IT’S AN ANIMATED LIFE FOR THIS GOUVES GUY

When Manolo Artioli first appeared on stage in full costume in his native Milan, he was a mere teenager following in his older brother’s foot – or dance – steps. But, once he had the flavour of show biz coursing through his blood, there was no stopping him. For the next 12 years Manolo performed as a leading animator – one that provides life, spirit or vitality to other people – in hotels and other venues in many countries, and aboard cruise ships. These days, Manolo, 29, is no longer performing as an animator, but he is still helping to dispense that “life, spirit and vitality” to the people of the Gouves Township, and its surrounding area. Three years ago, Manolo and his brother, Massimo, opened the Animationshop in Kato Gouves, a unique business which offers costumes and accessories – and professional consulting service for theme parties for children and adults.

“Sometimes I miss the actual entertaining part of the business,” Manolo said, “but it’s nice to be settled in one spot – especially when that spot is Crete.”     Manolo still works with hotel animators in the area, but only as far as supplying them with the sport and entertainment equipment and costumes they need to put on their shows. But his main business is providing costumes and accessories to local residents having parties at home or in neighbourhood pubs, and to assist in developing themes for these parties. “Many people want to do something different for birthday parties, and we consult with them to make the event really unique,” he said. “We have a large selection of costumes and accessories to compliment many different party ideas. Like, for adults, theme parties for the 1960s and 70s are very popular, with costumes and music from those eras.” A “large selection” may be a bit of an understatement. Manolo’s impressive shop and warehouse is bursting with more than 200 costumes, from the simple to the elaborate, and hundreds of wigs, masks and fancy hats. In addition, he has a supply of basic sport equipment and supplies for games like darts, ping pong and tennis. “If we don’t have what’s needed in stock, we can order special costumes, like original Walt Disney characters or Superman and Batman outfits,” he explained. “And, we have our own tailor to design costumes according to our customers’ individual needs and specifications.” In addition to the party themes, Animationshop also provides costumes for special holidays, such as Carnival and Halloween on October 31. “Carnival is very popular, of course, but Halloween isn’t as big here yet as in some other countries,” Manolo said. “But it’s gaining in popularity each year. We get quite a few calls for basic costumes, like a monk or nun, a nurse, a prisoner, a pirate or a cowboy. Plus we have a section for scary stuff – skeletons and the like.” For Manolo, a typical workday is never boring – if fact, it’s very animated.

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