Original and signed La Linea print by Osvaldo Cavandoli

The origin of La Linea.

The Line (original title in Italian: La Linea) is an Italian animated comedy series that aired on RAI from 1971 to 1986. The series was about the nameless character "The Line" who was supposed to represent a small, stylized male figure with a long nose who is always drawn in profile and silhouette. The series was created by the humorist Osvaldo Cavandoli (Cava, 1920-2007) in 1969.

The figure is shaped by a pencil line and was originally drawn as an advertising figure for an Italian manufacturer of kitchen or white goods. The figure consists of a simple contour line that is part of an infinite line ("hill") on which the figure moves.

The man encounters obstacles and finds objects on the line he walks on, and various situations arise. He often turns to the cartoonist in a kind of silly Italian for help.

The cartoonist shows himself only with his hand and pencil as if the action is taking place on drawing paper. The line itself is white against a smooth background surface where the color changes with the character's mood.

The films usually end with the character reaching the end of the line and falling out of the picture and the story with a scream.

From 1972 on La Linea was shown on numerous TV stations in Europe as well as in cinema, mostly as interstitial between commercials. La Linea was shown in more than 50 countries over the world. The series won prizes 1972 in Annecy and 1973 in Zagreb.

In the United States, the La Linea cartoons were first shown as part of KQED's International Animation Festival in the 1970s, and later featured on the children's TV series The Great Space Coaster, although La Linea was given different names by the show's characters before the cartoon was played. Not all La Linea cartoons were featured on the show, as some had a mature theme and were therefore considered inappropriate for children.

In Iran, La Linea was aired on Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) La Linea was aired in Yugoslavia on TV Zagreb in the 1980s regularly.

In United Kingdom, La Linea was aired on BBC Two occasionally from 1980 to 1981, and on Central in 1988. In Canada, the La Linea cartoons aired on Radio-Canada, TVJQ [fr] and TVO.

In South Africa, it was aired on SABC-TV during the late-1970s and early-1980s as a filler. SABC-TV carried no advertising during shows at the time, and needed to fill gaps, for example before top-of-the-hour news broadcasts. In Australia, La Linea was aired on Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a filler between longer programmes. In the Netherlands, La Linea was aired on VPRO in 1978, 1985 and 1988.

In Sweden, La Linea aired on SVT as a filler from the 1970s until the 1990s, and then again as filler on TV4 Guld and TV4 Komedi from 2006 until 2011.

In Norway, La Linea aired on NRK as a filler from the mid-1970s until the late-1980s.[6] From 30 June until 31 October 2008, Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet published all episodes of La Linea[7] as daily episodes on its website (La Linea 1–8, 101–156,