Federico Pedrocchi (1 May 1907 – 20 January 1945) was an Italian
comic book artist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literary ...
and
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...
. He sometimes used the
pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
Costanzo Federici.
He founded the magazine ''
Paperino e altre avventure
''Donald Duck and Other Adventures'' (Italian: ''Paperino e altre avventure''), also known as ''Paperino giornale'', is a 1937–40 weekly Italian Disney comics magazine published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Mondadori. The comic was launched by ...
'' (''Donald Duck and Other Adventures'') in 1937, and wrote some of the earliest
Disney comic book
Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck.
The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with t ...
stories.
Life and career
Pedrocchi was born in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
,
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
of Italian parents, and he moved back to Italy with his family in 1912.
[ Forced to interrupt his studies because of his father's death, in 1930 he opened a small advertising studio and the same year he started collaborating as illustrator with the children magazine '' Corriere dei Piccoli'' and with a number of other magazines, notably '']La Domenica del Corriere
''La Domenica del Corriere'' (''The Sunday Courier'') was an Italian weekly newspaper which ran from 1899 to 1989. It came out every Sunday free with ''Corriere della Sera'', but was also sold separately. It was famous for its cover drawings, and ...
''.[ In 1935 he debuted as a cartoonist with the story "I due tamburini", and in 1936 he started collaborating with ]Cesare Zavattini
Cesare Zavattini (20 September 1902 – 13 October 1989) was an Italian screenwriter and one of the first theorists and proponents of the Neorealist movement in Italian cinema.
Biography
Born in Luzzara near Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, o ...
for the script of '' Saturno contro la Terra''.[
In 1937 Pedrocchi was allowed by ]Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
to write and draw stories with Disney characters, and the same year he founded the magazine ''Paperino e altre avventure
''Donald Duck and Other Adventures'' (Italian: ''Paperino e altre avventure''), also known as ''Paperino giornale'', is a 1937–40 weekly Italian Disney comics magazine published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Mondadori. The comic was launched by ...
'' (''Donald Duck and Other Adventures''), published by Mondadori
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy.
History
The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 19 ...
, in which Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
became the protagonist of long, adventurous stories.Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
"Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
'' (Biancaneve e i Setti Nani). During the same period, he also wrote two further Disney stories which were printed in Mondadori's biweekly publication ''Albi d'oro''.[ Pedrocchi died in ]Gallarate
Gallarate (; Lombard language, Lombard: ''Galaraa'') is a city and ''comune'' of Alto Milanese of Lombardy and of Milan metropolitan area, northern Italy, in the Province of Varese. It has a population of some 54,000 people.
It is the junction ...
at 37 years old, after having been hit by a burst of machine gun during an English air raid.
Disney comics bibliography
Pedrocchi's Disney stories in ''Paperino e altre avventure'' were:
References
External links
Lambiek Comiclopedia biography
1907 births
1945 deaths
Italian comics artists
Italian comics writers
Artists from Buenos Aires
Disney comics writers
Disney comics artists
Deaths by British airstrikes during World War II
{{Europe-comics-creator-stub
Royal Italian Army personnel killed in World War II