Totò Sapore and the Magical Story of PizzaMovies like Totò Sapore and the Magical Story of Pizza
- Key Features:
- Magic, Food, Pizza, Fairy tale, Musical, 18th century, Naples, Witch, Heros journey
- Tone:
- whimsical, humorous, stylized
- Target Audience:
- Family-friendly, Animation lovers, Musical enthusiasts, Italian culture
- Emotional Arc:
- Cheerfulness → Conflict → Triumph
Totò Sapore and the Magical Story of Pizza

Naples, 18th century. Salvatore "Totò" Sapore, an unemployed minstrel, always manages to cheer up the hungry with his songs about good food, always upsetting Vesuvia, a magma witch who lives inside the Vesuvius.
Totò Sapore and the Magical Story of Pizza
Cenerentola struggles to escape the shadow and evil schemes of her stepmother and six stepsisters who all live aboard the Megaride, a ship stuck in the port of a decaying future Naples.

In the immediate post-war period, amidst the rubble of a poverty-ridden Naples, two kids, Carmine and Celestina, try to survive as best they can by helping each other out. One night, they secretly board a ship bound for New York to reach Celestina’s sister, who emigrated to America several years earlier. The two children join the many Italian emigrants seeking a new life in America and arrive in an unknown metropolis, which, after several misadventures, they will learn to call home.

Mastro Geppetto is a poor carpenter with no wife and no children. The man is very lonely, and after trading a piece of wood with his colleague Mastro Ciliegia, decides to build himself a puppet to keep him company.

When a Danish chef travels to Tuscany to sell his father's business, he meets a local woman who inspires him to rethink his approach to life and love.

A Milanese businessman is beside himself when his son tells him he's going to marry the daughter of a pizza maker from Naples.

Pietramezzana, a remote village in the Lucan Dolomites, is likely to disappear. Its inhabitants, led by the volcanic Dominic do not give up and, believing that the opening of a factory may be the solution to all their troubles, they want to make sure that the project is successful ...

The film is a parody of Disney's Fantasia, though possibly more of a challenge to Fantasia than parody status would imply. In the context of this film, "Allegro non Troppo" means Not So Fast!, an interjection meaning "slow down" or "think before you act" and refers to the film's pessimistic view of Western progress (as opposed to the optimism of Disney's original).

Antonio, Peppino and Lucia are three brothers who live in the country near Naples. Lucia's son, Gianni, goes to Naples to study medicine, but there he knows a ballet dancer. They fall in love and, when she goes to Milan, Gianni follows her. Informed of this and afraid that their nephew will stop studying, the three Caponi brothers leave for Milan to persuade Gianni to come back and continue studying and abandon the "Malafemmina" (bad girl).

Antonio, a representative of medical supplies with no success, finds a brilliant way to present himself to the customers and improve his sales: the special tiramisù made by his beautiful wife Aurora.

It's 1348. The plague has brutally hit Florence. A group of then young people, seven women and three men, rebel against the feeling of death that is about to swallow them. They flee the city and find refuge in an abandoned villa in the Tuscan hills. Here, between moral doubts and the tasks needed to survive, they kill time by telling each other stories until they will decide to return. The stories are varied - tragic, bizarre, funny or erotic - but common and central to all of them is the female presence.

Roberto Benigni adapts the classic children's tale by Carlo Collodi for the big-budget family-oriented comedy Pinocchio.

Our story starts with Tonio, the son the bears King, being kidnapped by some hunters in the Sicilian mountains. Because of the harshness of a winter that threatens its clan with famine, the Bear King decides to invade the land of men (in the hope of finding his son). Thanks to his powerful army and the help of a wizard, he will succeed at both quests but he will soon find out that bears are not meant to live in the land of men.

In this live-action adaptation of the beloved fairytale, old woodcarver Geppetto fashions a wooden puppet, Pinocchio, who magically comes to life. Pinocchio longs for adventure and is easily led astray, encountering magical beasts, fantastical spectacles, while making friends and foes along his journey. However, his dream is to become a real boy, which can only come true if he finally changes his ways.

