History Animation / SonOfTheWhiteHorse

* HistoryRepeats: Was supposed to be the main message of the film, until the censors curtailed it, though the theme is still very much expressed throughout the film. The ending narration is the most obvious, but history's circularity is also references in many shot compositions (the round shape of the worlds) and color choices (the movie constantly cycles through the rainbow's hues, with red often coming right after purple).

* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: The Copper-Haired Fall Princess.

** All three main dragons are said to throw their clubs to signal their arrival, even though only the first has an actual club. The second launches a nuclear warhead, an the third... puts on a light show?

* ChromaticArrangement: Yellow-gold for Fanyűvő, blueish-green for Vasgyúró, red-orange-pink for Kőmorzsoló. Also holds for the the princesses. Although Fanyűvő does cycle through his brothers' hues when in the radiant gleam of the two elder princesses' castles.

* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Fanyűvő. While some viewers have suggested he's a full-on MartyStu, portraying him as perfect and upstanding in the face of all the hurdles he meets is the ''point'' of the original fables, as well as the movie. Similarly, the youngest princess seems to mirror his pureness, and neither have the faults of the other characters.

The film is mainly notable for its [[DerangedAnimation highly experimental and artistic visuals]], [[AmazingTechnicolorWorld extreme color palette]], unique character designs and flowing animation, its surreal and deliberately dreamlike atmosphere. Objects, characters, and backgrounds shift and contort into one another, and all is held together by a heavy dose of Eurasian folk iconography and an [[WorldOfSymbolism overload of symbolism]], with a special focus on UsefulNotes/{{Constellations}}, the cycle of days, seasons and years, the evils of technological progress, and loads of sexuality.

It had an extremely TroubledProduction, with the finished film being far removed from the director's original vision. Compromized by strict communist censors to adapt a simplistic folktale, Jankovics [[AdaptationExpansion embellished the story]] with the aforementioned cryptic smybolism to preserve his own ideas and bypass said censors, creating a film that underlines its shallow narrative with thematic depth. Still, the end result flopped at the box office, viewers found its art and sound design too unconventional and disliked its bold reinterpretation of a classic children's story (despite being more faithful than some gave it credit for). Its fantastical presentation, use of meaningful symbols and mythological allegory garnered some critical praise, but reviews criticized its simple story and flat characters, both carryovers from the source material. Though initially obscure abroad, the movie received some amount of acclaim, being named the 49th best-animated movie ever made at the 1984 Los Angeles Animation Olympics.

* CharacterNarrator: First, the White Mare recounts the fall of her ancient kingdom and the death of the original princes to her son Fanyűvő. The movie closes with her repeating her lines to the audience, implying something similar would happen again.
* TheChosenOne: Fanyűvő. The twelve-headed dragon knew they'll eventually have to fight each other well before he was even born.

* StaticCharacter: In theory, everyone. The director purposely wanted to avoid CharacterDevelopment, arguing that folk story heroes are constant heroes with unchangeable roles in their tales. However, Fehérlófia does receive some development at the very end, when he spares his brothers instead of resorting to his usual violent tactics.

* TheLostWoods: Fanyűvő runs off into one as a child, only to come across a mysterious taking mist.

The film is mainly notable for its [[DerangedAnimation highly experimental and artistic visuals]], [[AmazingTechnicolorWorld extreme color palette]], unique character designs and flowing animation, as well as its surreal and deliberately dreamlike atmosphere. Objects, characters, and backgrounds shift and contort into one another, and all are held together by a heavy dose of Eurasian folk iconography and an [[WorldOfSymbolism overload of symbolism]], with a special focus on UsefulNotes/{{Constellations}} and the cycle of days, seasons and years.

Following an extremely TroubledProduction, the film flopped at the box office, with viewers finding its overbearing, unconventional art and sound design, and its bold reinterpretation of a classic children's story (albeit more faithful than some give it credit for) too tough to swallow. Its fantastical presentation, use of meaningful symbols and heavy mythological allegory garnered critical praise, but reviews criticized its simple story and flat characters, both carryovers from the source material. Though highly obscure abroad, the movie nonetheless received some amount of acclaim, being named the 49th best-animated movie ever made at the 1984 Los Angeles Animation Olympics.

