Osvaldo Cavandoli (January 1, 1920 – March 3, 2007), also known by his pen name Cava, was an Italian cartoonist. His most famous work is his series of short animated cartoons, La Linea ("The Line").
Cavandoli was born in Maderno sul Garda, Italy, but moved to Milan when he was two years old (later becoming an honorary citizen of that city). From 1936 to 1940 he worked as a technical designer for Alfa Romeo. When he developed his interest in cartoons in 1943, he started working with Nino Pagot, who later created Calimero. In 1950 he started working independently as a director and a producer. He became famous for his La Linea, a simply drawn cartoon, first appearing in 1969. In 1978 and 1988 he developed two new characters: sexilinea and eroslinea.
Cavandoli proposed his work for Carosello, an advertisement break broadcast between 1957 and 1977. Massimo Lagostina, the owner of a popular brand of cookware, chose it as a testimonial for his advertising campaign. The original character was born and lived out of a single white pencil stroke, would be known as La Linea (the Line).