24-08-2020

Hungarian Classic Animated Film Son of the White Mare Released in USA After 40 Years

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    BUDAPEST: Marcell Jankovics’ classic Son of the White Mare (1981) was released virtually in the USA in partnership with USA cinemas, on 21 August 2020, 40 years after its official release.

    The hand-drawn animated film has been restored in 4K from the original 35mm negatives and sound elements by the U.S. restoration and distribution outlet Arbelos Films together with the Hungarian National Film Institute – Film Archive and in consultation with Jankovics, who is now 78.

    Composer and sound designer István Vajda, who gave the film its unique energy, also helped with the restoration project.

    One of the great psychedelic masterpieces of world animation, Son of the White Mare is a swirling, colour-mad maelstrom of mythic monsters and Scythian heroes, part-Nibelungenlied, part-Yellow Submarine, lit by jagged bolts of lightning and drenched in rivers of blue, red, gold and green. A massive cosmic oak stands at the gates of the Underworld, holding seventy-seven dragons in its roots; to combat these monsters, a dazzling white mare goddess gives birth to three heroes – Treeshaker and his brothers – who embark on an epic journey to save the universe.