Look Behind the (Animated) Pictures. Notes on the Role of the Aesopic Language in Hungarian Animated Film
Look Behind the (Animated) Pictures. Notes on the Role of the Aesopic Language in Hungarian Animated Film

Summary/Abstract: The essay explores a certain tendency of Hungarian animated lLMRELATEDTOASTRATEGYOFCONSTRUCTINGMEANING4HESO CALLED!ESOPIC LANGUAGEWHICHCANBEFOUNDIN(UNGARIANANIMATEDlLMISINTERESTEDIN creating ambiguity, hidden meanings, especially against oppressive political systems. The paper approaches the development of the Aesopic language in (UNGARIANANIMATEDlLMBASEDONTWOFACTORS4HElRSTONEEXAMINESTHE CHARACTERISTICSOFTHEANIMATEDlLMINGENERALFOCUSINGONTHEdouble sense of the animated image. The second one is a historical approach, considering how the Communist regime affected artistic freedom, and how the Aesopic language became general in Central and Eastern Europe during the decades of Communism. After delineating the concept, the essay continues with INTERPRETATIONS OF (UNGARIAN ANIMATED lLMS PRODUCED BY THE FAMOUS Pannonia Film Studio as examples of the Aesopic language. The paper distinguishes between a less and a more direct variant of creating ambiguity, DEPENDINGONWHETHERTHEANIMATEDlLMSLACKORCONTAINEXPLICITREFERENCES to the Communist system. The group of the less direct variant includes Rondino, Changing Times and The Fly; among the examples of the more DIRECTVARIANTWECANlNDStory about N, Our Holidays and Mind the Steps!.

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