Il cavallino gobbettino

I watched this animated feature in the 1950's on a New York City Saturday morning show, The Children's Hour, hosted by Ed Herlihy. I had no idea what the title was, and just found it on a link to old children's tv shows.

The animation is beautiful - up to Disney's standards in Snow White, Fantasia and Bambi. I knew it was Russian film, but do not remember reading the subtitles. It was a tale of fantasy concerning a young boy who had to rescue a princess by passing through a series of "tests." Typical folk take fodder, but the great moment when he has to jump into each of three cauldron - one freezing, one boiling and I don't remember the third - kept me breathless, each and every time they aired the film. When he jumps into the third cauldron it seems to take forever before he emerges. I was sure he had died. But he emerges, no longer a slight young man, but a hearty grown man, worthy of winning the princess.

Ah, such were the tales I grew up on. A prince would rescue me and I'd never have to worry about doing anything with my life again! Sad, but when the animation is breathtaking, I can forgive the society that perpetuated such myths.

and, maybe, it is its precious virtue. because it has the gift to be the favorite of each age. for the child - the colors and the fluidity of animation and the simple , honest Ivanushka and his good friend , the little magic, loyal horse are the pillars for joy. for the adult - the Russian cultural references, the waves remembering the Japanese stamp, the costumes and buildings and feast and the new Ivanushka from the end and the Tsar and, sure, the ...horses. the music, the young daughter of the Moon, the dances and the spirit and emotions from the reading of the book by Pyotr Ershov.the last detail, across decades, remains, for me, the most precious virtue of the film.

This movie is, in parts, surprisingly well animated. Not a Disney like movie at all, closer to the Fleischer style. In fact it reminded me quite a bit of 'Gulliver's Travels(1939)' especially in character design and backgrounds (though the main character's design is butt-ugly, like the artist's concept of human anatomy was taken from rumors he'd heard).

The only DVD version I was able to find was from a lesser known company. it was a badly badly badly dubbed version with no sound effects at all and the color was gone. just gone. It made this movie look liked it was filmed in sepia.

If this film were to have a real release with a subbed/dubbed version like is done with other international animated movies, it would be better, but still not great.

However, for anyone interested in the history of animation in film, this would be an interesting to watch.

I had seen this film on TV when I was a very little kid. Recently, I found it online and watched it again. While watching it again, I realized that I remembered the story, characters and visuals very well from my first seeing. Seeing it again was like a magic door opening to my childhood. And yes, this film is pure magic. With its imaginative story, extremely likeable protagonist, mesmerizing visuals and poetic language, it is like something from the different realm, a truly magical realm. I loved it as a kid and I loved it as an adult. A perfect piece of cinema!

Russian animation has really fascinated me as of late, and the 1947 version of The Humpbacked Horse was one of the standouts, and deserves to be seen more than historical value. The animation is really beautiful, the luscious colours, elegantly drawn backgrounds and mostly fluid character designs are like a nice mix of Golden Age Disney, very early Looney Tunes and Fleischer. The image of the horse flying in the air at the start was especially striking. The music fits really beautifully, very Russian in tone and manages to be rousing and understated when called for. I loved The Humpbacked Horse's pace, to begin with it's slow but I was never bored and nothing came across as dragged out or pointless, and the story stood out for its occasional strangeness, fresh naivety and also that it's very narratively culture-specific. The characters are engaging and all serve a point to the story, and the voice acting is expressive and dynamic enough. There is an animated film of the same story from 1975 that follows what we see here quite closely, and while it was interesting and well-done on the whole, I do much prefer the pacing here and the voices fit the characters here more too. All in all, wonderful. 10/10 Bethany Cox