Allegro non troppo (1976)

“Allegro non troppo” is one of the best live action/animation films ever made. The main idea of the film is (maybe) to be a sort of Italian “Fantasia”, but that guy, Prisney, or Grisney, or whatever is name is (as is discussed on the film), never did anything like this! “Allegro non troppo” is the child of Italian animation master Bruno Bozzetto, whose most famous creation is signor Rossi, who actually makes a brief “cameo” in the film. As with Disney’s “Fantasia” (1940), the concept is to traditionally animate classical pieces of music. But the resemblances stop there. “Fantasia” was supposed to be a work of art, an intelligent work of art, a master creation, a pinnacle of something that was highly cultural but that could also be extremely entertaining, using the Disney magic (the dance of the hippos for example). In “Allegro non troppo”, not only the comical side of animation is in the forefront of Bozzetto’s intentions, but also the set pieces are used to convey stories that strike a chord in the Italian society and actually do take a stand and make a social commentary, unlike “Fantasia” where the images were just beautiful for beauty’s sake. In “Fantasia”, maestro Leopold Stokowski introduced, with much decorum, the pieces of music. In “Allegro non troppo” the introductions to the animation pieces are absolutely hilarious. There is a producer who explains everything, and considers all these original ideas, and eventually gets a call from the Prisney, or Grisney fellow. There is the maestro, a fat Orson Wellish imposing figure. There is the animator, who has been in a dungeon bellow the stage for 5 years, and is now released in order to work for the picture. And there are the musicians, all elderly ladies, who have been in a cattle stable waiting for the chance to perform, and are ushered in into the theater. All these little episodes are very amusing, and are in black and white, so that when the animation sequences kick in, the color contrast is way more effective. There are six animated sequences. They display a kind of drawing skills that very much differ from the clear faultless line that is typical of Disney. They are more akin to the European (Italian, czech) school through the use of round shapes, and a blur in the melting of colours into each other. Highlights feature the dawn of civilization at the sound of Ravel’s Bolero, or the last episode, in which the snake, being refuse by Eva, bites the apple itself, falling into a world of consumerism and temptation. The most amusing is the second episode, at the sound of Slavonic Dance nº 7 by Dvorak. Little known or talked about, “Allegro non troppo” is a hallmark of, not only animation, but also filmmaking. It may not have the best drawings ever presented, but it is a marvelous spoof, amusing all the way, and when it attempts to be serious and artistic, it is indeed serious and artistic, as some episodes show, as for example the fourth episode, with the lovely lost cat. Unmissable.