Hedgehog in the Fog (Russian: Ёжик в тумане, Yozhik v tumane) is a 1975 Soviet/Russian animated film directed by Yuriy Norshteyn, produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow.
The Russian script was written by Sergei Kozlov, who also published a book under the same name. In 2006, Norshteyn published a book titled Hedgehog in the Fog, listing himself as an author alongside Kozlov. Some may know about it as he sometimes shows up on the home Google page (at least it does in Russian), but I didn’t really know about its history until a Ukranian friend informed me of its history and meaning.
The work is an adorable little story about a little hedgehog (voiced by Mariya Vinogradova), who is on his way to visit his friend the bear cub. As explained in the introductory narration, the two would meet every evening to drink tea from the cub’s samovar, which was heated on a fire of juniper twigs. As they drank their tea, the hedgehog and the bear would converse and count the stars together.
On this day, the hedgehog decides to bring the bear cub some raspberry jam. As Hedgehog heads out, a sinister looking eagle-owl is following him. Hedgehog passes through the woods and encounters a beautiful white horse standing in a fog. He is curious as to whether the horse would drown if it went to sleep in the fog. The hedgehog decides to explore the fog for himself. As he goes down an incline into the fog, it is soon so thick that the hedgehog can’t even see his own pink paw.
The fog alternately thickens and thins; when it thins the hedgehog briefly catches vague sight of objects and creatures which disappear again as the fog thickens. Hedgehog finds himself in a surreal and often frightening world inhabited by shapes which are not always identifiable and various creatures ranging from dangerous predators to benevolent animals, in a world of silence and rustles, of darkness, tall grass and enchanting stars.
At the end, bear and hedgehog sit together, contemplating how good it is to be together again—and the mysterious horse in the fog. The characters Hedgehog and Bear Cub are convivial and tame. In contrast, the eagle-owl is more wild and mischievous, lacking Hedgehog’s introversion. See below video which will bring you on this beautiful journey.
Text and explanation from Wikipedia.
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