Located in Central and Eastern Europe, Hungary is a country filled with magnificent landscapes and charismatic people. This mid-sized European state has around 10 million people who speak one of the most unique languages ​​I know, Hungarian, also known as Magyar. I find this country beautiful because of its rich culture maintained by its inhabitants. The country's traditions are important, such as the tradition of folk crafts, which includes embroidery, decorated pottery and sculptures. One of the reasons Hungary holds a special place in my heart is because of its people. Having the chance to meet a few Hungarians in my life made me learn to appreciate their relaxed, fun and open-minded nature. The constant respect for Hungary and celebration of its unique culture and traditions has sparked my interest and appreciation over time. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Besides its historical musical and literary culture, animation is no stranger to this European country. He is known for his ability to express his story through well-animated films and cartoons and achieve worldwide recognition. The history of Hungarian animation begins in 1914 and continues to the present day. Due to the two world wars, Hungarian animation underwent many changes and faced many challenges caused by the unstable and violent war years, which forced a large number of animators to emigrate to other countries to earn their living. At a start, I'm going to look back at the beginnings of Hungarian animation, which began in 1914. The very first animated film in Hungary was a cut-up cartoon called Zrib Odon (1914) directed by what is believed to be being the 'father of Hungarian Animation', Istvan Kato Kiszly. He undertook to create several other cut-out drawings such as Janos Vitez (1916) and the caricatures of Marcell Vertes (1918) which were produced for the evening newspaper entitled Soir. Through his initiative in the animation industry, Kiszly has managed to open doors for upcoming animators. This meant that a large number of animated films, such as stop motion films, puppet animation films, and experimental films, would be created over the decades. However, the birth of real animation studios began after the 1930s, in which promotional materials, such as newsreels and advertisements, were made. Animation suffered from a diaspora of talent, due to the international conflicts that took place during the two world wars. Among the artists who went to work abroad were: George Pal, John Halas and Etienne Raik. During the communist era, all animation efforts were transferred to the Pannonia Film Studio in 1959. The artistic freedom of animators was limited and controlled by the state, but it also ensured the survival of the artistic medium. Gyula Macskassy, ​​Attila Dargay and Marcell Jankovics become key figures of this communist era because of their different approach to storytelling, very different from that of Western filmmakers. Their works include: Parbaj (Duel) (1960), directed by Gyula Macskassy, ​​which features two characters, the Scientist and Mars, and their struggle between the good and bad use of atomic energy, Variations on a dragon (1967), by Attila Dargay and Sisyphus (1974) by Marcell Jankovics. Since cinema was controlled by the communist state, filmmakers had to be open to more than one interpretation in their storytelling if they wanted to pass thegovernment censorship. This meant that many hidden messages were placed in the stories which often described the reality of the times and its constraints. On the bright side, since the films were state-supported, it allowed for the exploration of different graphic styles and techniques. Thus, they managed to create beautiful and fresh images. At that time, Hungarian animators focused on animation depicting the folk tales and legends of their country, which was a safe decision, politically speaking, for the industry of Hungarian animation. Animation took a big step forward in 1951, when Edit Fekete and Gyula Macskassy created the first colorful animation called The Little Cock's Diamond Halfpenny. Production of the animated film began in black and white, around 1941, but was delayed due to complications caused by the war at that time. As I said above, the animators focused on popular tales and legends. Hungarian mythology is characterized by myths, legends, folk tales and fairy tales. Unfortunately for the country, most of it is believed to be lost. One of the most important sources of this country's mythology is folklore, as many mythical characters survive in folk tales, popular songs or legends. Folktales are one of the key figures in the history of Hungarian animation. The animated series Hungarian Folk Tales was created by the Kecskemet film studio when Hungary was a socialist country. The movie studio needed a new concept, a new idea, but unfortunately the studio lacked funding for a new cartoon storyboard, which was a huge drag. That's when Marcell Jankovics came up with the idea that would change the animation industry forever. His idea was a cartoon based on Hungarian folk tales. As I mentioned above, this idea was going to be a game changer for this European country, as it proved to be a huge success for years