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Hedgehog in the Fog
Hedgehog in the Fog on the 1988 USSR stamp
Directed by	Yuri Norstein
Written by	Sergei Grigoryevich Kozlov
Story by	Sergey Kozlov
Produced by	Soyuzmultfilm
Starring	Aleksey Batalov Maria Vinogradova Vyacheslav Nevinny
Narrated by	Aleksey Batalov
Cinematography	Alexandr B. Zhukovskiy
Edited by	Nadezhda I. Treshchyova
Music by	Mikhail A. Meyerovich
Layouts by	Francheska Yarbusova
Production company	Soyuzmultfilm
Release date	October 23, 1975 (1975-10-23)
Running time	10 min. 29 s.
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

Hedgehog in the Fog (Russian: Ёжик в тума́не, romanized: Yózhik v tumáne, IPA: [ˈjɵʐɨk f tʊˈmanʲɪ]) is a 1975 Soviet animated film directed by Yuri Norstein and produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow. The Russian script was written by Sergei Grigoryevich Kozlov, who also published a book under the same name.

In 2006, Norstein published a book titled Hedgehog in the Fog, listing himself as an author alongside Kozlov.

Plot

The Hedgehog (voiced by Maria Vinogradova) goes to visit his friend the Bear Cub to drink tea with raspberry jam and count the stars. The road along which the Hedgehog moves passes through deserted fields and forest thickets. In the early evening fog, the world seems mysterious, and outlandish images appear before the Hedgehog every now and then. Among them is an eagle-owl looking into a well, a snail suddenly turning into an elephant, a bat with a frightening wingspan, and a dog returning the bundle of jam to the Hedgehog when he loses it. Hedgehog is particularly impressed by a white horse, whose blurred silhouette appears several times in the haze.

Through the fog, the voice of the Bear Cub is periodically heard calling out to the Hedgehog. Hurrying to answer the call, the hero falls into the river. His savior is a mysterious "someone" who takes the Hedgehog to the shore. Having finally arrived at the Bear Cub's house, Hedgehog listens to his friend (voiced by Vyacheslav Nevinny), who says that he has already blown up the samovar on the porch for evening tea, collected juniper branches "so that there is smoke", and moved the wicker chairs to be more comfortable. He remarks that the Hedgehog is the only one he can really count the stars with.

Art Direction

The production designer of the film "Hedgehog in the Fog" was Norstein's wife, Francesca Yarbusova. The marriage of two creative people, according to the director, not only helps, but also hinders creativity: "She does not keep up with my reactivity, my demanding nature, and it seems to me that she is lazy and cannot bring herself to the necessary state." Yarbusova, in turn, said that when starting work on "The Hedgehog ...", Norstein planned to shoot an uncomplicated fairy tale . However, instead of the supposed lightness, it turned out to be a "harsh" experiment, during which many techniques were used for the first time. So, water was placed in the leaves drawn by Yarbusova using a projector, which, in order to achieve a uniform image texture, was processed with strokes. The artist has been working on the image of a Hedgehog for the longest time. Other characters had already been drawn, the scenery had been designed, filming had begun, but the main character did not work out . The understanding of what the key character should be arose during the couple's evening walk, when they saw a woman with a tame hedgehog on the street. Upon returning home, Yarbusova drew the character with one line, and he immediately gained "inner clarity." In order to achieve the "childish expressiveness" of the image, the director tied Francesca's right hand, and the Hedgehog was created with her left hand.

Creators

Awards

• 1976—Frunze All-Union Film Festival: Hedgehog in the Fog "best animated film"
• 1976—Tehran Children's and Youth Film Festival: Hedgehog in the Fog "best animated film"
• 2003—Tokyo All time animation best 150 in Japan and Worldwide: Hedgehog in the Fog "No. 1 Animated film of all the time"

Production

The fog effects were created by putting a very thin piece of paper on top of the scene and slowly lifting it up toward the camera frame-by-frame until everything behind it became blurry and white.