In paradise, a group gathers to discuss why people still act selfishly, even though Jesus sacrificed himself for them 2,000 years ago. As a result, a new Messiah is sent to Earth to address the issue.

Rome, 1929. The Pope's tailor sends his only son, 35-year-old virgin Nello, to more liberal Bologna hoping he'll find a wife. His head brimming with ideas on romantic love induced by classical poetry, Nello falls for Angela, a beautiful blind woman who indulges him only to win back her fiancé.

Antonio goes to Rome to represent his fellow peasants, to request a highway that will be built in their region. But the guy is mastered by 'la dolce vita' and wastes the money entrusted to him for his mission. When Peppino is sent to to find out what happened, he lets himself be trapped by the gentle grip of 'la dolce vita'

A young woman in early-1900s Italy searches for a mystical sanctuary where her stillborn child can be brought back to life long enough to be baptized.

Once upon a time a wise and kind old woman discovers a baby in her cabbage patch. She brings up the child and, when she dies, the boy, Totò, enters an orphanage. Totò leaves the orphanage a happy young man, and looks for work in post-war Milan. He ends up with the homeless and organizes them to build a shanty town in a vacant lot. But when greedy developers threaten the community’s land, Totò will need all the help he can get in order to find an impossible way out.

Working in the shadows of music stars, a gifted guitarist returns to his hometown and decides to stage a disappearing act in order to propel him to fame.

A seventeen year old travels from London to the Austrian Alps to attend the legendary Mozart boarding school. There, he discovers a centuries-old forgotten passageway into the fantastic world of Mozart's "The Magic Flute".

A music group and a journalist cross the region of Basilicata by foot to attend a music festival.

Former childhood pals Leo and Nikki are attracted to each other as adults—but will their feuding parents' rival pizzerias put a chill on their sizzling romance?

Construction worker Oreste and young fiancee Adelaide meet Nello, a cook in a pizzeria. This love triangle often goes to communist rallies, and enjoys the filthy beaches of Ostia. Will the hostile environment pave a way to jealousy?

In Italy in the 1930s, sky pirates in biplanes terrorize wealthy cruise ships as they sail the Adriatic Sea. The only pilot brave enough to stop the scourge is the mysterious Porco Rosso, a former World War I flying ace who was somehow turned into a pig during the war. As he prepares to battle the pirate crew's American ace, Porco Rosso enlists the help of spunky girl mechanic Fio Piccolo and his longtime friend Madame Gina.

Andrea, a forty-year old engineer, suddenly becomes unemployed while his wife France gets a promotion. He is very down hearted and since he does not want to be a burden to his family he takes the place of the house maid.

When Debora's ex-husband, a popular neomelodic singer, loses his life in a stage dive, she worries that her 11-year-old son Ciro may be showing symptoms of depression. Taken to a child psychologist, shy Tommaso, Ciro eventually confesses to him that it's not his father's death that has got him down, it's love for his classmate, the cute Ludovica. The two make a deal: Tommaso will help Ciro to win the affections of Ludovica, while Ciro will give Tommaso a hand at having a chance with his mother.

Count Dracula trades Transylvania for Italy in search of fresh blood and Western standards of living, but finds instead his ancient love Zora, reincarnated as a young graffiti artist from the Roman hip-hop scene.

Two stories of Italians abroad: in Dubai, a truck driver who smuggles Ferraris for a living teaches the tricks of the trade to his young disciple; in Russia, a clumsy dentist experiences the consequences of sex tourism.

Antonio and Peppino live in a small town in central Italy: Peppino is the barber, Totò is maintained by the rich but avaricious wife Teresa.

A police inspector has to help an eccentric stranger who seems to have lost his memory.

Following a fall during mistletoe picking, Druid Getafix decides that it is time to secure the future of the village. Accompanied by Asterix and Obelix, he undertakes to travel the Gallic world in search of a talented young druid to transmit the Secret of the Magic Potion.

