The SuperVips (1968) Vip mio fratello superuomo (original title)

Director:

Bruno Bozzetto

Writers:

Bruno Bozzetto (screenplay)
Bruno Bozzetto (story)
(more)

Release Date:

31 October 1968 (Italy)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Spoof | Social Satire

Cast

Fiorella Betti	...	Lisa (voice)
Micaela Esdra	...	Nervustrella (voice)
Oreste Lionello	...	Mini VIP (voice)
Pino Lochi	...	Schultz (voice)
Lidia Simoneschi	...	Happy Betty (voice)

Directed by
Bruno Bozzetto

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Bruno Bozzetto		screenplay
Bruno Bozzetto		story
Attilio Giovannini		screenplay
Guido Manuli		screenplay

Produced by
Bruno Bozzetto	....	producer
Lady Robinson	....	executive producer (as Lady Stearn Robinson)

Original Music by
Franco Godi
Johnny Gregory

Cinematography by
Luciano Marzetti

Film Editing by
Luciano Marzetti
Giancarlo Rossi

Art Direction by
Giovanni Mulazzani

Art Department
Guido Manuli	....	storyboard continuity

Sound Department
Jack King	....	recording director
Giancarlo Rossi	....	sound effects
Giancarlo Rossi	....	sound

Special Effects by
Luciano Marzetti	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Eraldo Balloni	....	assistant camera
Roberto Scarpa	....	assistant camera

Animation Department
Giancarlo Cereda	....	background artist
Giuseppe Laganà	....	animator
Guido Manuli	....	animation director
Franco Martelli	....	animator
Giovanni Mulazzani	....	background artist
Roberto Vitali	....	animator

Music Department
Stearn Robinson	....	composer: songs "Sandwich Song" and "The Buy-Buy"

Other crew
Guido Manuli	....	design executive

Distributors

• EastWest Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD) (as "VIP My Brother Superman")

Also Known As:

"Vip mio fratello superuomo" - Italy (original title)
"VIP: My Brother Superman" - USA (DVD box title)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Certification:

Spain:T

Soundtrack:

Nella giungla

VIP: MY BROTHER SUPERMAN (Bruno Bozzetto, 1968) ***

The unprecedented success of Bozzetto's WEST AND SODA ensured a more ambitious follow-up with the aid of American financiers. Biting the hand that fed him (Bozzetto had primarily been involved in making animated commercials), he came up with a sharply satirical narrative about the perils inherent in incessant commercial spoon-feeding to Italian TV audiences. Supervip is the latest in a long line of strapping superheroes while Minivip is his inept 'accidental' twin brother; the latter – short, bespectacled and saddled with an inferiority complex – is a splendid caricature of Woody Allen. During a psychiatrist-imposed vacation, the latter stumbles onto a massive brainwashing conspiracy instigated by Happy Betty, the head of a chain of supermarkets, intent on controlling the worldwide market through missiles lodged into her customers' brain that turn them into compulsive buyers! Every superhero has to have a sweetheart: the intrepid red-headed Lisa is Supervip's girl while the diminutive Nervustrella is the one that loves Minivip in spite of himself; conversely, Happy Betty's minions include a strongman dubbed "The Colonel" and the pint-sized, monocle-sporting Schultz. The film is driven by a superb song score courtesy of Franco Godi that includes a mournful lament by Happy Betty's imprisoned, unsuccessful experiment subjects and a climactic production number performed by the villains themselves when hoist in their own petards. Comic highlight: the "day in the life" demonstration of Happy Betty's assembly-line workers.