared on the first of many occassions in ITV's Sunday Night at the London Palladium with Jimmy Tarbuck (Compere), Nina and Frederik and Lonnie Donegan.
- A mention of Topo Gigio was made in the 1999 film Being John Malkovich. In the film Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is in control of John Horatio Malkovich (John Malkovich); while instructing a class of puppetry, he angrily corrects a student's poor performance of the marionettes, instructing that puppetry without emotion is "a novelty act. It's Topo Gigio."
- Another mention occurs in the 1994 film The Santa Clause. When Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) is giving alternative names for Santa Claus to the police officer in the interrogation scene, Scott imitates Ed Sullivan when he says the name "Topo Gigio." This is a reference to at least one episode of the Ed Sullivan Show in which Topo dresses as and imitates Santa.
- The music video for Billy Joel's hit song, "Tell Her About It", which puts Joel on the stage of the Ed Sullivan show, begins with Ed Sullivan saying, "Thank you, Topo Gigio."
- On an episode of Fantasy Football League during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, a 'lookalikes' segment commented that Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar resembled Topo Gigio.
- Topo Gigio is the official mascot of the Uruguayan club Huracán Buceo since 1968.
- The Guardian Guide journalist Charlie Brooker, in his Screen-Burn column [1] likened All Saints Natalie Appleton to Topo Gigio after her appearance in I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here![1]
- In the syndicated comic strip 9 Chickweed Lane, on July 16, 2008, Edda refers to her new dance partner as Topo Gigio.
- In the episode "The Last Temptation of Cory" of the television series Boy Meets World the character Missy Robinson mistakenly calls Topanga "Topo Gigio".
- On August 20, 2008, TMZ.com compared Shawn Johnson to Topo Gigio. Which ultimately got the reference removed from the site due to a public uproar.
- In the musical Forever Plaid, the number "Lady of Spain" ends with the phrase "Kiss Topo Gigio Goodnight."
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External links
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