La Linea (TV series)
An Italian animated series featuring a line-drawn man.
La Linea (Italian for "The Line") is an animated series from Italy, the brainchild of cartoonist Osvaldo Cavandoli. Its central character, known as Mr. Linea, is drawn as a single continuous outline that forms his silhouette, and he walks along an endless line of which he is a part. When he runs into problems—like the line suddenly ending—he turns to the cartoonist, shown as a live-action hand holding a white grease pencil, to draw a way out. The results are often mixed. The series ran on the Italian network RAI from 1971 to 1986, producing 90 episodes in total. Each short subject lasts between 2 minutes 30 seconds and 6 minutes 40 seconds. The background music was composed by Franco Godi.
The character first appeared in 1969 when Cavandoli pitched him to advertising agencies working on Carosello. Engineer Emilio Lagostina, an art collector and owner of the pressure cooker company Lagostina, hired the character for commercials. Initially called Agostino Lagostina (a name dropped after the first series), he was described as "a lively little man, with a truly expressive nose, with all the concerns and concerns of modern life. Son of a pencil and a hand." Carlo Bonomi provided the voice, using a grammelot that mimics the Milanese dialect of Lombard but is mostly gibberish, with occasional Italian or English words. This made the cartoons easy to export without dubbing—the same voice technique Bonomi later used for Pingu. The first eight episodes promoted Lagostina kitchenware, with narration identifying Mr. Linea. After the association ended, the character became the star of his own television series, which found huge success worldwide. In total, 90 episodes were produced, though they are numbered up to 225: the 1971 series had 8 episodes, the 1978 series had 56 (numbered 101–156), and the 1986 series had 26 (200–225).
La Linea aired in more than 50 countries, often as an interstitial program between commercials or longer shows. It won prizes at Annecy in 1972 and Zagreb in 1973. In the United States, it first appeared on KQED's International Animation Festival in the 1970s and later on the children's show *The Great Space Coaster*, where characters gave it different names before each cartoon. Some episodes with mature themes were skipped. In Iran, it aired on IRIB; in Yugoslavia, on TV Zagreb in the 1980s; in the UK, on BBC Two from 1980 to 1981 and on Centra
- creator
- Osvaldo Cavandoli
- country_of_origin
- Italy
- original_network
- RAI
- years_aired
- 1971–1986
- number_of_episodes
- 90 (numbered up to 225)
- voice_actor
- Carlo Bonomi
- background_music_composer
- Franco Godi
Lore & Background
In 1969, Osvaldo Cavandoli proposed his character "Mr. Linea" to advertising agencies for Carosello. Engineer Emilio Lagostina, owner of the pressure cooker industry Lagostina, wanted the character for commercials. The character was initially called Agostino Lagostina, but the name was later removed after the first series. The first 8 episodes publicized Lagostina kitchenware products. After the series broke its association with Lagostina, the character became the protagonist of his own television series, which enjoyed huge success worldwide. 90 episodes were produced.
The character was voiced by Carlo Bonomi in a mock version of Milanese that resembled gibberish, with occasional Italian or English words, allowing easy export without dubbing. The background tune was edited by Franco Godi and Corrado Tringali. The series won prizes in 1972 in Annecy and 1973 in Zagreb.
Episodes are numbered up to 225, but only 90 exist: the 1971 series had 8 episodes, the 1978 series had 56 (101–156), and the 1986 series had 26 (200–225). All episodes are available on DVD. The series also spawned a comic strip, books, additional short movies, merchandising, and countless homages and parodies.
Reader's Guide
La Linea gained widespread popularity worldwide and is considered a cult classic. Its simple, universal visual language—a man drawn as a single line interacting with a live-action hand—allowed it to be easily understood across cultures. The series aired in more than 50 countries, often as filler between programs. In the United States, it was shown on KQED's International Animation Festival and later on The Great Space Coaster, though some episodes with mature themes were excluded. The series influenced music videos, including Gigi D'Agostino's "Bla Bla Bla" and Jamiroquai's "(Don't) Give Hate a Chance," and the opening sequence of the UK comedy series Whose Line Is It Anyway? used La Linea style. The 2020 Pixar movie Soul featured soul counselors seen by critics as a reference to La Linea. The character also appeared in advertising campaigns for Ford, Polkomtel, Kaupthing, and Viasat. The series is known by many alternative names worldwide, such as "Abelardo" in Argentina and "Menő Manó" in Hungary.
Did You Know?
- The series consists of 90 episodes, though they are numbered up to 225.
- The character was voiced by Carlo Bonomi in a grammelot similar to the Milanese dialect of Lombard.
- The series won prizes in 1972 in Annecy and 1973 in Zagreb.
- In Norway, the newspaper Dagbladet published all episodes daily on its website from 30 June to 31 October 2008.
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