Gopo's Little Man
Encyclopedia
Gopo's Little ManGopo's Little Man (Romanian
: Omuleṭul lui Gopo) is a humanoid
character
that appears in most of Ion Popescu-Gopo
's animation
films.
ary perspective. The trepidations caused by a dinosaur
made a monkey fall off a tree and break its tail. The monkey then got off the ground under the appearance of The Little Man, who is then shown climbing a ladder. As he climbs, he successively turns into an Egyptian, a Greek, a Roman, a medieval knight, a Victorian gentleman, and a modern man.
The Little Man explores the deep seas and then flies to space in a rocket (anticipating Yuri Gagarin
's spaceflight by five years).
The worldwide success achieved by A Brief History turned The Little Man into an iconic character, symbolizing the human race in its quest for knowledge and beauty. Ion Popescu-Gopo
was going to use it in another seven films. In many situations, The Little Man is shown holding a flower to his heart, which is taken to symbolize the humans' capacity and need for love.
n artist Adrian Ilfoveanu was commissioned to create the trophy for the Gopo Awards
, whose first edition in 2007 was also thought as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of A Brief History's victory at Cannes. Gopo's Little Man was chosen as a model. Although the Gopo Awards were recently established, the statuette entered popular culture, so that Romanian cinematic artists talk about receiving one or more "Little Men."
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
: Omuleṭul lui Gopo) is a humanoid
Humanoid
A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
character
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
that appears in most of Ion Popescu-Gopo
Ion Popescu-Gopo
Ion Popescu-Gopo was a Romanian graphic artist and animator, but also writer, movie director and actor born in Bucharest, Romania. He was a prominent personality in the Romanian cinematography and the founder of the modern Romanian cartoon school. He was, together with Liviu Ciulei and Mirel...
's animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
films.
History and symbolism
The Little Man first appears in A Brief History (1956), an animation film telling the story of the Universe and humankind from an evolutionEvolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
ary perspective. The trepidations caused by a dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
made a monkey fall off a tree and break its tail. The monkey then got off the ground under the appearance of The Little Man, who is then shown climbing a ladder. As he climbs, he successively turns into an Egyptian, a Greek, a Roman, a medieval knight, a Victorian gentleman, and a modern man.
The Little Man explores the deep seas and then flies to space in a rocket (anticipating Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961....
's spaceflight by five years).
The worldwide success achieved by A Brief History turned The Little Man into an iconic character, symbolizing the human race in its quest for knowledge and beauty. Ion Popescu-Gopo
Ion Popescu-Gopo
Ion Popescu-Gopo was a Romanian graphic artist and animator, but also writer, movie director and actor born in Bucharest, Romania. He was a prominent personality in the Romanian cinematography and the founder of the modern Romanian cartoon school. He was, together with Liviu Ciulei and Mirel...
was going to use it in another seven films. In many situations, The Little Man is shown holding a flower to his heart, which is taken to symbolize the humans' capacity and need for love.
Filmography
- A Brief History (1956)
- Seven Arts (1958)
- Homo Sapiens (1960)
- Allo Hallo (1962)
- Ecce Homo (1977)
- Three Apples (1979)
- Quo Vadis, Homo Sapiens? (1982)
- Homo Faber (1986)
Awards
- Palme d'OrPalme d'OrThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
in the Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
for A Brief History (1957) - The Grand Prize for the Best Animation Film in the Tours Film Festival (France) for Seven Arts (1958)
- The Golden Gate AwardGolden Gate AwardGolden Gate Award may refer to:* A film award at the San Francisco International Film Festival* An award part of the GLAAD Media Awards...
of the San Francisco Film Festival for Homo Sapiens (1960)
The Little Man statuette
RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n artist Adrian Ilfoveanu was commissioned to create the trophy for the Gopo Awards
Gopo Awards
The Gopo Awards are the national Romanian film awards, similar to the Academy Awards , the Goya Awards , or the César Award...
, whose first edition in 2007 was also thought as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of A Brief History's victory at Cannes. Gopo's Little Man was chosen as a model. Although the Gopo Awards were recently established, the statuette entered popular culture, so that Romanian cinematic artists talk about receiving one or more "Little Men."