The inmate Proietti, nicknamed "Er Soffia", getting out of prison. There is the Roman brigadier Vasco Sacchetti, an agent of the narcotics and his old friend who, to celebrate his freedom, invites him to eat fish at Fiumicino.

The evil knight Torchesac, who is at the service of the sinister lord of La Mortaille, gets a very powerful magic flute and uses it for evil purposes. Johan and Pirlouit, assisted by the magician Homnibus, travel to the land of the Smurfs, the only manufacturers of this sort of instrument, to get a new one and battle the usurpers.

Gaetano, a young Neapolitan, decides to leave home, work and friends, to look for other moments of life and meet other people.

Police commissioner Lo Gatto is in charge of the local Italian police station within Vatican State. During an investigation, following the murder of a Vatican priest, he decides to question the Pope! For this reason Lo Gatto is sent to a Sicilian remote island Favignana. There is very little for the commissioner to do on the quiet island, so Lo Gatto decides to investigate the vanishing of a tourist which quickly becomes a very complicated affair.

Two proud and estranged brothers, a disputed inheritance and a past that comes back. When he hears about the passing of his father - whom he has not seen in many years - Salvo returns to his native Sicily. He intends to convince his brother Lillo to sell the family farm and save his pizzeria, which is about to go bankrupt - a secret that he has kept even from his wife and children. But things will not be easy and Salvo will have to come to terms with his choices. A bittersweet comedy about family relations and how one never stops growing up, not even at fifty.

The film is divided into two episodes, The Hair of Disgrace and The Magician, both focusing on the theme of the occult and beliefs.

In 19th-century Papal Rome, Bartolomeo is a wealthy and greedy parvenu who craves a noble title. While trying to raise the money he needs to strike a deal with a prince for the hand of his daughter, he'll find himself caught in a magical journey between past, present and future. Assisted by some rather illustrious companions, he'll have to come to terms with whom he really is and give his life a new meaning.

Missing the train is very bad. Seeing it leave with your children and those of your friends you had to accompany on vacation is a whole other story ... that of the crazy pursuit from Turin to Sicily of a father and grandfather as different as they are unreliable.

Don Camillo (now bishop) and Peppone (now senator) return to the town of Brescello and rekindle their friendly rivalry.

Young Ciro Priello, an ultra-skilled Neapolitan graphic, can not find a job that satisfies and appreciates him. After sending the curriculum practically everywhere, he just have to send a copy in space. He will thus be able to work for an alien society based on competence and meritocracy.

A bumbling Christmas elf whose Santa's helper job is jeopardized by a complete inability in building toys teams up with a kid harassed by bullies.

A tribute to Naples, this film presents six episodes: a clown exploited by a gangster, a pizza seller losing her husband’s ring, a child's funeral, a gambler beaten by a kid, a prostitute's unusual wedding, and a "wisdom seller" offering advice.

Antonio, a former variety actor, keeps his daughter in an excellent boarding school by organizing small scams with his friend and colleague Felice. Commissioner Malvasia good-naturedly persecuted him. When their respective unsuspecting children fall in love, the two fathers make peace.

18th century. Paola, a young, reckless street urchin inadvertently gets in the way of the plans of terrifying Baron De Michelis, a small and mean hunchback always escorted by his trusted (and abused) minion Marmotta, with an unquenchable thirst for power and an unmeasurable hate for witches. The intervention of the sweet and powerful Dolores, a good witch who has devoted her life to children, saves Paola from being burned at the stake. Through a magical apprenticeship, breakneck pursuits, incredible transformations and a whole lot of trouble, Paola will discover that fate has something really special in store for her… And so the legend begins.

A portrait of the flaws and peculiarities of four type of girls living in different districts of Rome.

In a spooky small town, when a slew of pizza delivery boys are slain on the job, two daring survivors set out to catch the culprits behind the cryptic crime spree.

