la montagna ha partorito un topolino

Italian

Literally, “the mountain gave birth to a (small) mouse”, from Aesop's fable The Mountain in Labor. Compare French la montagne a accouché d’une souris.

Used to indicate that after a great deal of anticipation or promise, the results are mediocre; a molehill has been made out of a mountain; the result is anticlimactic
- 2024 September 11, Giampiero Gramaglia, “Usa 2024, Kamala Harris “è stata presidenziale” più di Trump: la sintesi del duello tv [USA 2024, Kamala Harris "was presidential" more so than Trump: The upshot of the TV duel]”, in il Fatto Quotidiano‎^[1]:
  In una intervista rilasciata dal Corriere della Sera Toti, che si è sempre proclamato innocente, ha dichiarato che “la montagna delle accuse ha partorito un topolino”, definendo il patteggiamento “una vittoria” perché è passato “da essere Al Capone ad aver parcheggiato la macchina in divieto di sosta“.
  In an interview with Corriere della Sera [newspaper], Toti, who has always maintained his innocence, declared that "out of the mountain of accusations has been made a molehill", defining the plea bargain as "a victory" because he went from "being Al Capone to having pled guilty to parking a car in a no-parking zone".