Ez csak divat (It's Just Fashion) is a very obscure and very cheesy 6 episode animated Edutainment Show by Hungarian avant-garde artist and animator György Kovásznai from 1976. "A music and dance magazine on the fashion of yesteryears" as the subtitle tells us, the show sets out to uncover what fashion is by looking over the evolution of entertainment, music, clothing, hairstyle and freetime activity trends from prehistory up until modern times, but mainly from the 40s to the 70s.
As with the director's earlier shorts and his later (and only) feature film Foam Bath, the art and animation styles are very free-form, there's song and dance sequences aplenty, and a lot of soundbytes from everyday people commenting on the swiftly changing topics. This form of animated reporting defined Kovásznai's "anima verité" style. Presented by a trio of cartoon hosts and showcasing a large archive of stock photos and music, the show introduced the sheltered viewers of Communist Hungary to the then-latest Popular History of the West with a touch of spoof and satire but surprisingly little politicizing, even discussing events like the 1968 French student protests that state news had been silent about.
More than anything, this oddball show is a time-capsule of mid-20th century Western pop-culture as understood by the East Bloc's youth, and a mere footnote of the "golden age" of Hungarian animation. Some of Kovásznai's colleagues thought of it as a career misstep that lacked his subjective viewpoint and satirical "bite".
What is fashion, then? The final conclusion reveals that nobody really knows, but fashion sure is fashion.
The series provides examples of:
- Clip-Art Animation: Many scenes are animated with paper cutouts or animation cels sliding across the screen. The creators had a massive archive of newspapers to work with.
- Deranged Animation: A trademark of both Pannonia Film Studio and Kovásznai. People and characters are drawn from life as deeply grotesque caricatures, and the animation plays around with various effects and editing tricks, particularly during musical segments and the TV ad spoofs.
- Documentary: Despite having an unusual style and being animated, the series' goal is to be an informative recap of fashion history, and there's even short interviews of actual people commenting on how they see fashion and social trends.
- Edutainment Show: Thanks to the abundance of musical scenes and corny jokes, the show is also fun in its own bizarre way and it doesn't shy away from poking fun at its subject matter.
- The Host: The series is presented by a young, well cultured, "hip" guy with an overbite and funky goggle-glasses, and his two female co-hosts who often show off wild clothing trends and dance moves. Their appearance seems to be at least loosely inspired by their voice actors.
- National Geographic Nudity: The introduction to fashion's origins features scantly dressed cave-people, and even the Venus of Willendorf comes alive to dance with them. The scenes about traditional African tribal celebrations follow suit.
- Satire/Parody/Pastiche: International politics and historical events are also briefly touched on. As this was Cold War-era Hungary, the US of course doesn't come off lightly, being portrayed as the United Nation's puppeteer and a hub of racism and militaristic overreach, but also a trailblazer of entertainment and cultural trends. A lot of segments also parody contemporary ads, commercials, strange fashion sensibilities and even increasingly ludicrous transportation advancements.