Orlando is in his 40s and is "loser" until the 2012 earthquake makes him change his life.

In 18th-century Rome, impish aristocrat Onofrio del Grillo amuses himself by playing pranks on all sorts of people — his reactionary family and fellow nobles, the poors, the French occupiers trying to modernize society, and even the Pope himself.

In Palmi, a small town in Calabria, Don Vincenzo, a genial retired farmer, has a crazy idea to revive the local soccer team by organizing a bizarre fundraiser hiring the Italian major league Serie A, soccer player Etienne Morville, a bad-tempered guy but among the strongest in the world. Albeit unwillingly, Morville leaves Milan to move to Palmi and try to save his image. In the small town he will come up against a reality of sincerity, which will lead everyone on an unforgettable experience.

An Italian laborer foils anyone who tries to stop him from selling espresso on the Milan-to-Naples night train.

Under the watch of his unkind realtives, lonely Bosse's luck is changed when he is sent to the land where his real father is the King. In that country, he sets out on a quest, together with his new friend, to destroy the evil Knight Kato.

A new hero is born in this hilarious, animated adventure of epic proportions! Timo, a student at the Gladiators? Academy in Rome, has no desire to become a legendary gladiator like his stepfather. That is, until the mesmerizing Lucilla walks into his life. With the help of an unlikely band of sidekicks, Timo is determined to be the gladiator of her dreams and embarks on an action-packed journey to become the Colosseum?s first victor!

A common day in the actual Italy, narrated by the different stories of seven different people, it's the starting point for an overview to the 21st century's italian society, among corrupt politicians, unfaithful husbands, hardcore soccer fans and dishonest businessmen.

Antonio and Giuseppe meet at the hospital, while awaiting the birth of their respective first children. The two leave together for a quick lunch, ending up involved against their will in an odyssey of amusing setbacks and bizarre characters.

A man wakes up one morning with an annoying ringing sound in his ears. A note on the fridge says: "Your friend Luigi has died. P.S. I took the car". The problem is that he does not even remember who this guy Luigi is. This is just the beginning of a tragicomic day during which he will be plunged into the folly of the world. One of those days that changes your life forever.

Three Italians travel to their hometown to vote for elections: Pasquale is a Southern immigrant living in Munich who's genuinely happy to come back to Italy, even if just for a few days, but the country he dreams of is far from reality; Furio travels to Rome with his family, but his niggling attitude threatens to push his wife Magda over the edge; young Mimmo is also going to Rome, but the trip is repeatedly interrupted by worries about his grandma's health.

A 40-year-old world-famous chef with anger management issues is assigned to run a cooking class at a centre for young people with autism.

Born of a flower and growing to only a couple of inches tall, poor Thumbelina is worried she'll never meet someone her own size, until she happens to catch the eye of Prince Cornelius of the Fairies. Just as soon as she finds love, however, it's torn away from her when she is kidnapped by Ms. Toad. Now Thumbelina has to escape Ms. Toad's grasp and search for Prince Cornelius. Luckily, there's a whole city of animals willing to help her.

Frustrated with their lack of upward mobility, some young Italians move to Cuba to start a wi-fi café and attempt to build a new life.

A small egg named Toto decides that he wants to fulfill his purpose in life and become a chicken instead of dying in a frying pan; so he starts a quest to return to the farms along with his new friend, the noisy egg Willy and a crazy bacon stripe. The three friends will face lot of obstacles in their quest.

Island farmer Banana Joe helps the local community by trading his bananas for goods. When gangsters arrive with plans to construct a banana processing plant, Joe kicks them out, but the mob boss discovers that Joe is operating without a license. After the mob tips off the authorities and Joe's boat is impounded, he ventures into a big city for the first time to seek help.

After a queen's tragic death, the king abandons his newborn daughter in a cave, but a witch saves her. Years later, the tomboy princess must confront and ultimately falls in love with the enemy king.

