Modern Cipollino – today's take on the onion boy's adventures

Round 550
Image 4 — "Looking for adventure" : 3.45
A sweet Ghibli-flavored watercolor of the onion boy gliding down a leafy street on an e-scooter — the gentlest "modern take" of the round. But the floating Totoro cameo drags in a different franchise entirely, and the scene is more pleasant stroll than adventure.

Image 3 — "Best friends – Cipollino and Count Cherry." : 3.60
A clever pull from the book — Cipollino and young Count Cherry as modern city guys cracking up over a phone on a park bench. The friendship reads warmly and the modernization is literal and fun, though the realistic 3D heads sit right on the edge of uncanny.

Image 1 — "Onion Boy: City Pop Rush" : 3.85
A vibrant poster: hoodie-clad Cipollino leaping across rooftop gardens above a solar-paneled eco-city, with confident lettering and "be kind, be brave, be you" stickers. Great energy and design sense, docked slightly for echoing the theme text verbatim and a wobble in the headline script.

Image 2 — "Cipollino: Wanted for Being Different" : 4.00
This is the round's clear standout because it actually retells Rodari — the onion boy sprinting through a sunlit Italian street with furious tomato policemen on his heels is Signor Pomodoro's tyranny, updated with "GIUSTIZIA PER TUTTI!" graffiti, a WANTED poster and a "Cipollino strikes again" newspaper. The storybook rendering is rich and kinetic, every prop feeds the narrative, and the subtitle lands the modern message without preaching. Faithful, funny, and beautifully staged. My winner.