There were so many beautiful and artful Hungarian movies and cartoons back in the old days, I can't even count them. Most of them were adaptations of books, and since I was quite a bookworm even as a kid, I've read almost all of them.
I have to say, the movie makers were quite faithful to the plot, and most of the time they included almost everything to the movies that were in the books.
Also, I think these cartoons/movies could be watched even now with an open mind. And they can be understood by anyone out there too...
1. Vuk (The little Fox)
Vuk is a little fox, who one day sneaks out to follow his father while he is hunting. When he gets back home he finds his den and his family gone, all of them shot by a hunter. He is joined and thought by Karak, after this. The story is cute, and full of humor, but it also has a few messages that can be picked up by adults too. The only big difference between the movie and the book I could find, was that in the movie Vuk saves a girl fox, who will eventually become his mate, but in the book he actually find his brother. The novel was written by Fekete István, who also had a lot more stories to tell besides this one. And out of those quite a lot were made into movies too... Like: 2. Tüskevár
This story starts out with two boys hoping to get good marks in school, because if they do they will be able to go on a summer vacation. The story unfurls of course when they get to the "Tüskevár", a little place where Mr. Matula lives. Matula will be the person to show them how things work in the world, and the boys, together with us, will learn a whole lot of things. I think this movie is quite entertaining, and of course, as most of the Hungarian movies go it has quite a lot of things to teach. It is also a good way to find out about how people lived in those times... 3. Bogáncs
Bogáncs is a Puli dog, who is a great herder. He is intelligent, and so very cute... (I think this was the influencing factor in my dad's love of the puli dogs). The story begins with the little dog wondering off from the herd and getting caught in a trap. After that he is saved and brought to a circus, where he becomes quite a good clown. People love him, and he becomes the star of the circus. But then the circus loses him too and he gets caught by a flayer. This is such a nice little movie about the love between pet and men, I can only advise you to try it out. 4. Lúdas Matyi
I have to admit, the book wasn't one of my favorites, but the cartoon version was just too great not to watch a few dozen times. The story starts off with a young peasant boy getting punished by the local tyrant for not giving in to his will. The boy than goes on to swear revenge against him, and the story is basically about this revenge. The cartoon is full of humorous speeches and actions, and in the end teaches everyone that no actions will go unpunished, and also that cunning and intelligence will always win over brute force. 5. Macskafogó (Cat city)
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Although I watched this movie as a child and enjoyed it too, this is actually a story for adults. It brings up a few interesting points about war, and other stuff kids will probably not understand. It also has quite a large sum of jokes only adults will understand. I realized this only a few years back when I actually re-watched the movie. I found that looking at it with a child's eye, it was just a pretty cartoon about cats and mice, but as an adult it was so much more...6. Hugó, a viziló (Hugo, the hippo)
This is actually a Hungarian-American movie, but I felt I needed to share this with you guys. Although I haven't seen this animated movie since I was a kid on TV, I remember being so sad while I was watching it. Even tho I don't think I could possibly understand too much of it, I think it's one of those movies that you can actually feel with your every single body part. The story starts off with a harbor infested by sharks, so the sultan of Zanzibar brings in some hippos to ward them off. The sad part starts from here, because once the novelty of hippos wares off people stop feeding them, and because the animals are starving they rampage trough the city in search of food. Because they destroy almost everything in their wake the king's adviser slaughters every one of them besides Hugo. The little hippo escapes, and some children find him and take him in. The story is, as I said quite sad for a while. The mistreatment of animals, and the ignorance of so many people out there is the main point, I think. 7. Magyar vándor (Hungarian wanderer)
This movie is actually only understandable for those people who know a bit of the Hungarian history. It's not a movie that will change the world, but it will give a great buzz, and I bet that those few who understand the humor throughout of it will feel their pride rise once the movie is over. The pride that comes with being Hungarian. The movie will give a few hints of famous Hungarian inventors, some great quotes from Hungarian literature, and of course, it is a great to watch a few pieces of history unfurl in front of your eyes in such a humorous way. The jokes are, as I said, for cultured people, and the main idea of the story is probably that no matter how times change, Hungarian people will always remain the same: a little crazy, but in the friendly, funny kind of way. 8. A Mézga család (The Mézga family)
This is one of the most original Hungarian show. It's actually an animated TV series, that was shot between 1968 and '78. The "A message from the future – The fantastic adventures of the Mézga family" is the first and in my opinion the best part of the series. It starts off with the family making contact with MZ/X, a descendant of their family from the 30th century. Them hilarity ensues every single episode, when MZ/X send them modern gadgets from the future to take care of problems of the family. And every single time they manage to make a disaster of things. (For example a robot destroys their whole house when they realize they can't control it with the 20 century's language)9. Pál utcai fiúk (The Paul Street Boys)
This is, I think, the "Harry Potter" of the older days. I don't think there is one single Hungarian child who hasn't read the book, or seen this movie. It's a masterpiece! (And the first piece of work that managed to actually make me cry). The story is about some schoolboys from the 20th century, who defend their playground, "the grund", from the "redshirts", another group of boys. The story is actually much more complicated than this. This "war" ends, when one of the boys, who was mistakenly thought a traitor, and who is also the smallest and weakest of them all comes to their help. The boy eventually dies, and the boys are chased off from their beloved playground by some engineers who have to build an apartment building on the spot. The whole thing ends with a feeling of disillusion, when one of the main characters remarks that "The Fatherland has betrayed us". The story, at first glance is about some children learning that life is hard, but in fact it should be seen as a biting satire of European nationalism. Even tho it doesn't have any politics, the message comes trough. It can also be seen as a premonition to the First World War, that broke out after a few years of the book's publication. 10. Abigél (Abigail)
This story is about a girl, Vitay Georgina, who is sent to a Calvinist Girl-school. The action takes place in the second world war. Gina's father doesn't tell her why she has to stay there, because he is protecting her from the outer world. The truth is, that he is afraid that the enemy will capture his daughter and use her to bribe him. Meantime Gina acts rude to the other girls in the school and in turn she is mostly made fun of, and nobody likes her. She tries to run away from the place, but her teachers and instructors always find her out someway. Abigail, a little statue on the school ground is her only salvation. She finds out that the girls who have problems only have to put a note on the statue asking for help and help will come their way.
