Hedgehog in the Fog

Norshteyn, master of underrated Russian animation, has created a breathtakingly beautiful short about a cute hedgehog visiting his friend, the bear. What differs "Yozhik v tumane" from the typical American/Japanese animations is that it could be described as artistic poetry which definitely is not for everyone. You'd better not expect funny dialogues, happy songs and colorful landscapes. Quite the contrary, it is rather gray, dark and mysterious. It builds a blur atmosphere supported by a magical soundtrack. Haunting yet beautiful, it won't ever get out of your mind.

However, it still covers everything good animations are made of (and more) - it will make you smile especially because of its cuteness, but it also is lyrical, symbolistic and metaphorical. The hedgehog's adventure is about innocence, new (positive AND negative) experiences, friendship, fear, going one's own way - maybe even the subjective sense of life.

To conclude, this is a brilliant philosophical short for children, teenagers and adults equally.

It is quite possible this will not appeal to Western audience. You cannot explain what it's about. All you have are those vague emotional harmonics, and image is too subtle, too airy and blurry, and has almost no color... I remember a guy working in a game publishing company explaining the differences in national color perception to me - Russia prefers barely saturated colors, while in the US and especially Japan it's all about contrast and max saturation. The same for emotions, and the same for the plot - the stuff which appeals to westerners is always literal and to the point, while for Russians it should always be about hints and fuzzy shadows, as no one knows what he's living for...

However, I would still advise you to try this short cartoon - you might love it...

Yozik v tumane seems to be one of the best cartoons ever. It's both simple and very philosophical, but I like it best because it's very lyrical.At first it all seems to consist of nothing but vague images, but what is our whole life but not wandering in the fog? There's almost no story told, but it's all there - friendship and warmth, lyricism, fears and hopes, wanderings and search for something evasive, something all of us long for and almost never get. More than that - it's full of beauty, high-strung and piercing a human heart. And beauty is something we all search for, even if do not admit it.

This is the cartoon film that I love, love with all my heart. This is the little wonderful story that I adore and still watch every time it is on the TV. Why? Well, the plot is amazingly simple - a little sweet helpless hedgehog is lost in the dense fog on his was to his friend, a bear, who awaits him for a tea with jam. The hedgehog is afraid, he is overcoming his innate fear of the dark, of some imaginary evil creatures, of the unknown and the new. He is encountered by a kind dog, a hilariously nervous owl, a kind fish that helps him out of the river, and finally he is at the bear's place... But the music, the very magic, sweet, mesmerizing feeling! This is a touching little story about a kid lost in the dark alone and trying to get out of it. This is a deep philosophical story about the quest for new and unknown things... This is a grand Anthem to the Freindship, Bravery and Curiosity. I love this excellent film. It is incredible...

Yuriy Norshteyn's 'Tale of Tales (1979)' is an undisputed masterpiece of Russian animation, a spectacularly beautiful journey into the depths of the mind, and sometimes held as the single greatest animated film of all time, a title that I would wholeheartedly endorse. The direct predecessor to 'Tale of Tales,' Norshteyn's 'Hedgehog in the Mist' is held in much the same high regard and, whilst I don't think it is quite as good, the fact remains that it is a stunning piece of Russian animated cinema.

I had to watch this film twice. The first time around, not understanding a word of Russian, I decided to sit back and just enjoy the images presented to me. Though I greatly enjoyed the beauty and intricate detail of the animation, I was ultimately unsatisfied with some parts of the story that I couldn't quite decipher, without which I was unable to unlock the deeper meaning of the work. Where, for example, was the hedgehog heading that night? What was he carrying in the bundle? Why was he compelled to follow the white horse into the unknown of the mist? After viewing translations for some of the key pieces of dialogue and narration, I approached the film a second time. Armed with a better knowledge of the finer points of the story, I was able to more fully appreciate the beauty of Norshteyn's film, and how the stunning animation and spoken words complement each other. For example, on that fateful evening, the hedgehog was going to meet his friend the bear, whom he meets with every time to drink tea, count the stars and have conversations. In the bundle, he carries a jar of raspberry marmalade that he has prepared for the occasion.

As for why the hedgehog decided to descend into the mist, we are told that it is because he wonders if the beautiful white horse would suffocate if he lies down in the fog. I think, however, that it is something much more than that. It is the lure of the unknown. The low-lying mist presents to him all life's beauty and terror, satisfying an underlying desire for the excitement and adventure of the unfamiliar, a means of breaking down the monotony of his usual safe and routine existence. This unconscious thirst for adventure exists in all of us, and the hedgehog is one who felt compelled to take that extra step into the mist. Despite being terrified and shaken by the experience, it nonetheless has changed him, and he will carry the memory with him for the rest of his life, and his daily routine will forever seem mundane in comparison. For the first time in his life, rather than merely counting the stars in the sky, the hedgehog was inspired to reach towards them.

The animation itself, it need not be said, is truly a beautiful achievement. Like in all his films, Norshteyn's animation has a certain timelessness about it, seeming to exist in a world that I'm sure we've all visited in our dreams. The fog effects, so crucial to the atmosphere of the film, were created by putting an extremely thin piece of paper on top of the scene and slowly lifting it frame-by-frame toward the camera until everything behind it became blurry and white. To describe this film as beautiful would simply be an understatement.