to come and still manages to be one of the staples of Hungarian animation , I would say. The series includes 100 episodes full of Hungarian symbolism. Folktales center around fairies, princesses, and fanciful creatures. Each episode has its special and unique decorative elements to reinforce their authenticity. The creators used decorative art from a certain rural region for each episode. The mixture of folk art, music and storytelling is well combined in the episodes, which have unique imagery, sometimes encountering folk humor in the dialogues. Thanks to the natural presentation of the storytellers, the viewer can experience something special through this animated series. To better understand why these folktales have become a staple of Hungarian animation, I will give 3 examples of Hungarian folktales that have been my favorites over the years and analyze how these products of Hungarian tradition and mythology came to be. so far. Fairy tells the story of a miller who becomes poor, who will become rich thanks to the water fairy if the miller gives him this “fiery animal” of which he did not know existed. But it turns out that this “fiery animal” is just their own child. They protect the child in vain since the water fairy kidnaps him but also separates the miller from his wife. The wife, helped by a mysterious old woman, tracks them down but the water fairy once again manages to separate them. As in every tale, they meet again at the end of the story. The Heartbreaking Slipper Princesses is a folk tale centered around an old king and his daughters. The king finds himself distraught because his daughters tear theirslippers every night at midnight and so he promises a great reward to anyone who finds out where his daughters are separated from these slippers. A young shepherd manages to solve the mystery by watching and following the girls all night. He discovers that the girls are traveling to hell, where their slippers are torn because they sing and dance with the devil until dawn. The Prince Who Would Live Forever is the story of a prince who did not want to die. So he left for the Land of Immortality to meet the queen. After a while he wanted to visit his parents, but it turned out that three thousand years had passed without him noticing and so he could no longer find his parents. Death finds the prince and wants to take him away, but his only escape is the shoe of the immortal queen which could take him back to the Land of Immortality where he still lives if he is not yet dead. The 3 examples given above have in common the beautiful and simple animation that characterizes this series. The color palette is carefully chosen and fits the situation and reflects the emotions of that specific photo, for example, blues for a feeling of sadness or loss and red tones which often indicate intense feelings like rage or dangerous situations. In terms of history, folk tales are quite faithful to Hungarian mythology. The tales depicted many mythical creatures that form folk tales, such as demons or the devil himself, which is an important motif in Hungarian folklore, princesses, fairies of different elements, such as the water fairy and many more. Marcell Jankovics ensured that the tales were accurate and managed to translate these stories into simplistic yet captivating animated episodes. I believe that the mixture of the creative medium of animation and the fascinating tales of the European land has proven to be a huge success for Hungarian animation. Its intense mythical characters and captivating stories, all captured in a simple and beautiful animated series, were enough to capture the interest of not only children, but older audiences as well. Many episodes have been translated by Baroness Orczy, a Hungarian author best known for her The Scarlet Pimpernel novels. His translated collection of folk tales helped children discover and appreciate the captivating stories. I find that Hungarian folk tales have special characteristics that differentiate them from the tales of other nations. They feel “local” and really care about Hungarians. This is why one could almost have the impression that these tales are the raw manifestation of the “soul of the Hungarian people”. Hungary's culture and tradition are very important to its people and they are not afraid to dig deep to find even more. information about their origin. Enek a csodazvarvasrol (Song of the Miraculous Doe) is a 2002 animated film directed by Marcell Jankovics that focuses on the origins of Hungarian culture and tradition. It is a mythological and historical film that tells the story of the Hungarian people, from the birth of the first humans to the Christianization of the nation. The animated film is divided into four sections. “Song” draws inspiration from Siberian and Finno-Ugric creation legends, in which the beginning of the world begins with two half-human figures, one half-bird and the other half-bear. The animated story delves into the origins of Hungarian culture, the Iranian and Turkish influences that marked the society and ends with the story of Stephen, the emperor who introduced Christianity to the country. I find the animation of this film bold and extravagant, in which different styles (14): 16.