''Johnny Corncob'' (Hungarian: ''János vitéz'') is a 1973 Hungarian animated adventure film directed by Marcell Jankovics.

Summary

It tells the story of a young man who goes on an adventure as a soldier, while longing to be reunited with the woman he loves. The film is based on the 1845 epic poem '' János vitéz'' by

Sándor Petőfi Sándor Petőfi ( []; né Petrovics; ; ; 1 January 1823 – most likely 31 July 1849) was a Hungarian poet and Classical Liberalism, liberal revolutionary. He is considered Hungary's national poet, and was one of the key figures of the Hungari ...

. It was the first Hungarian animated feature film.

Cast

* György Cserhalmi as Jancsi (Johnny) * Anikó Nagy as Iluska (his girlfriend) * Erzsi Pártos as the Mostoha (Iluska's step-mother) * Antal Farkas as the Gazda (farmer) * Gábor Mádi Szabó as the Haramiavezér (bandit leader) * György Bárdy as the Hussar Captain * János Körmendi as the French king * Erzsébet Kútvölgyi as the Princess

Production

The film was commissioned by the Hungarian government for the 150th anniversary of

's birth. It was produced by Pannonia Film Studio and was Hungary's first ever animated feature film. It was made by a team of 130 people and took 22 months to produce. The visual style were inspired by Hungarian

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

and George Dunning's 1968 film '' Yellow Submarine'', for which the director was a fan of alongside

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Legacy

In HBTV, the cartoon was set to Poco's " Crazy Love" and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

's "Whereabouts" even though it wasn't a

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

cartoon. This is because Hanna-Barbera had the distribution rights to the film at the time. Hanna-Barbera originally intended to release the film in the United States under the title "Forever Like The Rose". The film was planned to be released in 1978 but was ultimately shelved. It is included as an extra on the

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

edition of Jankovics's 1981 epic '' Son of the White Mare''.Review: Marcell Jankovics’s Son of the White Mare on Arbelos Films Blu-ray - Slant Magazine
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References

{{Marcell Jankovics 1970s adventure films 1970s romance films 1973 animated films 1973 films Animated films based on poems Films directed by Marcell Jankovics Hungarian animated films Hungarian romance films 1970s Hungarian-language films Sándor Petőfi