Four production companies are partnering to develop and co-produce a 2D-animated feature film inspired by real-life Italian hero Gino Bartali.

India’s Toonz Media Group, Lynx Multimedia Factory and Rai Ragazzi in Italy, and Ireland’s Telegael are working together on Bartali’s Bicycle (working title), which is set to premiere in early 2023 on Italian public broadcaster RAI. Rome’s TVCO and Toonz Media Group are handling worldwide distribution of the 80-minute feature, which will be offered in English internationally.

Bartali, a champion cyclist, used his fame during World War II to deliver documents and messages for Jewish Italians in hiding during the Holocaust, helping them to escape persecution. Travelling freely around Italy in the guise of training, Bartali even used his bicycle to pull a wagon that secreted Jewish refugees to safety near the Swiss Alps. Bartali’s story was turned into a live-action TV movie called Bartali: The Iron Man in 2006.

The new feature film, which targets children ages seven and up and families, is set in the present-day Middle East and follows two young boys from rivaling communities who are brought together by their shared love of cycling.