Hugo the Hippo

Infobox Film
name = Hugo the Hippo


caption = "Hugo the Hippo" film poster
director = William Feigenbaum
József Gémes
producer = Robert Halmi Jr.
writer = Thomas Baum
William Feigenbaum
József Szalóky
starring = English version:
Burl Ives
Robert Morley
Paul Lynde
Jesse Emmett
Ronnie Cox
music = Burt Keyes
Robert Larimer
editing = Sid Cooper
Magda Hap
Mária Kern
distributor = Twentieth Century Fox
released = flagicon|Hungary 1973
flagicon|United States July 14, 1976Beck, p. 115-6.]
runtime = 86 min./ flagicon|United States 75 min.
country = Hungary / United States
awards =
language = English / Hungarian
budget = US$1 million
imdb_id = 0074657

"Hugo the Hippo" ( _hu. Hugó, a víziló) is a 1973 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. It was released in Hungary in 1975 and in the United States in 1976. It received a G rating from the MPAA.

Plot

The Sultan of Zanzibar has a harbor infested with sharks, which makes it impossible for ships to trade with him. In an attempt to fix the problem, he brings twelve hippos 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, the king's adviser, slaughters all the hippos except one, a little hippo named Hugo. Hugo escapes into the city of Zanzibar, trying to survive.

A group of children find Hugo and attempt to hide him as best they can. However, the hippo is discovered and literally put on trial for the damage his colony caused. Fortunately, the children managed 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, the hippo is released and the children agree to care for the hippo for the rest of his days.

Cast and crew

* Directors - William Feigenbaum and József Gémes
* Screenplay - Thomas Baum, William Feigenbaum and József Szalóky

Hungarian-language cast

* Ferenc Bessenyei - Narrator (voice)
* László Márkus - Sultan (voice)
* Tamás Major - Aban-Khan (voice)
* Gábor Berkes - Jorma (voice)
* István Bujtor - Jorma's Father (voice)
* Kati Kovács - (singing voice)
* Erzsébet Kútvölgyi - (singing voice)
* Péter Máté - (singing voice)

English-language cast

* Burl Ives - Narrator (voice)
* Robert Morley - Sultan (voice)
* Paul Lynde - Aban-Khan (voice)
* Jesse Emmett - Royal Magician (voice)
* Ronnie Cox - Jorma (voice)
* Percy Rodriguez - Jorma's Father (voice)
* Len Maxwell - Judge (voice)
* Marie Osmond - (singing voice)
* Jimmy Osmond - (singing voice)
* Don Marshall - Additional characters (voice)

Production

"Hugo the Hippo" was the first international release of a PannoniaFilm production; 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. 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".

Home video/DVD releases

After an unsuccessful box-office run, "Hugo" was briefly released to the American home video market in the early 1980s. It was released on DVD only in Hungary. Reviewer Phil Hall suggests that "Hugo the Hippo" may never get a DVD release due to its psychedelic, weird, politically-incorrect and violent content. [Hall, Phil. "The Bootleg Files: Hugo the Hippo." [http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=features&Id=1341 Filmthreat.com] , February 11, 2005. Retrieved November 9, 2006.]

References

ources

*Beck, Jerry (2005). "The Animated Movie Guide". ISBN 1-55652-591-5. Chicago Reader Press. Accessed December 10, 2007.

External links

*imdb title|id=0074657
*amg movie|id=1:23793
*rotten-tomatoes|id=hugo_the_hippo
* [http://www.hugothehippo.com/ hugothehippo.com] - a fansite
* [http://www.mediaguide.hu/pannoniafilm/features.html Hugo the Hippo at the official Pannoniafilm website]