Branko
Ćopić was one of the few Yugoslavian children’s book writers who could live
entirely off his royalties, despite his often-pointed criticism of the
Communist Party and its corruption. Of course, that willingness to speak truth
to power only increased his popularity. Yet, his books were then and still
remain popular in the former Yugoslav states and throughout Europe. For
thematic reasons, this one in particular took on additional meaning for
refugees during the Balkan War. Previously adapted for Croatian TV as an animated
special, Ćopić’s ode to one’s abode gets a richly detailed stop-motion animation
treatment in Eva Cvijanovic’s Canadian National Film Board-supported short film,
Hedgehog’s Home (trailer here), which screened at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
It
is a deceptively simple story. After enjoying a glutinous lunch with the Fox,
the stuffed Hedgehog makes his way make to his tree stomp home. Not
understanding his attachment to his nest, the not so stealthily Fox follows
Hedgy, picking up several gawking predators (Wolf, Bear, Boar) along the way,
who all expect to sneer at his titular home. However, old Hedge will give them
a real dressing down before things really get ironic.
Stylistically,
Hedgehog looks like a cousin of Wes
Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. It has
a very tactile vibe, with all kinds of hair and fiber plainly visible. Yet, it
is also gently sly film that must have been an enjoyable added bonus for all
the Sundance patrons who saw it playing before White Fang (a rather shrewdly programmed pairing).
