Famous Hungarian cartoons, take one!

Cat City

Cat City

(Macskafogó, a clever pun, which would translate to

Cat Trap ) is a

Hungarian-German-Canadian coproduction that debuted on the silverscreen in

1986 , and became an instant classic. The film takes place on

Planet X , in the year

80 AMM

(After Mickey Mouse). The story is centered around the cat mob’s evil masterplan to entirely erase the planet’s mouse population. This looming nightmare can only be stopped if

Professor Fushimishi ’s counterplans are kept and delivered safe and sound, a mission suited for

Intermouse ’s once-best agent,

Nick Grabowski , who’s called back from retirement to save micekind. To sidetrack the cats, a second agent,

Sgt. Lazy Dick , is also thrown into action as a bait.

Mr. Gatto , the mob’s kingpin, and Fritz Teufel, his right hand, do everything they can to prevent

Grabowski

from delivering the plans, including sending a quartet of killer rats to hunt him down.

The Mézga Family

The Mézga Family

is the Hungarian version of

The Simpsons . The

Mézgas

first appeared on TV in

1968 , and had two more seasons in

1974 and 1978 . The series portrays a seemingly typical

middle-class family

consisting of

Géza , the clumsy father playing second fiddle to his wife,

Paula ;

Aladár , a 12-year-old boy who happens to be a child prodigy, and

Kriszta , a girl in her teens showing all the antics associated with her age. The first season’s main motives are the conflicts stirred by

MZ/X,

a.k.a.

Öcsi

(Lil’ Fella), the family’s 30th-century descendant with whom

Aladár

made contact.

MZ/X tries to make the life of his ancestors easier by sending various high-tech gadgets through time and space, but, as the aphorism states, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Maffia, the cat,

Blöki (Zorro), the dog, and

Dr. Máris , the cynical neighbour also contribute to the storyline.

The Tales of Pom Pom

Written by

István Csukás

and

Ferenc Sajdik , and drawn by the latter,

Pom Pom

is based on a series of ever-popular books courtesy of the same duo of artists. The main characters are

Pom Pom,

the cutest talking mop-wig hybrid of all time, and

Picur

(Kiddo), a schoolgirl.
Pom Pom

tells tales relevant to the happenings of

Picur ’s life, introducing a number of

lovably odd creatures

in the process such as

Gombóc Artúr

(Arthur Dumpling), a

chocolate-craving bird

with Garfield’s appetite and body fat percentage.

Pom Pom

has only had

two seasons

– in 1980 and 1981 -, but, just like

Cat City

and

The Mézga Family , reached the pantheon of cartoons within a blink of an eye, and is often referenced and quoted to this day.

Next, please!

Most

Hungarians

refer to this legendary series that debuted in

1974

by the name of its main character, Dr. Bubó.

Dr. Bubó , an owl and a natural-born bachelor who fancies fine cigars, operates his consulting room in a lair. The ruling principle of his philosophy is that the body’s illnesses are rooted in

psychosomatic reasons , so he seeks the help of

psychology , but his diagnoses are always way off. His

assistant , a

gold-hearted bea r named

Ursula , is deeply in love with

Dr. Bubó , and often protects her Platonic sweetheart from enraged patients. Other main characters include

Sgt. Hawk

(Sólyom Csőrmester), the long beak of the forest’s law who’s a bit overzealous when it comes to arresting fellow animals.; and

Ernest Turtie

(Teknőc Ernő) the courier,

Sgt. Hawk’s underling , who drives his boss crazy with his slower-than-the-growth-of-grass velocity.

Next, Please!


mocks psychological and social problems

in a clever way, thus it’s more than consumable for adults. Speaking of psychological problems, the forest’s inhabitants deal with hillarious hardships: the

elephant suffers from an inferiority complex, the flea

is a

megalomaniac , the goose

is a

hypohondriac , the

pig

is a

drunkard , and so forth.

Frakk, the Terror of Cats

The title is a bit misleading, since

Frakk , the

Hungarian pointer , is not a serial kitten killer strolling around with a flamethrower; although he’s not too fond of the two fastidious cats he’s forced to live with, either. This talking trio of four-leggers is owned by a pensioner couple,

Uncle Charlie

(Károly bácsi) and

Aunt Vilma (Vilma néni).

Uncle Charlie ’s heart belongs to the more reliable and faithful

Frakk , while

Aunt Vilma sides with the mercurial cats. The pair of lazy troublemakers,

Lukrécia

and

Szerénke , are basically in war with

Frakk . This ancient rivalry symbolizes the conflicts of extremities,

attitudes , and even genders,

and also provides fun times for kids of all ages.

Frakk

was created by

Ágnes Bálint , had three seasons, and debuted in

1972 .

The Bunny with Checkered Ears

The Bunny with Checkered Ears

is – drum rolls, please – anchored by a bunny with checkered ears he can utilize as a propeller and fly around like a hippie in

Woodstock . He’s the angel-like, neon green version of

Bugs Bunny , and he’s always eager to help out anyone in need. The too-cute-for-school bunny’s most significant driving motives are his generosity and kindness, he doesn’t want to be either rewarded or glorified.

26 episodes

were aired between

1975 and

1978 , and, during the previous decade, the

Checkered-Eared

has become commercialized, and can be seen on

T-Shirts

or bought as a

plush toy .

The Great Angler

The cartoon’s Hungarian title,

A nagy ho-ho-horgász, is rather hard to translate without making it sound like a late night fishing documentary, but we did our best. Anyway, the series kicked off in 1982, and had another season in George Orwell’s favourite year, 1984. The story is centered around the fishing adventures of The Great Angler and his main man – or rather main crawler -, the Boss Worm. The cartoon depicts the beauty of being passionate about what you love, and presents how enthusiasm and perseverance help to defeat obstacles.