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Author
Topic: Kaboom Mickey Mouse 309--Marco Topo
(10 messages)
Matilda
Kaboom Mickey Mouse 309--Marco Topo
Message 1 -
2011-06-17 at 03:20:07
Just an appreciation of David Gerstein and Joe Torcivia's work in translation of the Scarpa tale, here. I enjoyed the fact that Goofy is called a "dip" ("what kinda dip do yuh mean?") and that he calls Pete a "goof"! Not to mention the Sarah Palin reference.... When Scarpa listed Mickey's relatives, did he include a "Topo Gigio"? I know Topo Gigio was originally an Italian TV star, before Ed Sullivan... I actually enjoy the thought of Topo Gigio and Topolino being related--if Mickey is going to have an Italian ancestry, he *should* be related to Topo Gigio. And is "Oswaldo Disnucci" the name Scarpa gave to the impresario? That name is clever on more than one level.
Ramapith
Kaboom Mickey Mouse 309--Marco Topo
Message 2 -
2011-06-17 at 05:00:40
Scarpa's original relatives for Mickey in the story included several variants of "Topolino" ("Topicchio," "Topulzio," etc.) but not "Gigio Topo" (as Joe and I included).
Scarpa had it??relatively??easy: "Topolino" was already an Italian name; so to show Mickey as having ancient Italian ancestry, Scarpa merely had to invent a few additional, similar Italian names.
For me to show Mickey as having Italian ancestry, though??that was a little harder. Joe and I had the task of showing Mickey's English name as having developed from an Italian ancestral name. This meant coming up with a few recent ancestors with "Mouse" as a surname, but increasingly Italian-sounding first names; then some earlier ancestors, with Italian first names and surnames. It seemed fairly obvious that in an Italian branch of Mickey's family, the name "Mouse" would at one point have been Anglicized from "Topo," so that's the direction we took.
Including "Gigio Topo" in the resulting lineage was simply an easy gag, as it was close to the old TV character but not identical (...and thus not *really* a use of a non-Disney property, which I couldn't really do).
Scarpa called the impresario Carlo Goldoni, by the way??seemingly a play on Pinocchio's Carlo Collodi. This raised more questions than it answered for me, thus the invention of a different name for him (not least because he was presented in the story as an Enlightenment Age counterpart to Disney, not Collodi).
"Oswaldo Disnucci" was Joe Torcivia's creation: nice job, Joe!
Scarpa had it??relatively??easy: "Topolino" was already an Italian name; so to show Mickey as having ancient Italian ancestry, Scarpa merely had to invent a few additional, similar Italian names.
For me to show Mickey as having Italian ancestry, though??that was a little harder. Joe and I had the task of showing Mickey's English name as having developed from an Italian ancestral name. This meant coming up with a few recent ancestors with "Mouse" as a surname, but increasingly Italian-sounding first names; then some earlier ancestors, with Italian first names and surnames. It seemed fairly obvious that in an Italian branch of Mickey's family, the name "Mouse" would at one point have been Anglicized from "Topo," so that's the direction we took.
Including "Gigio Topo" in the resulting lineage was simply an easy gag, as it was close to the old TV character but not identical (...and thus not *really* a use of a non-Disney property, which I couldn't really do).
Scarpa called the impresario Carlo Goldoni, by the way??seemingly a play on Pinocchio's Carlo Collodi. This raised more questions than it answered for me, thus the invention of a different name for him (not least because he was presented in the story as an Enlightenment Age counterpart to Disney, not Collodi).
"Oswaldo Disnucci" was Joe Torcivia's creation: nice job, Joe!
Timoro
Kaboom Mickey Mouse 309--Marco Topo
Message 3 -
2011-06-17 at 11:40:57
Hmm. Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni was a real life 18th century Italian playwright. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Goldoni
I haven't read the story yet, so I can't say more about that.
Timo
I haven't read the story yet, so I can't say more about that.
Timo
Matilda
Kaboom Mickey Mouse 309--Marco Topo
Message 4 -
2011-06-17 at 13:35:15
Whoa! Carlo Goldoni's middle name was Osvaldo?! Did Joe know that, or is this a cosmic instance of serendipity? It sounds as though Joe T. and David G. did not know about Goldoni. I assumed that Oswaldo was a double play on "Walt" and on Oswald the Rabbit.
And I wonder whether Pinocchio's Carlo Collodi was a play on the real-life Carlo Goldoni?
