Hugo the Hippo

1975 Hungarian film

25 December 1975 (1975-12-25) (Hungary)
23 January 1976 (1976-01-23) (U.S.)^[1]

Running time

86 minutes (Hungary)
91 minutes (U.S.)CountriesHungary
United StatesLanguagesHungarian
EnglishBudgetUS$1 million^[1]

Hugo the Hippo (Hungarian: Hugó, a víziló) is a 1975 animated film produced by the Pannónia Filmstúdió of Hungary and co-produced in the United States by Brut Productions, a division of French perfume company Faberge.^[1] It was released in Hungary in 1975 and in the United States in 1976 by 20th Century-Fox (as its first animated feature film distribution).^[2] The film was directed by William Feigenbaum and József Gémes (who directed the animation).^[3]

Plot

The harbor of Zanzibar becomes infested with a gang of vicious great white sharks, which makes it impossible for trading ships to dock. In an attempt to fix the problem, the Sultan charges his advisor, Aban-Khan, to bring twelve hippopotamus into the harbor to keep the sharks away. His idea works well enough, but once the hippos are no longer a novelty and the people no longer feed them, they begin to starve. After the hungry hippos rampage through the city looking for food, Aban-Khan brutally slaughters all the hippos except one, a baby hippo named Hugo. Hugo escapes across the sea to the city of Dar es Salaam, on the African mainland.

A group of children, led by a farmer boy named Jorma, find Hugo and attempt to hide him as best they can, building a garden to feed and take care of him. However, Hugo is discovered, and the garden is burned by the angry parents to prevent their children wasting their time with him and neglecting their schoolwork. As a result, Hugo is forced to scavenge from the local farms for food. When Aban-Khan, still obsessed about catching Hugo, hears of the incident, he travels to Dar es Salaam and with the aid of the Sultan's court wizard converts the farm of Jorma's family into an enchanted garden filled with gigantic fruits and vegetables. Once Hugo is lured into the trap, the plants turn into monsters thirsting to kill both Hugo and Jorma, who has come to Hugo's aid. Despite their best efforts to get away, they end up overwhelmed and captured by Aban-Khan.

Hugo is put on trial for the damage his nighttime raids caused. Fortunately, the children manage to contact the Sultan, who agrees to appear in court to speak for Hugo. The ruler makes a powerfully impassioned speech about how the hippos were mistreated both by their neglect and their uncalled-for culling, which removes all doubt that Hugo is the true injured party in this affair. As a result, while Aban-Khan comes to feel the wrath of a populace's mind turning against him, Hugo is released and the children are charged by the judge to care for him for the rest of his days.

Cast and crew

Directors - William Feigenbaum and József Gémes
Screenplay - Thomas Baum, William Feigenbaum and József Szalóky
Production Design - Graham Percy

Voices

Character	Original	English
Narrator	Ferenc Bessenyei	Burl Ives
Sultan	László Márkus	Robert Morley
Aban-Khan	Tamás Major	Paul Lynde
Royal Magician	István Szatmári	Jesse Emmett
Jorma	Gábor Berkes	Ronnie Cox
Jorma's Father	István Bujtor	Percy Rodriguez
Judge	György Győrffy	Len Maxwell
Singers	Kati Kovács Erzsébet Kútvölgyi Péter Máté	Marie Osmond Jimmy Osmond Burl Ives

Additional English Voices

Don Marshall

Production

Hugo the Hippo was the first international release of a PannoniaFilm production;^[1] prior to this, they had also made Hungary's first animated feature, János Vitéz, in 1973. The film, produced over a two-year period, received funding from the Faberge company via its Brut Productions label.^[1] Its U.S. distributor, 20th Century-Fox, acquired Hugo along with two other Brut films starring Elliott Gould, Whiffs and I Will, I Will... for Now.^[1]

Home media

After an unsuccessful box-office run,^[1] Hugo was briefly released to the American home video market in the early 1980s by Magnetic Video Corporation. It was first released on DVD in Hungary and Italy. Reviewer Phil Hall suggested that Hugo the Hippo would never get a DVD release due to being psychedelic, weird, politically incorrect and its violent content.^[4] However, Warner Home Video did eventually release the film on DVD through the Warner Archive Collection on June 23, 2015.^[5]

Other media

A version of the song The Best Day Ever Made was used in the 1988–1992 animatronic show Care Bears Care-A-Lot Castle Show which was located in Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom.^[6]^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Beck, Jerry (2005). "Hugo the Hippo". The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago Reader Press. pp. 115–116. ISBN 1-55652-591-5.
^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 184–185. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
^ "Hugo the Hippo". Turner Classic Movies. Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved 6 November 2016.
^ Hall, Phil (11 February 2005). "The Bootleg Files: Hugo the Hippo". Film Threat. Hamster Stampede LLC. Retrieved 9 November 2006.
^ "Hugo the Hippo (MOD) | WBshop.com". www.wbshop.com. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015.
^ "Animatronic Care Bears | Animatronic Types & Technology".
^ "Care Bears Care-A-Lot Castle Show "Best Day"/"Take a Moment"". YouTube.