Cinema dei Piccoli
Viale della Pineta 15,
Rome
00197
Viale della Pineta 15,
Rome
00197
2 people
favorited this theater
A small cinema showing recent movies suitable for children (the name translates as “Kids' Cinema”). It was originally opened in 1934 as the Cinema Topolino (named after Mickey Mouse) and was built by Alfredo Annibali.
It is located in a magical setting of Rome’s Villa Borghese park amid the pine trees, and you might expect to see ‘Bambi’ milling about the ticket window area.
Originally the cinema used a bed sheet as a screen and a Pathe-Baby 9.5mm projector. It was restored in 1991 and now has air conditioning, stereo sound and can now screen films on two Veronese projectors or a single 16mm Bauer projector.
The Cinema dei Piccoli is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
Contributed by
Gerald A. DeLuca
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
Here’s a recent photo:
View link
The Cinema dei Piccoli is in the Guinness record book as being the “Smallest Purpose-Built Cinema in Operation”. This cinema has 63 seats and its original name was Topolino Cinema. This comes from the Guinness website:
“The Cinema dei Piccoli was built by Alfredo Annibali (Italy) in 1934 in the park of Villa Borghese, Rome, Italy and today covers an area of 71.52 m² (769.83 ft²). Originally called the Topolino Cinema (after Mickey Mouse), the cinema used a Path-Baby 9.5 mm movie projector, bed sheets for the screen and played 78’s for background music. Restored in 1991, the cinema has 63 seats, a 5 x 2.5 m (16.4 x 8,2 ft) screen, stereo sound and air-conditioning”.
This is a link to the Guinness website.