In the distant 1951, a fairy tale story for children “The Adventures of Cipollino” was born, the main characters of which — vegetables and fruits well known to all of us — live in a society with a pronounced feudal system. As the laws of the genre prescribe, in the story, the noble and the rich oppress the poor and the good. And, according to the same laws, in the end, disadvantaged positive characters seek justice. Of course, with the direct participation of the protagonist.
For several generations of readers, they were well acquainted with the bold and cheerful onion boy. They knew the names of all members of his family, and they knew what was the name of Cipollino's girlfriend. The slightest twist of the plot was known to every student. What is the secret of such popularity? Why is this story almost oblivious in modern society? And why, wishing to stage a play, are changing the plot of this fairy tale today?
The author of the story
The Adventures of Cipollino was created by Italian writer Gianni Rodari. For a long time he worked as a journalist in a communist newspaper. The ideas of this political party are clearly spelled out in his fairy tales for children.
That is why in the vastness of the USSR his work about a boy who opposed the malicious oppressors of the people found a very lively response. The books were published in huge editions, in 1961 they shot a cartoon based on the story, in 1964 they released a filmstrip (a sequence of color frames with captions that were projected onto the wall), and already in 1973 they shot a full-length feature film in which the author himself can be seen as a storyteller - Gianni Rodari “The Adventures of Cipollino,” thus, firmly entered the consciousness of both children and adults.
Role distribution
As already mentioned, the role of fairy-tale heroes are fruits and vegetables. Separating his characters, Rodari tried to draw class differences very vividly. So, in the role of ordinary villagers are ordinary garden crops. The family of the main good character - bulbs. And if you recall the name of the girlfriend of Chipollino (Radish), the parallel drawn by the author will be clearly visible: the closer to the ground, the less famous the character.
In the role of the rich are fruits that grow high on branches. Lemon is a prince, orange is a baron, mandarin is a duke, and cherries are counts. But there are exceptions. For example, the commander in chief of the army is a mouse, and one of Chipollino's friends is a mole. Not the last role was played by two spiders - Chromonog and Seven-and-a-Half (which was so called due to the fact that he lost half his paws in an unequal collision with a huge brush).
Plot plot
The story begins with the visit of Prince Lemon to the village where the boy Cipollino lives. During a solemn procession on ridiculous charges, his father Cipollone is arrested. The boy decides to free his dad at all costs and goes to jail with him.
With a hard heart, Cipollino leaves. His determination to restore justice only grows stronger. Soon after a conversation with his father, Cipollino met the already not very young godfather Pumpkin, who tells him how he worked hard all his life in order to fulfill his dream - to build a tiny house. There weren’t enough bricks, but Pumpkin’s godfather could no longer work, and therefore his dwelling was more like a booth. But it still pleased the old man.
Only the godfather Pumpkin managed to tell the grateful listener the story of his difficult life, when the displeased Signor Tomato appeared. Right in front of the boy’s eyes, the cruel manager ruthlessly took the meager property from the old man.
It was at this moment that the young hero entered into an open confrontation with the ruling class. He bluntly states that Signor Tomato is just a fraud. Of course, he did not achieve much at that time, but this event was significant for the whole story.
Development of events
After some time, Cipollino again clashes with representatives of the bourgeoisie. On charges of rebellion, soldiers arrested literally all the inhabitants of his village. But our guy deftly leaves the chase and - remember the name. Cipollino’s girlfriend Radish, too, could not be arrested, and now the children arrange for themselves adventures together.
They get acquainted with the young Cherry, who, although he lives on the count's estate, also suffers from the attacks of the ever-dissatisfied aunts. The children quickly became friends, and the girlfriend of Chipollino even for the first time truly made laugh the modest and restrained young count.
Thanks to courage and ingenuity, Cipollino manages to fool the soldiers and the pompous Signor Tomato for some time. But in the end, he is seized and thrown into prison.
However, even in prison, Cipollino is gaining more and more new friends. They manage to arrange an escape. And soon this no longer small company is arranging a real revolution, as a result of which everyone gets what they deserve.
Modern interpretation
It is interesting that in modern society it is precisely this development of events that inspires some fear for the fragile children's psyche. For example, in a theatrical production of a fairy tale that is taking place in Moscow, the revolution is removed from the ending.
In an interview, director Ekaterina Koroleva explained that it’s not worthwhile to inspire such thoughts in children. Having retained acutely posed social issues in the play, they removed any hints of violence. The heroes of the fairy tale "Cipollino" simply unite and come to an appointment with Prince Lemon.
After hearing the petition of his loyal subjects, the prince personally cancels all his unjust decrees and continues to calmly rule the country. Therefore, in social terms, everyone remains in their places.
Some related entertaining facts
- Thanks to his fearless and cheerful character, in 1956 Cipollino entered the Club of Cheerful People. This is a group of fairy-tale heroes who regularly appeared in comic books and stories of the popular Soviet magazine "Funny Pictures". Samodelkin, Pinocchio, Petrushka, Gurvinek, Dunno and Thumbelina became his comrades in new adventures. The good and funny Pencil led this whole honest company.
- Today, the question "What was the name of Cipollino's girlfriend" appears in the planned tasks of the popular children's online game Avatar. The correct answer is Radish.
- Based on the novel "The Adventures of Cipollino", a ballet for children in three acts was performed.