08/01/2024
Did you know that Topo Gigio was created by a woman? Born in Venice, Italy on December 8, 1923, María Perego was a true precursor of the small screen. After working in the puppet theater, in the 1950s he decided to use puppets instead of cartoons. After introducing the character Picchio Cannocchiale, for which he based himself on the classic Woody Bird, in 1958 he presented Topo Gigio, for whom he would have taken inspiration from Mickey Mouse. The animation work of this character was famous, as was his "eye drooping", when he was embarrassed or wanted to achieve something. In Italy there was a time of innovation with television and animated cinema, and it was then that Maria Perego introduced a new technique unknown until then, using puppets instead of cartoons, inspired by the Czech illustrator Jiří Trnka (Italian tradition of puppet Theater)