Maroso Golfetto, a firm manager from Veneto, is known for his frequent yelling at his employees, who are either immigrants or Southern Italians. He regularly appears on the local TV channel to denounce the evils of immigration, and his popularity extends to children. His speeches resonate more deeply with people than those of Lucia, their anti-racist schoolmistress. One morning, a miracle occurs: by invoking the help of God to rid Veneto of its immigrants, all the immigrants disappear. However, is this truly a blessing?

Felice Sciosciammocca, the mayor of Roccasecca, sends his nephew Ciccillo to Naples so that he will become a good doctor.

Wart is a young boy who aspires to be a knight's squire. On a hunting trip he falls in on Merlin, a powerful but amnesiac wizard who has plans for him beyond mere squiredom. He starts by trying to give him an education, believing that once one has an education, one can go anywhere. Needless to say, it doesn't quite work out that way.

Her name is Mina, but she is called Bambola (doll). Upon the death of her mother, she and her homosexual brother, Flavio, open a pizzeria. A man named Ugo loans Bambola the money, but is then killed in a fight with another one of her boyfriends, Settimio. While visiting Settimio in jail, she meets a sadistic man named Furio, and they begin a relationship.

One of puppet-maker Geppetto's creations comes magically to life. This puppet, Pinocchio, has one major desire and that is to become a real boy someday. In order to accomplish this goal he has to learn to act responsibly. This film shows you the adventures on which he learns valuable lessons.

A young man, armed with a magical bow and arrows, embarks on a mystical journey through a mystical land to rid it of all evil and joins forces with an outlaw to take down an evil witch bent on claiming the magic bow for evil.

Luca and his best friend Alberto experience an unforgettable summer on the Italian Riviera. But all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface.

A Russian poet, Andrei and his interpreter, Eugenia travel to Italy to research the life of an 18th-century composer.

In an Italian seaside town, young Titta gets into trouble with his friends and watches various local eccentrics as they engage in often absurd behavior. Frequently clashing with his stern father and defended by his doting mother, Titta witnesses the actions of a wide range of characters, from his extended family to Fascist loyalists to sensual women, with certain moments shifting into fantastical scenarios.

An endearing light comedy about a woman who spontaneously becomes a resident of Venice after her family left her behind. While enjoying the wonderful people she meets she achieves a new life and the first time independent of her family.

Momo is a young orphan girl who lives in the ruins of an old Roman amphitheater and becomes friends with everybody in the neighborhood. But when a powerful international corporation starts stealing everybody’s time, nobody has any time left for her, let alone their friends or families. Momo, together with Master Hora, the custodian of time, are the only ones who can go up against the time thieves before all is lost forever.

A priest helps the small town he's stationed in to resolve conflicts by working together.

The tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family—every child except one, Mirabel. But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her exceptional family's last hope.

When Santa's helper La Befana falls ill and must take off a Christmas Eve, she recruits Scarafoni to help deliver all the toys. No one but the toys knows is that Scarafoni plans to auction off the toys to the highest bidder, which means the toys won't make it to the children who have been good all year and deserve them. The toys decide to deliver themselves, and the story follows them as they struggle to avoid the heartless Scarafoni and to find their true homes.

Antonio is a 30 year old family man, whose life finds an unexpected twist when he's suddenly dumped by his husband, whom he depends both psychologically and economically: he needs to find a new place to stay, a job and a new purpose in life. Antonio finds a room in an apartment owned by Denis and starts to work in a bakery owned by Luca, while attending pastry school. Through this process he discovers that it was wrong of him to give up his independence for the sake of his relationship in the past.

When Hilda wakes up in the body of a troll, she must use her wits and courage to get back home, become human again — and save the city of Trolberg.

Five down-on-their luck strangers meet by chance while looking at a property in the country none of them are able to afford. They decide to join forces and risk everything to turn it into a B&B, only for the local mafia to show up demanding their "fair" share.

A funny story about two brothers, Pietro and Francesco, and what happens with them and their families after Petro loses his memory.

