Calimero - il pulcino nero

Calimero - il pulcino nero (lit. Calimero - the black chick), also known as Le disavventure di Calimero (The misadventures of Calimero) is the series of shorts which marked the debut of of Calimero in 1963 and which advertised the Miralanza product Ava detergent. It was shown as part of the Italian advertising show Carosello.

In these shorts, Calimero would usually try to do something good, but would end up being scolded (sometimes due to being tricked by Pierrot; spelled as "Piero" in the original Italian) and run off, and he would run into a Dutch lady (named Mira Lanza) who would ask him what was wrong, to which he would reply something along the lines of "nobody wants me because I am small and black; but it is an injustice", and she would say "but you're not black, only dirty". Then she would wash him with the Ava detergent and this would reveal that Calimero was actually white (however, this was changed to him being naturally black since hatching in the later made stand-alone series of Calimero shorts, as well as all subsequent series, and the "il pulcino nero" part of the title was also dropped, probably due to it seeming controversial that he was disliked for being black and that he was only black because he was dirty). After being washed Calimero would shout Ava's slogan - "Ava come lava!" (meaning "Ava, as it washes!")

Unlike all other Calimero series, these shorts are only in Italian, and most of them are in black and white. However, a lot of the animation was colorized and used in parts of the stand-alone shorts, which were dubbed in various languages.

List of shorts

1. Nascita di Calimero (The Birth of Calimero) (1963) 
2. La volpe cattiva (The Bad Fox) (1963)
3. La banda dei topi (The gang of rats) (1964)
4. Il compito in classe (The classwork) (1965) 
5. Compiti di matematica (Math homework) (1965) 
6. Il Festival della Tonsilla d’Oro (The Festival of the Golden Voice) (1965)
7. Socio in affari (Business partners) (1966) 
8. Calimero e Teofilo, il cugino capellone (Calimero and Teofilo, the hippie cousin) (1967) 
9. Calimero e le tasse (Calimero and the taxes) (1967) 
10. Calimero spazzacamino (Calimero the chimney-sweep) (1967)
11. Calimero a bordo (Calimero on board) (1967) 
12. Aiuto secondino (Jailer's assistant) (1967)
13. La penna che spruzza (The pen that sprays) (1967) 
14. Calimero e il concerto (Calimero and the Concert) (1968) 
15. Calimero da Papero Piero (Calimero and Piero the Duck) (1969) 
16. Prego, si metta in posa! (Please, get in pose!) (1970) 
17. Zio Giobatta (Uncle Giobatta) (1970) 
18. La legge è uguale per tutti (The law is equal for all) (1970)
19. Trombe e… piffero (Trumpets and... the fife) (1970)
20. Una festa esplosiva (An explosive celebration) (1971)
21. Contrabbando di orologi (Smuggling of watches) (1973)
22. Il bandito (The bandit) (1973)
23. Calimero a Venezia (Calimero in Venice) (1974)

Videos

Carosello Miralanza 3

Miralanza ad from 1961 featuring a prototype of Calimero

74 Detersivo per bucato Ava Mira Lanza

"Calimero and the Bad Fox" - Calimero tells a riddle to a fox that is eating eggs from the henhouse (Subtitled)

Carosello- Calimero il pulcino nero

"The birth of Calimero" - Calimero's true debut (with English subtitles)

Calimero cantante

"Business partners" - Calimero is tricked by a fox

Carosello Miralanza 11

"The classwork" - Calimero is accused of cheating

Carosello Miralanza 5

"The festival of the golden voice" - The only Miralanza short known to be in color, featuring Piero, where he is envious of Calimero's great singing

Carosello Miralanza 7

"Calimero the chimney-sweep" - Calimero tries to clean a man's chimney but makes a mistake

Carosello Miralanza 4

"Calimero and Teofilo" - Calimero convinces his cousin to participate in a boxing match

240 Detersivo per bucato Ava Mira Lanza

"Calimero and the taxes" - Calimero gets his dad in trouble with the tax office (Subtitled)

Carosello Miralanza 10

"Calimero on board" - Calimero sings for some sailors

Ava Polvere - Calimero e la penna che spruzza

"The pen that sprays" - Piero tricks Calimero into giving their teacher an exploding inkpen

Caroselli vari

"Jailer's assistant" (at 13:57 in) - Calimero helps out at the jail but naively lets loose a weasel inmate

185 Detersivo per bucato Ava Mira Lanza

"Calimero and Piero the Duck" - Another short featuring Piero, where he makes it look like Calimero smashed his trains (Subtitled)

171 Detersivo per bucato Ava Mira Lanza

"Uncle Giobatta" - Calimero gives a Christmas gift to his cheap scrooge of an uncle (Subtitled)

162 Detersivo per bucato Ava Mira Lanza

"Please, get in pose!" - Calimero inadvertently helps to catch a pickpocket (Subtitled)

157 Detersivo per bucato Ava Mira Lanza

"The law is equal for all" - Calimero's dad is a traffic cop (Subtitled)

Detersivo Ava Miralanza - Le disavventure di Calimero - Calimero e il concerto

"Calimero and the concert" - Piero sticks gum in Calimero's violin, making him play horribly

173 Detersivo per bucato Ava Mira Lanza

"Trumpets and... the fife!" - Calimero plays in a band but Piero causes trouble (Subtitled)

External Links

Series info on Carosello news site