Hedgehog in the Fog
1975 · 10m · Soviet Union
Directed by Yuri Norstein
Genres: animation, drama, fantasy
Tones: contemplative, dark, surreal, tender
A small hedgehog journeys through an eerily beautiful fog to visit his friend Bear Cub for their nightly ritual of counting stars and drinking tea, encountering mysterious and wondrous creatures along the way that transform a simple walk into a profound meditation on wonder and fear.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Voted greatest animated film of all time and frankly, fair — Norstein makes fog feel like a state of mind. The page is copyright-claimed because of course Kinopoisk is hoarding it.
Norstein's layered-glass fog is one of the great tactile achievements in animation history, and its tenderness is genuine, not sentimental. The Vimeo print has been pulled by Kinopoisk, alas, though the film is widely findable elsewhere.
The layered glass planes and translucent overlays creating the actual fog is a craft trick no one has duplicated - it's a technique tied to the artisanal patience Norstein became famous for. Vimeo took it down on copyright grounds, so this URL is dead.
Reviews
The main technique is a basic cutout style, perhaps the simplest of all animation methods, but the way Norstein does it is more delicate and subtle than anyone has accomplished before or since.
Magical and atmospheric, lovingly and masterfully executed. The story-telling and illustration style is earthy and rich in symbols which are beautiful in themselves - but one senses there is a lot more hidden behind them.
Festivals
- Laputa Animation Festival 2003, Greatest Animated Film of All Time (voted by 140 animators worldwide)