The Little Fox

The Little Fox, known in Hungary as Vuk, is a 1981 Hungarian animated film produced by Pannónia Filmstúdió, based on the novel Vuk by István Fekete.[1] The film is directed by Attila Dargay and written by Attila Dargay, István Imre and Ede Tarbay, and released in December of 1981.[2][3]

For other uses, see The Little Fox (disambiguation).
The Little Fox
DVD cover
Directed byAttila Dargay
Screenplay byAttila Dargay
István Imre
Ede Tarbay
Based onVuk
1965 novel
by István Fekete
StarringJudit Pogány
József Gyabronka
Teri Földi
Gyula Szabó
CinematographyIrén Henrik
Edited byJános Czipauer
Magda Hap
Music byPeter Wolf
Production
company
Distributed byMokép
Release dates
  • 10 December 1981 (1981-12-10) (Budapest, Hungary)

  • 18 June 1987 (1987-06-18)
(USA)
Running time
76 minutes
CountryHungary
LanguagesHungarian, English
Budget7 million Ft
Box office17.2 million Ft

A computer-animated and widely panned sequel, A Fox's Tale, was released in 2008.[4]

Plot

The film tells the story of a little fox kit, Vic (Vuk in the original Hungarian version), who ventures away from his family's den and, upon his return finds it empty. He concludes that his whole family left the den with the human hunter (called "Smoothskinner" in the cartoon) because he can smell him. His uncle Karak finds him, then offers for the little fox to stay with him, and Karak continues to raise him.

As Vic grows older, he develops much cunning and cleverness. Now a young adult fox, he even dares to infiltrate the hunter's house, during which he finds a vixen, named Foxy, held captive in a cage. During a stormy night, he tricks the guard dogs and other animals, as well as the hunter himself, and eventually helps the vixen escape by smashing the cage open with a loaded wagon.

Foxy joins Vic and Karak in the woods, but when Autumn comes, Vic's uncle is shot by the hunter during the seasonal hunt. Vic swears revenge on the hunter and finally accomplishes it: first by breaking into the food locker and eating up all the eggs, then taking away all the poultry from the cages while playing many jokes on the hunter's dim-witted dogs (which results in the two dogs becoming strays at the end). Eventually, the hunter decides to set up bear traps around his house, luring Vic with goose roast; however, the two hunting dogs fall into the traps, and the third one seriously injures the hunter himself. At the end of the film, Vic and Foxy have cubs of their own.[5]

Production

Originally produced as a TV series, Dargay visited the Budapest Zoo to study the movements and habits of newborn fox cubs.[3]

Voice cast

[6]

English version

The English dub of the animation, titled simply The Little Fox, was made in 1987 and released in the United States on home video by Celebrity Home Entertainment.[7] The English dub changed Vuk's name to "Vic" and his partner’s name to "Foxy," although Karak's name remains unchanged.[8]

Voice cast
  • Steven R. Weber - Adult Vic
  • Corinne Orr - Vic
  • John Bellucci - Vic's Father, Narrator
  • Anne Costello - Vic's mother, Additional Voices
  • William Kiehl - Karak
  • Les Marshak - Additional Voices
  • Lucy Martin - Foxy
  • Peter Newman - Additional Voices
  • George Gonneau - Chester the Hunter
  • Maia Danziger - Additional Voices
  • Ira Lewis - Additional Voices

Reception and legacy

Video Choice gave the film a positive review, calling it a "charming and visually appealing film" while author Giannalberto Bendazzi (Animation: A World History) called it "an excellent example of personality of animation".[9][10]

A digital restoration was completed in 2021 under the supervision of the film's cinematographer.[3] It remains the most-popular Hungarian animated feature of all time.[3][11] The director had said that putting Vuk on screen was one of his dearest cartoon works.[12]

Home media

The film was released on VHS in 1987[13] by Celebrity Home Entertainment[14] (re-released 4 November 1994).[15]

See also

References
  1. FilmAffinity
  2. BCDB.com
  3. National Film Institute
  4. A Fox's Tale (2008)-MUBI
  5. VUK 1981 (Hungarian Version)-Internet Archive
  6. The Little Fox Voice Actors-24 Photos-Behind The Voice Actors
  7. WorldCat
  8. VUK (The English Dub)-Internet Archive
  9. "The Little Fox Review". The Orlando Sentinel. 28 October 1988. p. 41. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  10. Animation: A World History - Google Books (pg.260)
  11. Animation Behind the Iron Curtain - Google Books (ch.13 "Hungary")
  12. Happy 40th birthday to one of Hungary’s favourite cartoon characters! - Daily News Hungary
  13. Video Detective
  14. WorldCat.org
  15. The Little Fox (VHS, 1994, Editors Cut) - eBay
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