FAITH, HOPE, AND ANIMATION

MARCELL JANKOVICS

It has always been a great challenge to find ways of passing on to present and future generations those traditions that form the foundation of a nation’s identity. This task becomes even more difficult in a political and social context that is unsympathetic—or even hostile—to tradition. Such was the situation in Hungary during the second half of the 20th century, under the communist regime. In certain respects, the same challenge persists today, in the age of globalization.
Marcell Jankovics (1941–2021), who was both a scholar and an artist, carried out his life’s work within such an environment. Through one of the most distinctive cultural forms of his era—the animated film—he succeeded in reaching a broad audience, especially the young. Animation, which had originally been seen merely as a medium of leisure and entertainment, became in his hands a vehicle of traditional values and a messenger of faith and hope.
His career coincided with the golden age of Hungarian animation, whose flagship institution was the world-renowned Pannónia Film Studio, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. Yet the road that led Jankovics to the pinnacle of Hungarian animated art was far from easy. Coming from a middle-class, intellectual family, he was regarded by the communist regime as an enemy. His father, imprisoned in the 1950s, was released during the 1956 revolution but lived out the rest of his life in poor health. Young Marcell and his family were subjected to forced relocation.
A formative influence on him was the Benedictine Secondary School of Pannonhalma, situated beside the thousand-year-old monastery—an emblematic site of Hungarian Christianity and one of the few Catholic schools allowed to remain open under communism. Thanks to his talent, Jankovics eventually found employment at Pannónia Film Studio, where his work would inspire generations of Hungarians. The faith he drew from the spiritual tradition of Pannonhalma gave him both hope and determination in the pursuit of his vocation.
Hungarian national identity has two principal roots: the “Western decision” symbolized by Christianity, and the Eastern heritage that connects Hungarians – especially through folk traditions and folklore – to the peoples of Central Asia. While the poet Endre Ady described Hungary as a “ferry country” between East and West, Marcell Jankovics demonstrated through his art that these two elements can coexist harmoniously within the Hungarian soul.
The harmony between ancient folk heritage and universal Christianity is most vividly expressed in such animated masterpieces as The Creation (from The Bible series), Johnny Corncob, and The Tragedy of Man. Each of these works is based on a literary classic essential to Hungarian identity. Rather than adapting the texts to suit animation, Jankovics illustrated them – blending the values of literary and visual art. Through animation, he made the traditions embedded in these texts accessible to a much wider audience. His drawings, without making concessions to commercial culture, combine the elements of contemporary visual expression with the refined substance of tradition.
In Johnny Corncob, based on the epic poem by Sándor Petőfi, the world of folk tales merges with the elements of European Hungarian identity. The brave hussar who saves France from the Turks evokes Hungary’s historical role as a bastion of Christianity. The story, which at times resembles a fantasy film, celebrates the virtues of strength, faithful love, and “the hope that does not disappoint.” Interestingly, the hero’s figure was inspired by a historical personage – Captain János Horváth Nepomuki, a Hungarian hussar who in 1814 escorted Pope Pius VII back to Rome after his release from Napoleonic captivity. Thus, the likeness of Johnny Corncob may be seen even today in the frescoes of the Galleria Clementina in the Vatican Museums.
In The Tragedy of Man, based on the drama by Imre Madách, Adam and Eve journey through human history, witnessing one great ideal after another rise and fall under the deceptive influence of Lucifer. The ultimate meaning of history is revealed by the chorus of angels: “Twixt good and evil to choose freely \ What a lofty thought this is! \ And yet to know that above us \ God’s own grace remains our shield.”
This realization enables humanity to follow the divine will, expressed in the work’s closing words: “I have spoken, Man: strive on, and trust!” Thus, the masterpieces of Marcell Jankovics bear witness to a faith that calls us, even today, to become “pilgrims of hope.”

Márk Aurél Érszegi

• The exhibition is open until January 22, 2026, at the Haáz Rezső Museum (2–6 Bethlenfalvi Street).