The beginnings of Hungarian animation reach back to the thirties. The filmmakers of that period started on the road to world fame by making commercials and soon became celebrated directors abroad: John Halas in England, George Pál in America and Jean Image in France. Only Gyula Macskássy stayed in Hungary and in 1951, he directed the first Hungarian colour animated film, an adaptation of a Hungarian fairy tale entitled “The Diamond Half-crown of the Little Rooster”.
The next generation appeared alongside Macskássy in the state-owned Pannonia Film studio. One of them, Attila Dargay, transposed the Disney style into Hungarian conditions and achieved unprecedented popularity among the public (his most successful feature film and TV series was “Vuk” (“The Little Fox”) in 1981). György Kovásznai made artistic films of painting animation. Sándor Reisenbüchler made films with a particular collage technique that bore great humane ideas. Finally, Marcell Jankovics was successful with his few-minute philosophical films at festivals both in Hungary and abroad. He directed the very first Hungarian animated theatrical feature film “Johnny Corncob” released in 1973.
Maestro © Magyar Filmunio
In the seventies, another great generation grew up. Ferenc Cakó developed a new technique with sand animation, while Kati Macskássy created a new genre: children’s animated documentary. István Orosz and Líviusz Gyulay enriched Hungarian film animation with a particularly high standard of forms and visual world. Csaba Varga became famous with his clay, puppet and drawing animations. In 2000, Csaba Varga’s film “The Wind” was selected as one of the best 10 European animated short films of the 20th century. The greatest moment was when the young director Ferenc Rófusz won the first Hungarian Oscar for his animated film “The Fly”.
After the collapse of the communist system, the industry needed more than a decade to adjust itself to the new market conditions. The last few years have shown that it is back on track. The newly founded, privatized studios (Kecskemét Film, Magyar Rajzfilm, Varga Studio, Studio Baestarts, Cinemon, Feature Films for Families, Lichthof, Kedd, Aenima) created competition for the state-owned Pannónia and delivered high-quality, fresh projects that collected hundreds of awards from international festivals. Just to name a few: Áron Gauder’s “The District” won the Annecy Cristal for feature films in 2005; Géza M.Tóth’s “Maestro” was nominated for an Oscar in 2007; “Lifeline” by Ducki Tomek was nominated for the Cartoon d’Or 2007; and Alexei Alexeev’s “Log Jam” won the Annecy Cristal for TV series and was also nominated for BAFTA in 2009.
The District © SzimplaFilm
The regional children’s channel – Minimax – was founded in and expanded from Hungary. Over the years it became an active buyer on international markets and entered into local co-productions. Currently Minimax is owned by Chellomedia.
The game industry also settled in the country. Alongside the international players (Crytek, Eidos), private companies (Invictus, Twofish, Black Hole Entertainment, 3D Brigade) have participated in the development of computer games.
The new studios and companies need more and more trained professionals. To be able to fill these needs, Moholy-Nagy University of Arts (MOME) extended and modernized its animation department. MOME participates in the “Animation Sans Frontières” programme. In the last 10 years, other universities and private schools have also started animation programmes and animation courses.
Since 1985, the Kecskemét Animation Film Festival has invited Hungarian and international filmmakers to its biannual festival in Kecskemét. The Budapest and the Vienna based Anilogue Festival also attracts directors, animators, film lovers from all over the world.
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