Since then, thanks to the internet and sporadic festival showings, it's slowly been discovered by animation enthusiasts the world over. Finally, the film's HD restoration (co-produced by the American Arbelos Films) was officially released across the Americas and other regions throughout 2019 and 2020. Of Jankovics's four feature-length animated movies (the others being ''Animation/JohnnyCorncob'', ''Animation/SongOfTheMiraculousHind'' and ''Animation/TheTragedyOfMan''), this is the most widely known outside of his home country, and while initially disliking it because it couldn't live up to his original vision, later in his life he named it as his personal favorite.

The film is mainly notable for its [[DerangedAnimation highly experimental and artistic visuals]], [[AmazingTechnicolorWorld extreme color palette]], unique character designs, and flowing animation, as well as its surreal and deliberately dreamlike atmosphere. Objects, characters, and backgrounds shift and contort into one another, and all are held together by a heavy dose of Eurasian folk iconography and an [[WorldOfSymbolism overload of symbolism]], with a special focus on UsefulNotes/{{Constellations}} and the cycle of days, seasons and years.

Following an extremely TroubledProduction, the film flopped at the box office, with viewers finding its overbearing, unconventional art and sound design, and its bold reinterpretation of a classic children's story (albeit more faithful than some give it credit for) too tough to swallow. Its fantastical presentation, use of meaningful symbols, and heavy mythological allegory garnered critical praise, but reviews criticized its simple story and flat characters, both carryovers from the source material. Though highly obscure abroad, the movie nonetheless received some amount of acclaim, being named the 49th best-animated movie ever made at the 1984 Los Angeles Animation Olympics.

Since then, thanks to the internet and sporadic festival showings, it's slowly been discovered by animation enthusiasts the world over. Finally, the film's HD restoration (co-produced by the American Arbelos Films) will be officially released across the Americas throughout 2019 and 2020. Of Jankovics's four feature-length animated movies (the others being ''Animation/JohnnyCorncob'', ''Animation/SongOfTheMiraculousHind'' and ''Animation/TheTragedyOfMan''), this is the most widely known outside of his home country, and, while initially disliking it because it couldn't live up to his original vision, it is now his personal favorite.

* PowerTrio: Fanyűvő, Kőmorzsoló and Vasgyúró.

The film is mainly notable for its [[DerangedAnimation highly experimental and artistic visuals]], [[AmazingTechnicolorWorld extreme color palette]], unique character designs, and flowing animation, as well as its surreal and deliberately dreamlike atmosphere. Objects, characters, and backgrounds shift and contort into one another, and all are held together by a heavy dose of Eurasian folk iconography and an [[WorldOfSymbolism overload of symbolism]], with a special focus on {{Constellations}} and the cycle of days, seasons and years.

* {{Constellations}}

Shortly after he's born, his mother tells him a story: long ago, there was happiness and peace as [[GodCouple the Forefather Rain King and Progenitrix Ice Queen]] ruled the world; however, their three sons grew restless and wished for wives. This soon proved to be to their ruin, as their princesses became curious about the lock they were never supposed to open, and unwillingly set [[SealedEvilInACan the evil dragons]] free. The dragons seized power, killing the three brothers, relocating their apple castles to the Underworld and kidnapping the princesses. The Forefather escaped with his power stolen, while the Queen was captured when trying to save his sons in the form of a white mare. In captivity, she gave birth two times, with both of her sons disappearing. Finally freed thanks to the King's waning powers, she took refuge in the WorldTree as she became pregnant a third time.\\

'''''Fehérlófia''''' (''Son of the White Mare/Horse'') is Creator/MarcellJankovics's 1981 AnimatedAdaptation of steppe nomad legends and Hungarian [[FairyTale folktales]] (culled mainly from the collections of László Arany and Gyula Illyés), featuring the eponymous [[CharacterTitle Son of the White Horse]], or more accurately Fanyűvő (Treetearer or Treeshaker), the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin superpowered son of a white mare]].