Role in Soviet animation

Soviet-era children's animation and literature was faced with the task of producing politically acceptable content. Anthropologist Serguei Oushakine (Sergey Ushakin) recognizes this atmosphere of indefinite deferment in the animation, stating: "The main thing is the work of imagination, or more precisely, the terror and pleasure with which it is linked. The final scene of pleasure, to which these various phantasmal and/or realistic experiences should indeed have led, is not included in the plot." This is evident through the hedgehog's anxiety and fixation on the horse, even after he succeeds in meeting the bear for tea.

Legacy

An English dub of the film was made for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom for Christmas in 1998. A few changes were made, with strawberry jam replacing raspberry jam.

Hedgehog in the Fog was ranked No. 1 in a poll at the 2003 Laputa Animation Festival where 140 animators from around the world voted for the best animated films of all time.

Hayao Miyazaki, acclaimed animator of Studio Ghibli, stated that he drew his inspiration from many animators including Yuri Norstein (a framed portrait of the owl from the film is included at the Ghibli Museum).

Since January 2009, the main character (the Hedgehog) from the film has a statue in the city center of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

The film was spoofed in the third episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy, "Spies Reminiscent of Us", in 2009.

The opening ceremonies for the 2014 Winter Olympics referenced this work, mentioning it in a list of signature Russian accomplishments and artists, including Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, and Sputnik.

The series Kikoriki has an episode called Chiko in the Fog, reminiscent of Nornstein's cartoon in its composition and style.

The 16th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends, "Memories in the Mist!" is inspired by this work.

The Cartoon Network Studios' series Summer Camp Island has an episode called "Pepper and the Fog", which is a tribute to the film.

See also

• History of Russian animation
• List of stop-motion films
• List of films considered the best

References

1. Jeff Lenburg (2006). Who's who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television's Award-winning and Legendary Animators. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 264. ISBN 978-1-557-83671-7.
2. "The 77 best kids' films of all time. Hedgehog in the Fog (1975)". telegraph.co.uk. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
3. Clare Kitson (2005). Yuri Norstein and Tale of Tales: An Animator's Journey. Indiana University Press. pp. 46–48. ISBN 978-0-253-21838-4.
4. Ёжик в тумане. Ozon.ru. Retrieved on 2012-11-23.
5. Thomas, Maureen; Penz, François (2003). Architectures of Illusion: From Motion Pictures to Navigable Interactive Environments. Intellect Books. ISBN 978-1-841-50045-4.
6. Whitehead, Mark (2004). Animation: The Pocket Essential Guide. Summersdale. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-848-39836-8.
7. "Все свободны" – разговор на свободные темы. svoboda.org (2007-07-04)
8. Alaniz, José (2011). "Reviewed work: Veselye chelovechki: Kul'turnie geroi sovetskogo detstva. Nauchnaia biblioteka, I. Kukulin, M. Lipovetskii, M. Maiofis". Russian Review. 70 (3): 513–515. JSTOR 41289990.
9. 世界と日本のアニメーションベスト150. ふゅーじょんぷろだくと. 2003. ASIN 4893933671.
10. ""Снежная королева": почему без этого советского мультфильма у японцев не было бы аниме". russian7.ru (in Russian). 17 February 2019. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
11. "Princess Mononoke – Understanding Studio Ghibli's Monster Princess". Bloomsbury Collections. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
12. "Monument to 'Hedgehog in Fog' appeared in Kyiv", UNIAN (2009-01-27)
13. "Family Guy" Spies Reminiscent of Us (TV Episode 2009) - Connections - IMDB
14. "NBC sets talky tone with Olympics Opening Ceremony|Tube Talk". St Louis Post-Dispatch.

External links

• Hedgehog in the Fog at the Animator.ru
• Hedgehog in the Fog at IMDb
• Hedgehog in the Fog at the Keyframe – the Animation Resource
• Laputa Animation Festival 2003 (in Japanese)
• BBC Article about Soviet brands, including "Ёжик в тумане" in Russian
• Norstein's Studio Official Website

• 1975 films
• 1975 animated short films
• 1970s stop-motion animated films
• Films directed by Yuri Norstein
• Cutout animation films
• Russian animated short films
• Soyuzmultfilm
• Films about hedgehogs
• Animated films set in forests
• Animated films based on Russian folklore
• Animated films about mammals
• Animated films about bears
• Animated films about horses
• Soviet animated short films
• Animated films about dogs
• Animated films about insects
• Animated films about owls