And I wonder whether Pinocchio's Carlo Collodi was a play on the real-life Carlo Goldoni?
Ramapith
Kaboom Mickey Mouse 309--Marco Topo
Message 5 -
2011-06-17 at 16:05:50
This is a little embarrassing. Joe and I didn't know that Goldoni's middle name was Osvaldo, nor that a Carlo Goldoni really existed; it truly was a "cosmic instance of serendipity," as you put it.
Scarpa drew Walt Disney as a realistic human??and Goldoni as a dogface. The disparity threw Joe and myself; as a result (and as my text above indicates), we didn't suspect for an instant that Goldoni was also supposed to be a real-life figure. Joe chose "Oswaldo" for the exact reasons you suggest.
Adding to our unintentional mixup was the Italian Disney comics tradition of creating "faux English" names for locally-created one-off characters, often from very simple English words. There have been Italian characters named "Money Quack," "Crazymad" (for a character who was neither crazy nor mad!), and "Pinky Pack" (for a character who wasn't pink and didn't wear a pack). I'm afraid I jumped to the conclusion that "Carlo Goldoni" must be a simple combination of Carlo Collodi with an English word (gold).
Grr, if only he'd been drawn as a human??a quick online check would have cued us in. Oh, well; having also worked from the Danish translation of the story, I can at least say that the Danish translator made the same mistake (Walt accurately translated, Goldoni not). Wak!
Scarpa drew Walt Disney as a realistic human??and Goldoni as a dogface. The disparity threw Joe and myself; as a result (and as my text above indicates), we didn't suspect for an instant that Goldoni was also supposed to be a real-life figure. Joe chose "Oswaldo" for the exact reasons you suggest.
Adding to our unintentional mixup was the Italian Disney comics tradition of creating "faux English" names for locally-created one-off characters, often from very simple English words. There have been Italian characters named "Money Quack," "Crazymad" (for a character who was neither crazy nor mad!), and "Pinky Pack" (for a character who wasn't pink and didn't wear a pack). I'm afraid I jumped to the conclusion that "Carlo Goldoni" must be a simple combination of Carlo Collodi with an English word (gold).
Grr, if only he'd been drawn as a human??a quick online check would have cued us in. Oh, well; having also worked from the Danish translation of the story, I can at least say that the Danish translator made the same mistake (Walt accurately translated, Goldoni not). Wak!
Matilda
Kaboom Mickey Mouse 309--Marco Topo
Message 6 -
2011-06-18 at 00:07:25
I'd say that the amazing story that arises from this--of Joe picking Carlo Goldoni's middle name as the character's name unawares, for two (two!) completely unrelated reasons--is such a great story that it should make you feel good about your "mistake" having made it possible. No embarrassment allowed. Scarpa's the one that gave a real person a dognose.
Besides, I got more pleasure from the name "Oswaldo Disnucci" than I ever would have gotten from the real name of Goldoni, whether or not I would have figured out who he was.
Besides, I got more pleasure from the name "Oswaldo Disnucci" than I ever would have gotten from the real name of Goldoni, whether or not I would have figured out who he was.
Timoro
Kaboom Mickey Mouse 309--Marco Topo
Message 7 -
2011-06-20 at 08:01:09
I fully agree with Matilda. No need for embarrassment there. This story have just now translated in Finnish too. Have to check what are the names over here.
Timo
Timo
Sim
Kaboom Mickey Mouse 309--Marco Topo
Message 8 -
2011-06-28 at 17:16:52
I've got a question for Mr. David Gerstein! ;)
Is the name "Waldo Wordwrangler" (Mickey's neighbor) a reference to anything?
Thanks! ;)
Sim
Is the name "Waldo Wordwrangler" (Mickey's neighbor) a reference to anything?
Thanks! ;)
Sim
Ramapith
Kaboom Mickey Mouse 309--Marco Topo
Message 9 -
2011-06-28 at 19:37:18
Nope. We called him "Wordwrangler" because he's a language expert, and a language expert "wrangles words" (i. e. wrestles with them, essentially), figuring out what they mean in one difficult language or another.
Sim
Kaboom Mickey Mouse 309--Marco Topo
Message 10 -
2011-06-29 at 07:11:01
Quote from user: ramapithNope. We called him "Wordwrangler" because he's a language expert, and a language expert "wrangles words" (i. e. wrestles with them, essentially), figuring out what they mean in one difficult language or another.
Ok!
Ok!
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