Official mascot · Rainbow MagicLand · Valmontone · 2011
The Gattobaleno.
The official mascot of Rainbow MagicLand — a magical rainbow cat sculpted at monumental scale in our workshops and installed as the identity symbol of the Valmontone park.
Behind the scenes
The mascot-sculpture,
sized for the brand.
Sculpting a theme-park mascot is one of the most delicate jobs: it must be faithful to the 2D illustration of the character, but translated into three dimensions with proportions that work in person. Every detail becomes volumetric.
From 2D to 3D
The Gattobaleno is born as a flat vector illustration in the Rainbow Spa graphics. The challenge is translating it into three dimensions while keeping recognisability: the cat must look like the same character from every viewing angle, as happens with the Disney characters sculpted for the American parks. Preliminary clay study, then translation into polystyrene + fibreglass.
The rainbow livery
The coat is painted in concentric chromatic bands: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet — the complete rainbow in its natural succession. The bands are not uniform but follow the volume of the body, so the natural light at the park highlights them differently from each angle. Saturated acrylic paints applied over white ground with three-four coats of glossiness.
The brand function
The Gattobaleno is not just a statue: it is the park's brand landmark. He becomes the character on the signage panels, the entrance tickets, the plush merchandise. The monumental sculpture is his physical version, the one the child can hug and photograph. He is the bridge between the Rainbow editorial product and the park's physical experience.
7 colours
the complete rainbow of the Gattobaleno's coat (red → violet)
25 May 2011
the park opening date with the mascot already in place
Rainbow Spa
Iginio Straffi's production company that owns the character
Second life
The mascot
survives the rebrand.
After the park's transition of management from Rainbow Spa to Pillarstone Italy (KKR) in 2018, the Gattobaleno character was re-contracted: the new management reduced the character's presence in communication materials and merchandise. Our monumental sculpture has had variable life depending on season and exhibition space.
The technique of the monumental mascot-sculpture for a theme park entered our repertoire. The logic of translating a 2D character into a three-dimensional sculpture is the same applied to the six Winx statues at the same park, to the cartoon figures of Miragica — Land of Giants, to the Marvel characters at the Rocco Giocattoli store.
Tech sheet
All production data
- Piece
- Gattobaleno · official park mascot · Rainbow MagicLand · Valmontone (Rome)
- Opening
- 25 May 2011 · park opening day · mascot already installed
- Client
- Alfa Park Srl for Rainbow Spa (Iginio Straffi) · today Pillarstone Italy / KKR (MagicLand)
- Subject
- Magical rainbow cat · character created by Rainbow Spa as the park's mascot · name from the portmanteau gatto + arcobaleno
- Piece delivered
- Monumental sculpture of the Gattobaleno in full-round seated pose · seven-colour spectral rainbow livery · larger-than-life scale
- Techniques
- High-density expanded polystyrene hand-carved · preliminary clay study for the 2D-to-3D translation of the character · layered fibreglass stiffening · finish in saturated acrylic paints in flat chromatic fields · rainbow bands following the body's volume
- Palette
- Official Rainbow Spa chromatism · same colours used for the Winx, Huntik, Pop Pixie animated series
- Function
- Park brand landmark · character of the signage panels, tickets, merchandise · bridge between editorial product and physical park
- Our role
- Complete delivery of the sculpture · preliminary study, sculpting, stiffening, polychrome finish, transport to the park and installation
- Second life
- Character reduced in communication after the 2018 rebrand from Rainbow MagicLand to MagicLand · sculpture with variable life depending on season and exhibition space