Jungledyret Hugo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jungledyret Hugo is a Danish media franchise featuring the cartoon adventures of a cute anthropomorphic mammal named Hugo. Created by Danish author and filmmaker Flemming Quist Møller, the franchise currently consists of two animated features and an animated television series, with a third film set for release in 2007.
The two feature films were translated, edited, and released in the United States on a single DVD in 2005 by Mirimax.
Contents |
[edit] The Films
The original films are known in various locales under different translated names, including Jungledyret, Jungledyret Hugo, Amazon Jack, Jungle Jack, Go Hugo Go, Hugo the Movie Star, Jungo, and recently seen as "Hugo" and "Hugo II".
[edit] Jungledyret (1993)
This film introduces us to Hugo, an apparently one-of-a-kind anthropomorphic animal who lives in a jungle. Youthful and carefree, Hugo is prone to playing practical jokes on his friends, Zig and Zag the monkeys. His idyllic lifestyle is interrupted when he is captured by Conrad Cupmann to be co-star in a Hollywood-style film. In order to return from Copenhagen to his jungle home, he must escape with the help of a newly found friend, Rita the fox.
In this film, the animated depiction of Hugo is reminiscient of Don Bluth's style of animation.
Jungledyret is played for laughs, with several characters exhibiting visual hyperbole characteristic of toons, such as a snakelike native slithering and darting his tongue like a snake. It is also a musical, featuring several songs sung and acted by the on-screen characters.
This feature is listed as Go, Hugo, Go! on the 2005 Mirimax release, and is five minutes shorter than its original release.
[edit] Jungledyret 2 - den store filmhelt (1996)
The sequel, Jungledyret 2, picks up where the first movie left off. Hugo and Rita each tell their friends about how much they miss one another. Meanwhile, the CEO of the movie studio still wants to catch him. His plan is to have Hugo co-star in a film, and then earn lots of money through merchandising.
Though the second movie is also a musical, and though it is similar in plotline to the first film, the sequel is played as a drama, with themes of friendship, loyalty, courage, and adventure.
This feature is listed as Hugo the Movie Star on the 2005 Mirimax release, an almost literal translation of the Danish title.
[edit] 2005 Miramax Release (United States)
In 2005, Mirimax Family released a translated, edited edition of the two animated films. Released directly to stores without publicity, the disc has no special features.
[edit] Jungledyret 3 - Fræk som altid (2007)
Little is yet known about this upcoming animated feature, but it appears to take place after the current run of the TV show. The title has been translated Hugo goes bananas. It will be a CGI film. The basic plotline again involves Hugo being captured, this time by "Jungleland". A first release is planned in fall 2007.
[edit] The Characters
In the Jungledyret films, many animals talk to each other, but humans can't understand them. This is a standard conceit, seen in such films as Balto and The Rescuers.
The following character names are from the 2005 Miramax Family DVD.
[edit] Hugo
Hugo is a rare, apparently unique, fictional mammal of the previously unknown species Hugus Primiticus. His parents are never mentioned. He looks something like a living teddy bear, and has yellow fur. In the second film, he mentions to Rita that he only has a summer coat.
He has prehensile (grasping) hands, each with three fingers and a thumb. He has large, fuzzy ears, and human-like feet with five toes. He is bipedal, though he can run in a quadrupedal manner for speed. He uses tools such as levers and skateboards, and can outwit other animals, such as snakes and squirrels. He is noted for his cleverness, his kind heart, his love of food, and the occasional bout of childish selfishness.
In the original Danish release, Hugo was voiced by Jesper Klein. On the 2005 Miramax release, Hugo was voiced by Bronson Pinchot, probably best known in the United States for his role as Balki Bartokomous on the sitcom Perfect Strangers.
[edit] Rita the fox
Rita is an adolescent red fox who befriends Hugo on the streets of Copenhagen. She and Hugo quickly become best friends, and later, soulmates. She lives with her mother and her younger siblings in a den near some railroad tracks. Her father is never mentioned.
In the original Danish production, Rita was voiced by Kaya Brüel. On the 2005 Mirimax release, Rita was voiced by Holly Gauthier-Frankel.
[edit] Meatball Charlie
Charlie is the cook aboard the cargo ship that transports Hugo to Copenhagen. He finds Hugo, who has escaped the cargo hold, and at the end of the voyage, donates him to the city zoo. He appears toward the end of the first film, and is not present in the second.
On the 2005 Miramax release, Charlie was voiced by Marcel Jeannin.
[edit] Conrad Cupmann
Conrad is the main villain in both films. He owns a movie studio in Copenhagen, and dreams of making lots of money. He is morally bankrupt, willing to slash and burn the jungle to capture Hugo.
On the 2005 Miramax release, Conrad was voiced by Mark Camacho.
[edit] Izabella Dehavalot
Izabella is a black-haired starlet with a sharp figure. She is also the wife of Conrad Cupmann during the first film. Her goal is to gain notoriety through the exploitation of an animal co-star; she cites several fictional actors, and then her "good friend Michael" and his chimp. Conrad divorced her in the time span between the two films. In the German version she is called Izabella Scorpio.
On the 2005 Miramax release, Izabella was voiced by Susan Glover.
[edit] Barbie Turner
Barbie is a stereotypical dumb blonde, and in the second film is Cupmann Studio's new starlet. It is also implied that she is Conrad's lover. She often chews bubble gum, even on the sound stage.
On the 2005 Miramax release, Barbie was voiced by Jennifer Seguin.
[edit] Doctor Loongkoffer
Loongkoffer is an animal psychologist hired by Conrad to tame Hugo. His role is reminiscient of Animaniacs' Dr. Otto Scratchansniff, whose job was to civilize the Warner siblings.
On the 2005 Miramax release, Loongkoffer was voiced by Arthur Grosser.
[edit] Content issues
The films have some content which might make viewers in the United States uncomfortable.
During the second film, Hugo's relationship with Rita goes beyond best friends, and they become boyfriend and girlfriend. In promotional artwork for the upcoming third film, a smaller animal is shown [1] which looks like a hybrid between Hugo and Rita, presumably their child. It is tan-yellow, like Hugo, but quadrupedal like Rita. This brings up the subject of interspecies interfertility. However the promotional artwork has now been replaced, and is no longer available, and since the third film is going to be CGI and the former artwork was a drawing, and considering the fact that the synopsis of the film doesn't mention anything about a possible offspring, the validity of the former promotional artwork is questionable.
This relationship might prevent the third film from being released in the United States.
