While political pressures would strongly dictate the kinds of topics that animation could cover in the early years, state funding meant that even the relatively small postwar nation would be able to prove itself on the international stage.
[1][2] Indeed, subsequent to the 1956 revolution, the softening effects of Goulash Communism helped enable artists to begin to express themselves such that by the late 1970s, Pannónia Film Stúdió would rank among the top 5 major cartoon studios alongside Walt Disney, Hanna-Barbera, Soyuzmultfilm, and Toei.
International conflicts during both world wars as well as turbulent political climates in the pre-Iron Curtain period led to the emigration of many of Hungary's animation artists who famously established themselves in places like France, the U.K., and America.
A second generation of animators would emerge in the 1960s under the less repressive system of Goulash Communism, and sociopolitical sentiment was for the first time gently hinted at as cartoons developed philosophical themes characterized by morbidity and black humor.
Foreign animation studios began to reach out to Pannónia Film Stúdió during this period to subcontract some of the more laborious elements of cartoon production such as compositioning and inking.
[4] The decade would also mark a renaissance in technical experimentation with the exploration of many non-traditional graphic media such as plasticine, sand, coal, textiles, and computer animation.
A variety of solutions were adopted ranging from the active courting of foreign contract work, to specialization in the labor-intensive traditional hand-animation forms, to employee ownership.
Between 1932 and 1945, 150 promotional cartoons are produced including Családi kávépótló ("Family Coffee Substitute"), Estétől reggelig ("Evening to Morning"), A láthatatlan vendég ("Invisible Visitor"), Zeusz inkognitóban ("Zeus in Cognito"), Vidám suszterinas ("The hilarious shoemaker's boy"), Szerencsés flottás ("Lucky Jim"), and Izzó szerelem ("Glowing Love")[3][11] During the lead-up to World War II and the turbulent war years, Hungary saw an exodus of artists and filmmakers, particularly among the Hungarian Jewish population.
In domestic productions, however, with the artistic community under strain from an authoritarian Communist government, morbidity and black humor become more common as cartoons were used to hint at and reflect the philosophy and conditions of the day.
"), Varjúdombi mesék ("Tales from Crow Hill"), Tamás Szabó Sipos's Magyarázom... ("Let Me Explain..."), and Ottó Foky's Egy világhírű vadász emlékiratai ("The Magic Snake").
New series were also launched including Attila Dargay's Pom-pom meséi ("Tales of Pom Pom") and A nagy hó-hó-horgász ("The Grrreat Angler"), Ferenc Cakó's Sebaj Tóbiás ("Never Mind Toby"), László Ujváry Jr.'s Mesék Mátyás királyról ("Tales about King Matthias"), Marcell Jankovics' Mondák a magyar történelemből ("Hungarian Historical Legends"), Zsolt Richly's Fabulák ("Fables") and Kíváncsi Fáncsi ("Curious Fáncsi"), Tibor Hernádi's Animália ("Animalia"), Líviusz Gyulai's Tinti kalandjai ("Tinti's Adventures") and Kentaurfi kalandjai ("Adventures of Fanny the Elephant"), Tamás Baksa's Trombi és a tűzmanó ("Trombi and the Fiery Imp"), and Ferenc Varsányi's Csepke ("Droplet").