From childhood to fatherhood, Piero learns things the hard way while growing up in a working-class neighborhood of Livorno.

Mamma Stella is on edge. As if she hadn't got enough trouble already with her daughter Rosa Maria, who has left her husband now Costantino, her son, has disrobed. Afraid to be the talk of the village, relegates him to a distant lighthouse belonging to the family. But Costantino does not remain far from the madding crowd for long. It does not take long indeed before all the local (or even distant) outcasts flock together there: Magnolia, a retired escort girl; Arturo, Rosa Maria's estranged husband; Valbona, a lesbian; Rosa Maria herself; and, to crown it all, two eccentric workers accompanied by a little girl... After a period of chaos, this small world gradually discovers that unity makes strength.

Three teenage girls come of age while working at a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut.

Mike Hamilton, a Philadelphia lawyer, comes to Naples to settle the estate of his long estranged "black sheep" brother. Once there, he discovers that the deceased has left an 8 year old boy who is being raised by Michael's sister-in-law Lucia Curcio. To make matters worse, Lucia happens to be a sexy nightclub dancer.

Having just moved back in with his working-class parents, twentysomething on-and-off philosophy undergrad Walter navigates turn-of-the-millennium Turin and Gen-X ennui.

Espen “Ash Lad”, a poor farmer’s son, embarks on a dangerous quest with his brothers to save the princess from a vile troll known as the Mountain King – in order to collect a reward and save his family’s farm from ruin.

Marcelle Toing, owner of the best restaurant in Rio de Janeiro, must go on missions to steal ingredients from human restaurants to keep his meals the best.

During the rise of fascism in Mussolini's Italy, a wooden boy brought magically to life struggles to live up to his father's expectations.

In 1950s Ferrara, a lonely innkeeper explores a series of relationships while awaiting her missing husband’s return from war.

A bizarre group consisting of a refined chef with unusual recipes, an assistant cook with taste disturbances and an improvised pastry chef takes part in a competition between chefs to win the contract for the G7.

Aldo and Vittorio are two men suffering from disabilities. One is blind, the other is forced to a wheelchair. Vittorio one day by chance meets Aldo in the hospice and invites him to take a pleasure trip to Sanremo in Liguria. In fact Vittorio, though blind, is a cheat who’s in trouble.

Totokamen is an entertainer and an illusionist who performs in various Egyptian nightclubs assisted by his manager, Tarantenkamen. Taking advantage of cheesy tricks, Totokamen pretends to be the son of the god Amun.

A young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.

Romantic John the Fool and his friend Foal set out on a series of unpredictable adventures in different magical worlds. The two buddies will have to outsmart an evil tyrant king, catch the firebird, and find John’s true love.

Fired from his HR job in the big city, Fulvio returns home and sees a leaky pipe in his brother's church as the way to save the crumbling town.

Thomas, a struggling former magician, and Carlo, a Neapolitan submissive to his Northern wife and father-in-law, are two half-brothers who reunite after years in Naples following the death of their father, Vittorio, an inveterate gambler and womanizer. They discover they have a third brother, Ugo, who appears a bit dim-witted but is actually a genius. The inheritance Thomas and Carlo covet disappears due to their father's debts, and the three have a brilliant idea: to exploit Neapolitan superstition and credulity by becoming "ghostbusters." Just when their business seems to be unexpectedly successful, the spirit of their father, Vittorio, takes possession of Carlo's body. Thomas and Carlo become convinced that ghosts really do exist. Meanwhile, the ghosts captured by the trio break free and go to awaken the ghost of a witch who threatens to destroy Naples. With their father's help, the three brothers try to save the city.

The Queen of the Night enlists a handsome prince named Tamino to rescue her beautiful kidnapped daughter, Princess Pamina, in this screen adaptation of the beloved Mozart opera. Aided by the lovelorn bird hunter Papageno and a magical flute that holds the power to change the hearts of men, young Tamino embarks on a quest for true love, leading to the evil Sarastro's temple where Pamina is held captive.

