In this animation a young girl explores the seaside on a windy day, encountering fantastical creatures along the way.

There seems to be so much to say about the hedgehog. As a child living in Ireland, I was aware of hedgehogs and moles. They often appeared in children’s literature – in tales about animals living in quaint cottages. According to my young neighbours, a mole was rumoured to be living in their backyard. I recall that I marveled at the possibility.

I once came across a hedgehog sculpture in New Zealand and fell in love with it. If I ever decide to collect an animal figure, it will be a heated race between the owl and the hedgehog.

When I came across the Russian animated short film “The Hedgehog in the Fog”, I was positively charmed. As one writer said, it is hard to describe the beauty and magical feeling of this little film. Whether you’re a child or a child at heart, find a high speed connection, pop open the film to full screen and sit back for 9 minutes of pure delight!

In 2003 “Hedgehog in the Fog” won the “№1 Animated film of all the time” at the Laputa Animation Festival in Japan.

As you watch this 1975 film by Yuri Norstein, you start to wonder “what other Russian animated films are out there?” Following this line of thinking, I stumbled across other Slavic animators as well. I will follow up on more of these leads in another post.

Spring Melodies (1946 animated Russian film by Soyuzmultfilm)

Image: Hedgehog in the Fog – 1988 USSR stamp.