Calimero (1974): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1974, Calimero is an animation, family and kids series.

What it’s about. Calimero is an Italian/Japanese cartoon about a charming, but hapless anthropomorphized cartoon chicken; the only black one in a family of yellow chickens. He wears half of his egg shell still on his head. Calimero originally appeared on the Italian television show Carosello on July 14, 1963, and soon became a popular icon in Italy. The characters were later licensed in Japan as an anime series, twice. The first was made by Toei Animation and ran from October 15, 1974 to September 30, 1975, and the second, with new settings and characters, was made in 1992. Altogether, 99 Japanese episodes were made. The series mostly consists of the many adventures of Calimero and his friends as they solve mysteries and make documentaries. However, their adventures usually get them into quite a bit of trouble. The first series was also broadcast on European networks such as TROS, ZDF and RTL II or TVE.

Who’s in it. Calimero stars Katsue Miwa as Calimero (voice), Kaneta Kimotsuki as Peter Jobatta (voice), Masako Nozawa as Buta / Calimero's Mother (voice) and Sachiko Chijimatsu as Deppa (voice), among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.8/10, Calimero has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Calimero page.

If you liked it. Fans of Calimero tend to enjoy Rick and Morty, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Attack on Titan and Attack on Titan: No Regrets.