History YMMV / SonOfTheWhiteHorse

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: The director was annoyed by people throwing around words like trippy or psychedelic, arguably two of the most common adjectives used to describe the film. His intent was to make a dreamlike movie, and all its "quirks" are just part of its symbolism and folk art source material, which can seem odd to those unfamiliar with it. He maintained he never took any drugs and only fueled his love of folk mythology into the film.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff[=/=]NeverAcceptedInHisHometown: The film's reception in its home country has been mixed at best. It flopped in theaters, critical reactions were divided with one famous folk art expert openly deriding the movie. [[BrokenBase Hungarian viewers still see it as either]] an artistic film curiosity or as a horrid piece of unwatchable psychedelia, either one of the best or worst films of their country, but most simply haven't heard of it. It lingered in obscurity for almost 40 years with only terrible-quality VHS and DVD releases to its name, but in the meantime it built up a reputation as a sought-after "hidden gem" among international animation lovers. Nowadays, it tends to be cited in English literature, websites and articles as one of Hungary's most important and famous animated works, a reaction most Hungarians would probably scoff at. Around the late-2010s and early-2020s, this global attention culminated in an American co-produced restoration, limited theatrical showings and even a Blu-ray release. As en example of real-life {{irony}}, Marcell Jankovics had the exact opposite intent when making the film: targeting solely his home audience with not a thought given about international appeal.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids[=/=]WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: An animated film about classic folk tales told to children in Hungary, full of abstract, unnervingly surreal imagery, nudity and blatant phallic/vagina imagery. Who's it meant for? According to the director, he mainly targeted teens and adults, but kids he's spoken to love it, and he is of the opinion that children shouldn't be sheltered from such works. For what it's worth, television showings have given the film G and 6+ ratings, while the original DVD release was for ages 12 and up.
* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: The director is annoyed by people throwing around words like trippy or psychedelic, arguably two of the most common adjectives used to describe the film. His intent was to make a dreamlike movie, and all its "quirks" are just part of its symbolism and folk art source material, which can seem odd to those unfamiliar with it. He maintains he never took any drugs and only fueled his love of folk mythology into the film.

* VindicatedByHistory: Partially overlaps with GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff and AcclaimedFlop. The movie flopped in its country of origin, and though it wasn't universally hated and some critics actually spoke highly of it, the studio was severely disappointed with it and the director. It was ''vastly'' overshadowed by later works like ''Animation/CatCity'' and ''Animation/VukTheLittleFox'', two very popular animated movies that are still in the mainstream's attention today. Outside of Hungary, ''Fehérlófia'' garnered much more critical praise and analysis, while the aforementioned two films remained obscure in the West. Likely due to this notability, it finally received a 4K digital restoration in early 2019.

* GeniusBonus: You may get a lot more out of the movie depending on your familiarity with ancient East European and Western-to-Central Asian folk symbolism and astrology -- or at least the director's own understanding thereof. Take for example the brief appearances of the planet UsefulNotes/{{Saturn}} hidden in the shape of explosions, reflections and the dragons' eyes and contrast them with Eurasian mythological interpretations of the ancient god of the same name. For that matter, [[WorldOfSymbolism the film's use of old folklore tropes and cryptic symbolism]] in its dialogue, imagery and even shot compositions are just as (if not more) vital parts of its presentation as the narrative itself.

* {{Squick}}: Fanyűvő still suckling the barely alive White Mare as an adult. However, it's [[TruthInTelevision actually based in reality]]: some European and Asian cultures' mothers used to breastfeed their children up until their prepubescent years, and elderly people would indeed sacrifice their lives for the benefit of the next generation.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Pretty much the biggest point of contention related to the film is whether its crazy psychedelic visuals seeped in (at times hard to interpret) symbolism are enough to overlook the extremely simple and repetitive plot that deliberately does away with traditional narrative and structural elements that most people take for granted, such as CharacterDevelopment. Given its source material, the story is literally kindergarten-level basic. Some argue that the age-old tropes, along with the grandiose execution and references to ancient creation myths, make the film universal and almost cosmic in scope. Others think it's an example of "style over substance". General audiences at the time of release most definitely weren't impressed, as the experimental presentation was just too unusual and the symbolism too impenetrable. The movie garnered much more acclaim on the fringes of the mainstream.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: The whole movie is pretty trippy, to say the least.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids[=/=]WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: An animated film about classic folk tales told to children in Hungary, full of abstract, unnervingly surreal imagery, nudity and blatant phallic/vagina imagery. Who's it meant for? According to the director, kids he's spoken to love it, and he is of the opinion that children shouldn't be sheltered from such works. For what it's worth, television showings have given the film G and 6+ ratings.

* AwardSnub: The Hungarian film award committee showed no regard for animation up until 1982, when one critic reportedly made a speech in favor of recognizing their artistic merit, citing this movie and ''Animation/VukTheLittleFox'' as examples. In response, the committee miraculously changed their mind and indeed gave the film of the year award... to the already successful ''Vuk'', while continuing to ignore ''Fehérlófia''. It wasn't until 1984 that the San Francisco "Animation Olympiad" gave some it acclaim by naming it the 49th best cartoon of all time. Ironically, the essay on which the director had based the film ''was'' an award winner that catapulted him to fame among the literature academics.

* GeniusBonus: You may get a lot more out of the movie depending on your familiarity with ancient East European and Western-to-Central Asian folk symbolism and astrology -- or at least the director's own understanding thereof. Take for example the brief appearances of the planet UsefulNotes/{{Saturn}} hidden in the shape of explosions, reflections and the dragons' eyes and contrast them with Eurasian mythological interpretations of the ancient god of the same name. For that matter, [[WorldOfSymbolism the film's use of old folklore tropes and cryptic symbolism]] in its dialogue, imagery and even shot compositions are just as (if not more) vital parts of its presentation as the narrative itself.

* VindicatedByHistory: Received mixed reactions upon release and flopped. Nowadays, though still very obscure and lacking an international home release, many animation lovers speak highly of it. [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Especially outside of its country of origin.]]

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids[=/=]WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: An animated film about classic folk tales told to children in Hungary, full of abstract, unnervingly surreal imagery, nudity and blatant phallic/vagina imagery. Who's it meant for? According to the director, kids he's spoken to love it, and he is of the opinion that children shouldn't be sheltered from such works.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: Some of the scenes are pretty trippy, to say the least.

* TearJerker: The mare's death.