Ah the wonders of Youtube. Otherwise I never would've been able to catch a gem like this. Words can't describe the artistic quality of this short. It's certainly a very textured show. Everything has a lifelike yet surreal appeal to it. I'm still not quite sure how everything was done. There's not really much of a story, but towards the middle it tends to invoke a strong sense of abandonment in you. Curse that owl and his evil eyes! And will we ever find out the mystery of the horse?

The hedgehog's-eye view of the world and the obscuring mystery of the fog make this short film a beautiful work of art you will hold your breath through. It beautifully captures the atmosphere of being lost, of having the beautiful but cold stillness of mist turn a familiar spot into a mysterious otherworld.

But it is a short film, and there's nothing much more to say about it...

In an early scene, Hedgehog is stalked by an owl, which is soon distracted by its reflection in a puddle. Shortly afterwords it sees Hedgehog listening to his own echo in a small hole and gets caught up an imitating him. This neatly sums up the tone of Hedgehog in the Fog: while fear and danger are major themes in the short, just under the surface they give way to another theme - the inherent facination of the world that the characters exist in.

Throughout the short - right up to the closing credits, in fact - Hedgehog worries for his own safety, and the saftey of the horse, and the saftey of the strawberry jam, while the bear cub worries for the saftey of Hedgehog. But the owl turns out to be more interested in his echo; a large shadowy object turns out to be the trunk of a tree; a set of pointy teeth turn out to belong to a helpful dog. In the end the focus is on the confusing but wonderous world that Hedgehog is travelling through; it's a cozy world of wicker chairs, strawberry jam and juniper twigs on the fire. Hedgehog is set in a beautifully-rendered world where the dangers and the wonders mesh perfectly.

The short uses Norstein's characteristic visual style: cutout animation pushed pretty much to its limits, all coated in deliciously painted artwork suggested by Slavic folk art; the film does its darndest to ensure that its viewers find its world as fascinating as the characters do. Hedgehog is a very likable character, and despite having a significantly smaller amount of screen time, the bear cub is just as memorable.

All in all, it's a small wonder that Hedgehog in the Fog is one of the most-loved animated films ever to not come out of Hollywood.

My memories of this short film, to be completely honest, are somewhat fleetingly and disconcertingly vague. So this review is partly based on memory and flashes of the short that refreshed my memory. What I do remember though is that it was a truly magical piece of work. Shown on the UK's Channel 4 during my childhood in what was probably one of the many animation fests that they have now and then.

Hedgehog is a wonderful mixture of what seems to be stop-motion mixed with the sensibilities of shadow puppetry with other elements throw in. In animation respects it is very similar to a few British productions I’ve seen, like noggin the Nog, or Captain Pugwash. Like those two, there is something about Hedgehog that somehow transverses the limitations of the slider-style animation and ends up a reverse of your expectations: although in Hedgehog’s case this is even more so.

The world and its characters come to life, yet here subtleness is the master; here lie gentle movements that are the best antidote to Hollywood’s vulgar bold films, were action comes first. Here the pace is slower, the narrative poetic and the world like a beautiful dream. Haunting scenes stir the mind, the narration steers it’s spirit; and a sensitive story about a little hedgehog wondering about a horse in the fog and the poor thing's frightened journey through said fog.

Some people often talk about possible symbolism in this film, which is understandable when you consider when and where this film was made, talks of what the fog is, big brother, concealment; what the horse stands for, truth or hope. In all honesty I personally don’t go looking for hidden messages in animation, I just hope to enjoy the ride.

And who really needs to look at something so amazing in that way anyhow? When it’s far more satisfactorily to watch it as a piece of art. One of the true wonders of what a animated piece can be.

Philip Larkin is one of the most highly regarded poets of the 20th century, yet his reputation was built on just two slender volumes of poetry. If there's a similar figure in animation it has to be Yuri Norstein, who many regard as one of the greats - whose 'Tale of Tales' was once voted the best animated film ever made - but whose complete works would probably total less than 90 minutes, and that's counting the 12 minutes of the unfinished film he's been making since 1986. And yet, watch a film like 'Hedgehog in the Fog', and you can't grudge him that reputation. It's eleven minutes of sheer magic, made with a team of four people, and it makes (insert this month's quarter-billion dollar CGI feature film) look as emotionally and artistically hollow as it probably is.

This is the second last of Norstein's films, and the best of his solo works, with the exception of the incredible 'Tale of Tales' - though in some ways I actually prefer 'Hedgehog'. Certainly it's a less 'difficult' film. Yes, if you want it, there is probably symbolism here which you can analyse, but deeper meanings are not shoved at you. This is simply a magical piece of animation which ranks up there with the very best of early Disney.

The story is very simple. Hedgehog and Bear cub have a nightly ritual in which they sit outside Bear's house and count the stars - the ones to the left of the chimney are Hedgehog's I think. On his way through the forest to Bear's house on evening with his pot of raspberry jam, Hedgehog suddenly encounters a beautiful white horse standing in the mist. He wonders if the horse should lie down in the fog whether she would suffocate, and so descends into the mist to investigate. He soon becomes hopelessly lost, is worried by shadowy figures, a bat, an owl, a falling leaf - none of which are really menacing so much as disorienting. He soon panics and loses his way completely, losing his raspberry jam, which is returned to him by an otherwise unknown dog. Then he falls into a river and drifts along, believing he is going to drown.

That's not the end of the story. I don't want to spoil it.

Compared with his two earlier films, which were fairly narrative-driven, 'Hedgehog in the Fog' shows the deep, impressionistic style which Norstein would use in 'Tale of Tales', except here it's unencumbered by a complex narrative structure. Hedgehog simply descends from his normal world into a strange but beautiful realm of impressions and emotions, and emerges somehow awed and transformed. This is what stays with you. You can make what you like of it all, but I find it simply beautiful. The image of the white horse through the mist has to be one of the most hauntingly memorable images in animation.

Everything by Norstein is worth watching, but anything with 'Hedgehog in the Fog' on it is worth owning.