Son Of The White Mare is a Hungarian animated fantasy movie from 1981, directed by Marcell Jankovics (Hungarian Folk Tales, Johnny Corncob and Küzdök) who has often been described as the Hungarian Hayao Miyazaki or Walt Disney. He likes to blend traditional ideas of Hungarian folklore with surreal animated filmmaking to produce something unique, beautiful and breathtaking. Son Of The White Mare has been declared one of the finest animated films of all time and a masterpiece of psychedelic cinema.  " />

Son Of The White Mare is a Hungarian animated fantasy movie from 1981, directed by Marcell Jankovics (Hungarian Folk Tales, Johnny Corncob and Küzdök) who has often been described as the Hungarian Hayao Miyazaki or Walt Disney. He likes to blend traditional ideas of Hungarian folklore with surreal animated filmmaking to produce something unique, beautiful and breathtaking. Son Of The White Mare has been declared one of the finest animated films of all time and a masterpiece of psychedelic cinema. 

The White Mare of the title gives birth to a human son, Fanyüvő. Fanyüvő is the third human son of the mare who enjoys listening to the old tale of the Forefather and how his reign was ended by three evil humanoid dragons, who were freed into the world by the wives of his three sons. After the death of the white mare, Fanyüvő, seeks out his brothers, Komorzsoló and Vasgyurd, and the three brothers, who have developed superhuman powers through drinking the White Mare’s milk decide to seek out the entrance to the underworld, to find the dragon and restore the Forefathers powers.

Eric Kohn wrote in his article for Indie Wire in August of 2020, that Son Of The White Mare may be the greatest psychedelic animated feature of all time, but that it is much more than that, and to be honest he has a point on both counts. This Hungarian folk tale is a veritable feast for the eyes, but also scratches that folkloric itch that means it is right up my street. The visuals are stunning, the colours are bright and vibrant, and the animation is simply gorgeous to behold. Jankovic has created one of the most visually arresting masterpieces of animated cinema, and as Kohn had expressed in his review, it is an obvious influence on Genndy Tartakovsky’s brilliant Samurai Jack series. At times the film can get a little bit out there, however, with the film being so tripped out, it doesn’t feel out of place when Fanyüvő meets a giant triple-headed stone giant with huge testicles, who barfs fiery vomit at him.

This recent Blu-ray disc from Eureka Masters of Cinema also features several of his short films as well as his first feature-length movie, Johnny Corncob from 1973. These are accompanied by a couple of featurettes made in association with the Hungarian National Film Archive about Jaknkovic and his films, featuring interviews with the director. Overall, this is a lovingly produced Blu-ray dedicated to one of the true greats of animated cinema, the addition of the other films adds a huge amount of extra value to the package. Fans of animated cinema and folklore will adore this film and I truly hope this release brings greater attention to one of the great unknown masters of cinema.