Willie the Sparrow

Through the imagination of a child, a Hungarian story teller has found a wonderful way to allow us to experience another culture.  Children are children, no matter where they live.

Last month, I participated in a blogging challenge that encouraged participants to publish reflections posts.  One blogger (Angels Bark) posted a list of blogs she had enjoyed during the challenge, including one called MopDog.  MopDog's theme for the challenge was a person from Hungary who blogged about various Hungarian cartoons.

One was a cartoon called Vil (Willie)the Sparrow.  You can see an animated version, with English subtitles, on You Tube, below.

I love birds.  I enjoy learning about other cultures.  This, for me, was a natural to watch.

It seems strange for the first few minutes (the English subtitles are not in the best English) but stick with it, and an amazing thing happens.

You enter the world of a 10 year old boy living in Budapest.  His sister torments the family cat.  The boy  imagines himself quite the hunter but, from his apartment building window, he fires his BB gun at innocent feeding sparrows.  An old woman witnesses the incident.

That woman is actually The Sparrow Fairy, who comes to his room to teach him a lesson.  They argue and he dares her to turn him into an animal. She turns him into a crocodile and then a mouse.  Finally, she turns him into a sparrow.  She tries to undo her spell but her magic spray bottle malfunctions.  Willie, who is now stuck as a sparrow, is at the mercy of that tormented cat and....

You'll just have to see the cartoon, as Willie enters the streets of his native city as a wild sparrow as the Sparrow Fairy leaves to get her spray bottle fixed.  I've read that if you are familiar with Budapest, you will recognize parts of this cartoon.  I've not watched the entire cartoon yet, but I look forward to it.  Vili is a most intriguing boy.

Will he survive his new, sparrow life? (I still have to watch it all the way through, so I don't know, either.)

Are any of you familiar with the Vili stories?

Do you have a favorite cartoon of another culture?