The film is mainly notable for its [[DerangedAnimation highly experimental and artistic visuals]], [[AmazingTechnicolorWorld extreme color palette]], unique character designs and flowing animation, as well as its surreal and deliberately dreamlike atmosphere. Objects, characters and backgrounds shift and contort into one another, and all is held together by a heavy dose of Eurasian folk iconography and an [[WorldOfSymbolism overload of symbolism]], with a special focus on {{Constellations}} and the cycle of days, seasons and years.

Following an extremely TroubledProduction, the film flopped at the box office, with viewers finding its overbearing, unconventional art and sound design, and its bold reinterpretation of a classic children's story (albeit more faithful than some give it credit for) too tough to swallow. Its fantastical presentation, use of meaningful symbols and heavy mythological allegory garnered critical praise, but reviews criticized its simple story and flat characters, both carryovers from the source material. Though highly obscure abroad, the movie nonetheless received some amount of acclaim, being named the 49th best animated movie ever made at the 1984 Los Angeles Animation Olympics.\\

!!This film provides examples of:

[[folder: A-H]]
* ActorAllusion: Gyula Szabó, highly skilled storyteller and narrator of the concurrently produced and likewise folktale-based ''Animation/MagyarNepmesek'', voices the Rain King and the Kapanyányimonyók. His tone and infliction were meant to strengthen the film's bedtime story-like atmosphere.

* HairyGirl: As also seen in some episodes of ''Animation/MagyarNepmesek'' (a series that was produced in part as preparation for this movie), gratuitous pubic hair is used to give nude characters ''some'' modesty.

[[folder: I-Y]]

* LostInTranslation: English subtitles for the film, including the official one for the Arbelos Films re-release, never quite manage to faithfully adapt the original dialogue's [[AntiquatedLinguistics archaic nature]] and the numerous Hungarian folktake idioms sprinkled throughout, greatly simplifying and rendering them in modern English instead. Even the name of the Hétszűnyű Kapanyányomonyók (Seven Cubit Skull-Sized Testicles) gets translated in all sorts of different ways, most of which aren't accurate (Seven-Hearted Lobahobgoblin, Seven-Winged Skull-Sized Gnome, Seven-Colored Goblin), and his second name, Kapanyelű Facika (Hoe Handle-Sized Dick) is almost always neglected. Though the translations still preserve the dialogue's meaning and make it easier for modern audiences to follow the film, they also lessen the dialogue's charm and authenticity. The almost comically incessant overuse of the word "koma" (buddy or brother) whenever the characters address each other is also reduced.

** Hétszűnyű Kapanyányimonyók to Seven-hearted Lobahobgoblin or Seven-winged Skull-sized Gnome. This one's the farthest off base; not only does [[IHaveManyNames he have numerous names]] in folklore, even native Hungarians have different interpretations of them. Most agree it comes from "hét szűnyű koponyányi monyók", literally meaning "seven ell/cubit(-long beard) and skull-sized eggs/testicles". The director also theorized the name's first half could mean "hét színű" or "having seven colors", referring to the rainbow. In any case, it's got nothing to do with hearts or wings.
** Kapanyelű Facika to... nothing. English texts routinely ignore the Monyók's boastful second name that literally means "the Dick as Long as a Hoe Handle".

* StaticCharacter: In theory, everyone. The director purposely wanted to avoid CharacterDevelopment, arguing that folk story heroes are constant heroes with unchangeable roles in their tales. However, Fehérlófia does receive some development at the very, when he spares his brothers instead of resorting to his usual violent tactics.

* DamselInDistress: The princesses, but mostly the second. The first keeps his captor at bay by charming him, and the third actually helps the hero defeat the dragon.

* CharacterNarrator: First, the White Mare recounts the fall of her ancient kingdom and the death of the original princes to his son Fanyűvő. The movie closes with her repeating her lines to the audience, implying something similar would happen again.