21 June, Wednesday – 3 July, Monday | Hírös Agora | Kodály room
Opening: 21 June | Wednesday 17:00
The exhibition is opened by animated film director Sándor Békési
The protagonist of János Arany’s epic poem is a true Hungarian superhero, a solar hero. The story of Miklós Toldi lets us witness the growth of an incredibly strong adolescent boy as he learns to control and use his power to become the most famous knight of Louis the Great. The feature film not only allows us to experience his fight with his scheming brother and the inner struggle of the young boy as he searches for his path, but also presents the full richness of the world of knights and the Hungarian plain and moorland. We accompany Toldi as he roams the swamp and the 14th-century streets of Pest, fighting for his justice against all odds and against everyone. The last work of Marcell Jankovics faithfully reflects the text of János Arany’s poem. And the picturesque visuals of Toldi created with utmost care reflect the excellent work of over a hundred artists working for Kecskemétfilm for over four years.
If history repeats itself, this might be true to the history of animation too. At least it seems to be proven by the fateful connection between Marcell Jankovics’s two grand works: the first great success of his career and the film crowning and closing the director’s outstanding oeuvre are both based on 19th-century Hungarian poetry. The first Hungarian animated feature film premiered 50 years ago, in 1973, Johnny Corncob was also created thanks to a competition grant issued on the occasion of an important anniversary, just as Toldi was about half a century later. Ferenc Mikulás, the head of Kecskemétfilm (since its establishment in 1971), asked Marcell Jankovics to direct Toldi, who hesitated at first, but finally decided to accept—and that is how he started realizing the last monumental animation project of his career. Jankovics had decades-long professional connection with Kecskemétfilm, reaching back to the foundation of the studio. As lead director, he was a key artist of the studio’s internationally best known production, the 100-episode-long Hungarian Folk Tales (1977–2011) boasting over one hundred and fifty-six million views worldwide. Jankovics’s series titled Legends from Hungarian History (1986–88) was also made in this studio, which similarly to the Folk Tales, was the idea of Mikulás.
Lajos Csákovics, the technical director of the Toldi series and co-director of the film following the death of Jankovics, had a key role in the crew along with numerous other professionals working at Kecskemétfilm with decades of experience, and the countless other artists representing the younger generation within or outside Kecskemétfilm. Not to mention György Selmeczi, the composer of the gorgeous soundtrack, and the storyteller Tamás Széles, who brilliantly portrayed the spirit of Arany and through it all the other characters of the story.
The exhibition aims to commemorate this long creative and work process. Toldi is the final cartoon that follows the production traditions of Pannonia, its derives its spirit entirely from Jankovics, but at the same time being a unique combination of modern digital techniques that do not reduce the beauty of traditional hand-drawn animation. Visitors can follow the diverse stages of the creation of the series and the feature film revealing a small slice of the long and meticulous work that brought the world of Arany’s Toldi to life. As two of the most important keywords of Jankovics’s oeuvre are preservation and education, this exhibition is also obliged to aim at least as high.
