The Dragons from Son of the White Mare (Marcell Jankovics tribute animation)
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- čas přidán 3. 06. 2021
- In tribute to Hungarian animation creator, artist, cultural historian and folklorist Marcell Jankovics (1941-2021) and his 1981 surreal animated epic Fehérlófia, or Son of the White Mare.
It's a film that has been on my mind literally every day since I first watched it over four years ago, and I have long wanted to make an animation inspired by its brilliant artistry and symbolism-filled visual design. I was glad to see the movie going through a kind of international renaissance in recent years, which Jankovics thankfully lived to see as well. His unfortunate passing on May 29 was a deep loss not only for the field of animation but for Hungarian culture and cultural preservation as a whole. It is a painful blow to me too, as his views on the artistry and possibilities of animation and his work philosophy have been major inspirations to me. He struggled for years to get this film off the ground, and his final finished movie, 2011's The Tragedy of Man took 23 arduous years to complete (28 if you also count scripting and pre-production), but he never gave up. To pay tribute to my favorite animated film from my favorite animator, I went back to the idea to do it for real this time.
Marcell Jankovics was a staunch devotee and master of hand-drawn 2D animation, and any 3D recreation of his free-form, always shifting art and character designs can only be an inferior copy. He famously said CGI is not "real art" and refused to learn digital techniques. Had he lived to see this video, I sincerely hope he would not have taken it as an insult -- to my knowledge, he liked to see how his works could inspire others.
Rather than try to copy the film's exact art style, I went for a more three-dimensional approach, with simplistic and stylized light and texture effects that (I hope) managed to stay true to the original work's surreal, "psychedelic" world where characters, actions and even shot transitions fulfill some kind of symbolic role. I kept the dragon models simple and loosely constructed, allowing them to change shape and show off different light effects. In the film, their designs are in flux, changing every few seconds. That I couldn't replicate, but I did try to stay true to the basic ideas Jankovics wanted to express with them.
As you can see, the concept of "dragon" has been interpreted rather liberally. They all symbolize backward ideas. The three-headed dragon is a primitive man of stone with the head of Olmec statues and the telltale rock nutsack of a prehistoric fertility idol -- ironically, he is impotent in practice, as he has no penis, only his club that's separate from his body.
His seven-headed brother is living weaponry who can transform his limbs at will, and represents both wartime violence and sexual abuse with his phallic tank turret. He uses it not to create life but to destroy it by shooting bullets and bombs.
The twelve-headed monster is a living metropolis, a symbol of the deceptiveness of urbanization. He reflects a clear but fake image of the world with his glass faces, while he obfuscates and suffocates the world with the polluting smog he wears as his clothing. His main head also carries the stolen holy halo of the Rain King, the benevolent god of the Upper World. These dragons are ancient, depraved and immoral evils disguised as symbols of technological progress (a notion Jankovics was well familiar with, given his experience with Hungary's socialist/communist regime).
All three also showcase symbols of the planet Saturn. According to Jankovics, Eurasian steppe myths (to which the movie pays homage to) re-imagined the ancient Roman god Saturn as the symbol of death and divide, and the forefather of dragons.
I also included the giant evil snake made up of 77 small chain link dragons. In the background are the three spinning apple castles the dragons have invaded and stolen from the World Tree, flipping them upside down and placing them on the tree's underground roots.
As a bonus, the one-eyed Rain King of the Upper World also appears at the end in his weakened state, keeping watch over the dragons under the guise of a cloud, waiting for Son of the White Mare to arrive, slay the dragons and restore his lost kingdom's old order. His presence serves as a little hopeful message, a nod to Jankovics's own beliefs that we should not forget the morals of our traditions amidst modernity's uncertainties.
This video is a mere tribute to a film that means a lot to me and an artist whose works I respect and whom I dearly miss despite never having met him. It is no more than fan work and a pale imitation of the original. To truly respect Marcell Jankovics's devotion to his craft, I will go back and continue working on the animations I had began making years ago, no matter how long they might take.
Why hasn’t a studio hired you yet? You’re one of the best and it’s a crime that your underrated.
As someone who also really is a admirer of Jankovic's work, it's great to see more people giving him the recognition he's due!
Holy Hell that's good! I can't believe more people know about Fehérlófia, let alone a super talented 3D animator. I couldn't imagine a full movie like this.
I just learned about this film yesterday. Crazy coincidence.
Whatever this was, it was epic. So vivid and dreamlike. Whatever this is based on, I’ll check out, but definitely love the style you brought to it. Fantastic work
This guy makes cool stuff
Beatiful, just beatiful, great job dude!
Legendary
Hatalmas veszteség, nyugodjon békében 😭😭😭😭😭😭
I’m really glad to see another video from you. They’re one of the best animated videos I’ve ever seen.
That movie was a treat to my eyes and so has been your channel
So flawless and awesome!
Woah! What a nice animation!
My Favorite Animated Movie of all time, it's so underrated!
This is so cool! Man, seeing such a well-crafted video for something so obscure is really inspiring.
Kellett egy pillanat mire kapcsoltam, hogy a Fehérló Fiából vannak.
Great animation :D
just watched the movie yesterday, quite an experience! Psychedelic and yet epic and and beautifull!
That was sick!!!!!
Keep up the great work. Hope to work with someone like you one day.