YMMV / Hedgehog in the Fog

• Aluminum Christmas Trees: The scene in which Hedgehog floats on his back down the river may appear to be some generous anthropomorphizing, but hedgehogs really can float in this way. Hedgehogs are extremely buoyant when on their backs, due to their quills containing many air chambers.
• Awesome Art: One of the biggest reasons for the short film’s praise. It has some of the most gorgeous cutout animation out there. Those trees still look gorgeous even today.
• Awesome Music: The score by Mikhail Meyerovich is hauntingly beautiful and perfectly fits what is happening on screen.
• Epileptic Trees: There are many philosophical discussions about the meaning of the film, though it’s generally been interpreted about trying new things in life.
• Funny Moments: Hedgehog calling the owl a “weirdo.”
• Gateway Series: More of a gateway short. A lot of people watch this to see why it gets so much praise and end up being introduced to Yuri Norstein animation and Soviet animation as a whole.
• Sacred Cow: You’d be hard pressed to find someone who has watched the movie and hasn’t called it purely genius. Even Hayao Miyazaki praised it as one of the best animations he’d ever seen.
• Signature Scene:
  • The breathtaking scene with Hedgehog gazing up a tree.
  • The scene where Hedgehog sees the white horse in the fog for the first time.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: Hedgehog in the Fog has perhaps some of the most breathtaking visuals in stop motion. So much so that a lot of people are shocked to learn it was made entirely using cardboard cutouts without any computers. The extremely realistic fog effects are just one example of how much effort was put into the short with the effect being created via the monotonous process of putting a thin piece of paper on top of the set and lifting it slowly towards the camera multiple times. To say nothing of the trees which you’d never know weren’t real if someone never told you. And the scene where Hedgehog floats down the river looks like somebody sold their soul to animate.

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