The Cinematheque

“Wonderful … A perfect visual poem.”

Takahata Isao on Hedgehog in the Fog

Rarely screened in North America, the classics of the Russian studio Soyuzmultfilm are some of the greatest works of animated art ever made. Yuri Norstein and Fyodor Khitruk, two directors from the studio’s best years, were linked in important ways. They co-directed a short and co-founded an animation school, and, in the case of The Heron and the Crane, Khitruk fought and maneuvered to ensure Norstein’s vision made it to the screen intact. This program combines some of their best all-ages work. Khitruk made what many consider the best adaptation of A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh, in which the honey-craving bear whose head is filled with straw is a poet-philosopher and an inseparable friend of the antsy, balloon-loving Piglet. Norstein, using animated paper-puppet designs devised by his wife Francheska Yarbusova, made awe-inspiring modern fairy tales about friendship, fear, home, and hardship. This program marks the 50th anniversary of his great Hedgehog in the Fog.

Winnie-the-Pooh
Винни-Пух
USSR 1969
Fyodor Khitruk
11 min. DCP In Russian with English subtitles

The Fox and the Hare
Лиса и заяц
USSR 1973
Yuri Norstein
12 min. DCP In Russian with English subtitles

Winnie-the-Pooh Pays a Visit
Винни-Пух идёт в гости
USSR 1971
Fyodor Khitruk
10 min. DCP In Russian with English subtitles

The Heron and the Crane
Цапля и журавль
USSR 1974
Yuri Norstein
10 min. DCP In Russian with English subtitles

Winnie-the-Pooh and a Busy Day
Винни-Пух и день забот
USSR 1972
Fyodor Khitruk, Gennadiy Sokolskiy
20 min. DCP In Russian with English subtitles

Hedgehog in the Fog
Ёжик в тумане
USSR 1975
Yuri Norstein
11 min. DCP In Russian with English subtitles

The Greatest Animation Film of All Time (Hedgehog in the Fog)
Laputa Animation Festival 2003

“Hands down the best [adaptation] of A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh, distinguished by its handmade animation style, brisk pace, and Mieczysław Weinberg’s eclectic and eminently hummable music.”

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, A.V. Club

“A master of concise visual humour and social commentary … Khitruk added his own deft and endearing touches [to Winnie-the-Pooh], including a flattened left ear—the one the bear sleeps on, of course.”

Anna Fomicheva, Sight and Sound