Was made to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of poet Sándor Petöfi who wrote the original epic poem János Vitéz (John the Valiant) in 1845. Petöfi is considered Hungary's greatest poet and is sometimes called "The Greatest Hungarian", he was a fiercely nationalistic and hopelessly romantic writer as well as a revolutionary fighter who lost his life during the failed uprising against the Hapsburg oppression of 1849. His folktale hero Kukorica Jancsi (Johnny Corncob or Johnny Grain o'Corn) is one of the most significant characters of classic Hungarian literature. Due to the importance of Petöfi's poetry, the movie received considerable political and cultural backing and was met with huge anticipation, especially since the nation's people had begun to lose touch with their cultural roots during the country's Communist rule. Both the poem and this film are regarded as Hungarian cultural milestones.
The main hero, Kukorica Jancsi and the other hussars are the only characters drawn in the style of the disproportionately large-legged humans from the Beatles' Yellow Submarine (1968). According to director Marcell Jankovics, there was no reason for the characters in George Dunning's film having large feet, but in his movie, this design choice played a vital part in the presentation. It is an example of forced perspective, which ensures that they would always look like towering folk heroes.
Much like in Hungarian folklore, masculinity in the film is represented by a heart (actually a pair of testicles turned upside down) and femininity by a tulip. Marcell Jankovics claims he wasn't aware of the significance of these symbols while making the movie, and it was only by coincidence that they matched the symbolism of folk art.
The first Hungarian feature-length animation film.
The movie was popular in China of all places, where people open to Western media enjoy both Sándor Petöfi's poetry and the musical styles heard in the film. In fact, according to Marcell Jankovics, about 400 million Chinese people had watched the movie. That is forty times the number of Hungary's entire population.