Talk:Topo Gigio

Mole vs Mouse
Isn't he a mole rather than a mouse? --Guille 17:06, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

In my country moles have somewhat smaller ears. (Unsigned comment by User:84.76.169.57)

Possibly so, but I'll bet they don't dance or tell jokes like Gigio either. Maybe the ears are artistic license geared toward the infantile audience. "Topo" still means mole, whatever the specie he was given when translated to English.Guille 23:45, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, Guille, but Topo just means "mouse"..."Mole" would be "Talpa"...Talpa, by the way, is a feminine noun, so the full name would be "Talpa Gigia"... (Unsigned comment by User:207.237.214.20)


 * No, it depends on the language. In Spanish, he's still called "Topo Gigio" even though the name implies he's a mole rather than a mouse. And you're wrong about "Talpa Gigia". Italian has many feminine nouns but they may well apply to males. A tiger, for instance is "una tigre", regardless of the tiger's actual gender. An SS trooper would be "una SS", even though the trooper is male and so on and so forth. Just because TG could be "una talpa" it doesn't imply that he would be female. Vince In Milan 22:43, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Nice discussion, but topo definitely means "mouse". Mickey Mouse in Italian is "Topolino". Topo Gigio does not live underground, his fond of cheese and is afraid of cats.  Enough said. --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 07:24, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

At any rate, he is certainly NOT a "soft foam gopher" as the article states. Could someone fix that? He's definitely cuter than Mickey. 130.132.83.44 18:32, 16 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Topo Gigio is not a gopher either. AFAIK there are no gophers in Italy. I had to look it up in the dictionary: it says "gopher" is "geomide", a word which I have seen before. --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 07:24, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

Removed entry
As recently as December 2, 2006, a clip from the Spanish language cartoon was shown on Univision's Muévete TV program.

This is simply a repeat of Spanish language copy of the Japanese cartoon, therefore not notable. 24.24.211.239 (talk) 16:45, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Topo Gigio and "gigione"
Someone put in the claim that "Gigio" refers to "gigione" meaning a "ham" (an actor who overplays his characters, or something of the sort), and therefore the name should translate as "Hammy Mouse".

This does not make much sense to me; it is like saying that John F. Kennedy was named after the johnny-jump-up, or Peter Falk after saltpeter. Gigio is a very common nickname (a familiar/endearing variant of "Gigi"); "gigione" may (or may not) be its augmentative, "big louie" or "fat louie". Whatever special meaning got attached to "gigione", it does not carry over to "Gigio" without the augmentative. Unless someone finds a reference (from Maria Perego or such) that backs up the "gigione" connection, it should be treated as pure speculation. And even if it turns out to be true, "Louie" will still be a correct translation of "Gigio". All the best, --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 13:50, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

Louie Mouse
Folks, where did this "translation" of "Topo Gigio" as "Louie Mouse" come from? Granted one could use this just as well as "Freddy Mouse" or "Quasimodo Mouse" but it is in no way literal. Gigio is short for Giovanni which means "John" (Johnny Mouse). Louis would be "Luigi".

If this "translation" is referring to some English language version of the show or some such thing then that should be spelled out. My guess, though, is that somebody just came up with a cute translation (WP:OR).

--Mcorazao (talk) 21:43, 15 December 2009 (UTC)


 * "Gigi" is usually the short form of "Luigi"; just google and see. ("Gino", from "Luigino", may be more common, though.) The common short forms of "Giovanni" are "Gianni" (most common), "Giò" or "Nanni".  I would have sworn that "Gigi" *never* means "Giovanni", but now that you say so, I am not so sure. In any case, if it does, it must be relatively rare.  All the best, --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 00:22, 16 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Well "Gigio" and "Gigi" are not necessarily the same name, but regardless poking around a little it appears Gigio is used for multiple names including Giovanni and Luigi. I have tended to associate it with Giovanni more but I guess I don't know for a fact that this is the most traditional.
 * Looking back over the artcle history it looks like Johnny was the original translation used in the article and an anonymous editor changed it to Louis, then Louie, back in 2006. But no effort was made to offer support for that change.
 * It appears that perhaps the Louie translation for the puppet itself originated with the Ed Sullivan show (see, ). So I would recommend rephrasing and adding a reference. That removes any subjectivity and makes it NPOV.
 * --Mcorazao (talk) 15:33, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, there is this news article on Gigio's "birthday" (in Italian) that claims "Luigi, questo è il suo vero nome" ("Luigi, this is his real name"). It does not seem to be an echo of Wikipedia.  I will see if I can find more evidence. All the best, --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 23:49, 17 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Given the above reference, we should keep "Luigi"/"Louie". Please do not change to "Giovanni"/"Johnny" without a better reference.  --Jorge Stolfi (talk) 07:27, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

Other appearances - may not be considered "notable" in this article
Appeared on Tommy Cooper TV show — Preceding unsigned comment added by 14.202.184.73 (talk) 04:50, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

Puppetry technology?
No mention is made to the puppetry technology used to animate this character. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 100.33.30.50 (talk) 04:41, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

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Removed COI template
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