Johnny Corncob

János vitéz, 1973, Hungarian, Language: Hungarian, Subtitle: English (80’); Screening: 09.08, 10.00, Toldi Cinema, Nagyterem. Tribute to Marcell Jankovics.

The very first full length animation to be completed in Hungary, the film was commissioned by the government for the 150th anniversary of national poet Sándor Petőfi’s birthday, and based on his epic poem of the same title. It was premiered on May 1, 1973. The production took 22 months, that is, almost 2 years. The story follows the great adventures of titular János, a shepherd, who leaves his village to become a hussar and in quest for his beloved Iluska. Visually it bears strong stylistic affinities with the Art Nouveau, pop art, and the decorative Hungarian folk art. Both the hallucinogenically colorful visual design and the psychedelic road movie-like narrative of the film is highly reminiscent of the cult film of the hippie era, Yellow Submarine from 1968.

Directed by: Marcell Jankovics
Written by: Sándor Petőfi
Screenplay by: Marcell Jankovics, Tamás Szabó Sipos, Péter Szoboszlay
Design by: Marcell Jankovics, Zsolt Richly
Director of photography: Zoltán Bacsó, Attila Csepela, Irén Henrik, Klári Kassai, Csaba Nagy
Music by: János Gyulai Gaál
Cast (voice): György Cserhalmi, Anikó Nagy, Erzsi Pártos
Genre: animation, youth film, adventure, fantasy
Production: Pannonia Film Studio
Format: colour, 4:3, 4K digitally remastered

Accompanying short film: Sisyphus

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