Vuk / The Little Fox (1981) – 3/5

Enjoyable mostly thanks to the dialogues

„Vuk“ or „The Little Fox“ is a Hungarian animated movie (i.e. Cartoon film) from 1981, so this one is already over 40 years old now. At under 80 minutes, it is definitely not a long movie, but also not super short. European animated films from a long time ago are usually not extremely long and there’s quite a few shorter ones than this one here even. The director and at the same time one of three writers is Attila Dargay. He was over 50 here already and had been part of the industry for over 20 years, even if he had mostly focused on short films and television series/episodes before this one. Only one full feature film he made before this fox-themed cartoon. I would say visually in terms of the looks you can see that it is not American, even if there are Eastern European animation movies from a long time ago where you can see it more easily and it’s far more obvious from the style. Also quite a coincidence that this one here came out the exact same year like Disney’s The Fox and the Hound. Indeed a coincidence though I am sure and not planned, but a pretty big one because not only are both films about foxes at the center of the story, but also about dogs and at least one dog in here was not completely wicked and among the antagonists compared to the other dogs and in the Disney film the dog is a full-on good guy anyway. But back to this one here now obviously: This was the second time I watched this film and well, what can I say. I think I liked it a little more on first watch, which was not too long ago either, but it’s still decent and overall no hesitation for me in giving this a thumbs-up. What caught my attention is how this film is really packed with talking animals such as the foxes of course, but also poultry, cats, crows, owls, frogs, hedgehogs even and many others perhaps that I am totally forgetting about now. Of course, I appreciated the hedgehog especially. Many of those really had one scene only, but better than nothing I guess.

Speaking of the talking animals, it can also be said that the title character, the one you also see on the poster here on imdb, was voiced by a female between the age of 35 and 40. But why not? If Bart Simpson can be, then Vuk certainly can as well. Her name is Judit Pogány and she is almost 80 today. I still wonder if other countries also took females for their dubbed versions. As this film felt really dialogue-driven on many occasions, I thought that it would be fairly difficult anyway to come up with good dubs. It already started with the title character’s name and how each letter stood for a character trait. This was still doable, but there were bigger challenges ahead. Most of it was alright though in the version I watched today. I do think that maybe what some of the characters said was among the very best the film had to offer. Most of all, some of the stuff Vuk said. I will mention a few examples. Almost all of it had to do with how he was still inexperienced and we witness him explore and find out about the world surrounding him. Especially nature. This includes how he learns about birds being able to fly or how he clearly underestimates a frog’s ability to get away. In an utterly playful manner. My favorite quote maybe from the entire film was when he responds to a question linked to hunters and their best friends. That was pretty hilarious. And still it showed that even if he was a bit cocky there, he was still smart and knew that „darkness“ was the correct answer.

The element of how foxes are hunters is included here on several occasions. The film does not sell them to us as cute and harmless animals. Okay with the „cute“ it maybe does here and there, but we are nonetheless occasionally reminded that they are predators like when Vuk is asked if he wants chicken or goose for dinner and his response there was funny too. Or when he chases the frog of course with the intention to kill him, but he was not a talented hunter at that point yet. He is though when the film jumps a year ahead and we see grown-up Vuk now. For example he catches a bird on one occasion and we see the remains of the bird on the ground like the bead for example and even if there is no blood or anything visible, it was definitely something you did not really see depicted in Disney films. There, the American Vuk maybe would have liked the taste of the flower. Especially if we are talking films from that era. But on the other hand, it is also realistic and even a minor documentary aspect and an approach that makes sure we do not forget that foxes are predators. The main antagonists here are humans nonetheless. Or one human, namely a hunter as well. The one surrounded by dogs and he is pushed around by his wife still. A gruesome act at the very beginning that we do not get to witness luckily makes it pretty clear that no animal is the villain here, but men are the real monster and way worse than any territorial fox rival or snitching crow. Pay attention to how „human“ is even used as an insult here without any adjectives ahead of the word to describe him. Or what his gun is called.

One character I really must talk about here is Karak, the old fox who brings up the orphaned Vuk and teaches him everything he knows. This character really grew on me throughout the film and I must say he is the MVP for me and not Vuk. So I was also especially sad with what happens to him in the end. The idea of how he and Vuk compliment each other, but say before that that they should not listen was a bit funny I thought and almost a running gag, even if it was just included twice I think. But there is much more to Karak. I am not sure why, but I even mistook him for a potential antagonist first. Maybe because of the darker voice in the English dub if I remember correctly. He is a patient teacher and be it only the small lessons like when you carry something (or somebody) in your mouth and there is a huge abyss below you, then you must not speak. This was also a charming little scene and moment in the first half of the film. Karak is nonetheless pretty tough as we find out when Vuk clashes into another fox and they start discussing who owns this certain terrain. So yeah, there is certainly a lot to like to this little movie, even if I would maybe not say it is as good as all the other reviewers said it was and the rating here on imdb with the 8 on the left side of the comma is also a bit exaggerated.

Some stuff I also did not like too much, so I cannot be more generous. The closure with the female fox and the young ones in the end is of course a nice reference back to the start when Vuk was one of the young foxes. I must still say the female fox added almost nothing story-wise. Sure freeing her brought in quite a bit of tension because the two male foxes had to get close to humans, but that is really it. When she was free and with them, she was basically just there. Also the aforementioned closure with the young foxes felt pretty rushed too in the end I must say. This could have been done better. Some of the sweetness got lost this way. In general, I think the first half of the film was superior compared to the second half. This also has to do with the two drunk geese (I think it was geese) for example, which was a massive comedic inclusion, but I did not like it at all unfortunately and did not make me laugh. Other stuff did though and I mentioned a lot of it already. Yeah, that’s it then. I give a thumbs-up and positive recommendation, but without truly dedicated enthusiasm. It was alright, here and there quite nice. Nothing more. Still, if you like animal cartoons (Can I call it animaltion?), especially old ones, then this is one you can give a go. Its popularity has also helped the film become available in all kinds of other countries and not just Hungary, so it’s far from impossible and much easier get a hand on this one than you might think it would be for a Hungarian film from the early 1980s.