RAT-MAN (the animated series)

Finally, the cartoons of Rat-Man, the famous comic book character created by Leo Ortolano in 1989, aired for the first time on Rai due from Monday to Friday at 17,50 pm and currently broadcast on Saturday at 9,20 am, finally land on TV. 1995. The comic has been on newsstands since 52, first in the "Made in USA" Fanzine, self-produced by the same author and later published by Panini Comics; currently it is one of the most read books in Italy with Rat-Man Collection and Tutto Rat-Man. The cartoon series, produced by the Stranemani animation studio in Prato, consists of 13 episodes, each lasting XNUMX minutes.

Rat-Man was born as a parody of Batman and he is a super hero, without any superpower, but one way or another, after hilarious gaffe, always manages to complete his mission. Featuring a yellow leotard costume with two funny mouse ears on a monkey face and a blue cape, Rat-Man is actually an ordinary man frustrated with his anonymity, looking for his self-esteem, convincing himself that he is a spotless superhero. and without fear. The result is hilarious adventures, where most of the time Rat-Man is destined to make a thin figure compared to the supervillains, much better equipped than him. The stories unfold in the fictional City with No Name, which features elements typical of much of the world's most populous cities. Here we find Rat-Man flanked by his inseparable teddy bear Piccettino, a stuffed toy characterized by a button instead of an eye, which does not speak and does not think, even if Rat-Man is convinced that he has a faithful and precious ally. As well as Bruce Wayne (Batman), he too owns a Rat-Mobile, he lives in a luxurious super-equipped villa that serves as a base of operations where we find the imperturbable butler Arcibaldo, the only one who knows the true secret identity of Rat-Man.

In the fight against the crime Rat-Man is joined by the police commander Krik, who has full confidence in him and subsequently by Inspector Brakko, apparently the only one able to solve problems with the use of reason, but who in following will prove to be very clumsy. In the course of his investigations, Inspector Brakko avails himself of the collaboration of Svarzeneggher, a short-sighted dog with a non-existent sense of smell, and Jordan, a poorly intelligent policeman, greedy for sweets and sandwiches. When some crime or news story occurs, we always find in the front row, the journalist Clara Clain thirsty for news and determined to achieve her goals. Clara is Inspector Brakko's girlfriend, but most of the time she cheats on him for some exclusive scoop. In the first episode we find Rat-man struggling with a chameleon man, unattainable as he blends in with everything he finds.

Then it will be the turn of the man-cellphone, a super-technological model of cellphone and Rat-man's evil alter ego, Rat in black, dressed in black tights. Issues concerning ecology are treated in a humorous way, such as when Rat-man will face the man-cob, a degeneration of the OMG cereal. To report the episode "The ignorant fairies", which in addition to taking up the title of the famous film by Ferzan Ozpetek, Rat-man in search of his soul mate, will enter the world of fairies very similar to Winx Club. In the episode "Rat-Neighborhood Encounters of the Third Kind" we find the cows that turn to extraterrestrials to eradicate the species harmful to their evolution: flies and man. Before eliminating them, the extraterrestrials decide to study samples of these two species and for humans, their choice will fall (coincidentally) on Rat-man and the Piccettino teddy bear. Rat-man will then have the task of saving the earth from the alien threat. It goes without saying that the narrative key of the stories are the parodies of the famous films and the comics themselves, first of all those of Marvel. Above all in the Rat-man comic, we find in addition to the classic "Marvelous" layout, characters and situations typical of the adventures ofSpiderman and Fantastic Four, as in the books "Rat-man against the spider", "The herald" parody of Silver Surfer, "The immutable Destiny", the return of Rat-boy and the incredible IK. There is no shortage of quotes from the famous Japanese robots as in the book "The great Ratzinga", which we will also find in the animated version.

Rat-Man is copyright © Leo Ortolani, Panini Comics and those entitled to it, are used here for cognitive and informative purposes.