The Family Elephant: animated Hungarian highlights 6+
Nenasitna čebelica / A telhetetlen méhecske / The Greedy Little Bee
The wasp takes advantage of a greedy little bee failing to collect nectar for the modernised beehive, only to eat it all by itself. The basic idea for this fairy tale film about a beehive where new technologies have been put to use, originated in a commercial that popularized the honey produced in Hungary. The film was competing for the Short Film Palme d’Or in Cannes in 1959.
Žoga z belimi pikami / A piros pöttyös labda / The Ball with White Dots
The city comes to life around a little girl to play ball with her, while she is waiting for her mother to do the shopping. Winning the first prize at the Children’s Film Festival in Venice in 1961, this lyrical short film using (at the time highly innovative) gouache technique was one of the pioneers of the new wave of Hungarian animation in the 1960s.
Peter in robot / Peti és a gépember / Peter and the Robot Man
Peter, a curious little boy, his little sister, Katie, and Felix, their lively dachshund cause a terrible mess at Prof Leonardo’s house, when they switch on a humanoid robot. This is the very first episode of Peti (Peter’s Adventures), which was the first cinematic cartoon series made for children in Hungary; the series (produced between 1963 and 1967) later also got a worldwide release.
Tatova jabolk / Ellopták a vitaminom / Apple Thieves
A knitted and a boxing glove attempt to steal a shiny apple from the pantry at night. Featuring everyday objects for personal use, this film is the very first example of Ottó Foky’s amusing object animated short films, which breathe life into the most common objects and parody well-known film genres. The film was in selected in the short film competition at Annecy festival in 1967.
Obed / Ebéd / Luncheon
A clay lady prepares chicken soup with vegetables in the most peculiar way. This is the very first episode of the series “Augusta”, which collected several prestigious awards during the 1980s at international festivals such as Animafest Zagreb, Berlinale or Hiroshima.
Kako prestrašiti leva? / Hogyan lehet megijeszteni az oroszlánt? / How to Scare a Lion?
The story of a lion tamer who has to cure his lion of his hiccups before tonight’s show. Based on a children’s book by Dorothy Stevenson, this charming short film was the pilot episode of the popular animated television series Leo & Fred, which was also released as a full-length feature film in cinemas in 1987 (Leo & Fred, True Stories about Two Friends). This first episode was in the short film panorama selection of Annecy festival in 1981.