Hugo the Hippo
Jun 02 - Jun 03, 2012
(Bill Feigenbaum, Hungary/USA, 1975, 35mm, 86 min)
Phantasmagorical. A magic funhouse of retro kitsch. A lost treasure. These are just a few ways animation mavens describe Hugo the Hippo, a widely-bootlegged cult curio from the 1970s about an orphaned hippopotamus and the sweet child who befriends him. This magical, color-drenched film is voiced by the likes of Burl Ives, Paul Lynde and Robert Morely, and topped off by pop confections sung by Marie and Jimmy Osmond. Directed in 1975 by multiple Emmy winner Bill Feigenbaum (his only feature) behind the Iron Curtain and financed by the perfume giant Faberge, the film was inexplicably buried by 21st Century Fox upon its US release, and to this day still doesn't have an official English digital release. Glimpses of the film’s funkiness, musicality and psychedelic charm can be seen on YouTube, but chances to bask in a print of the film come around next to never. Don't miss your opportunity to see Hugo swim on the big screen during this extremely rare 35mm screening.
