Béla Ternovszky
(1943 - )
animation film director
Ternovszky graduated from the Marxism-Leninism Evening University in 1964, where he studied philosophy and aesthetics. He soon joined Pannonia Film Studio and later the Hungarian Film Production Company – where he quickly rose through the ranks to become a director.
In 1979 Ternovszky worked at the Bayerischer Rundfunk TV company with Infafilm in Germany. After finishing his popular TV series Pumukli (Pumuckl), he became co-owner of Stúdió II. Ltd. where he also worked as a director. He retired in 2003.
Ternovszky’s first animated short film, Modern Sports Coaching (1970) was recognized by a series of Hungarian and international awards. His feature film Cat City (1986) was an instant success with Hungarian audiences at the time of its original release and has become an international cult classic since.
Béla Ternovszky's Films
Cat City
1986
Cat City is a multifaceted parody of many mainstream film genres – featuring cats, mice and rats in the main roles. In the year 80 AMM (After Mickey Mouse) on planet X, the crime-syndicated cats try to erase the mouse-population once and for all. A scientist of the mice, Professor Fushimishi seems to have found the weapon against the threat so Intermouse calls its best, but now retired secret agent, Grabowski to get the plan.
A pioneering work not only in Hungarian animation film history, but also globally, Cat City has become an international cult classic since its original theatrical release in 1986.
Modern Sports Coaching
1970
Modern Sports Coaching is a short film verging on the absurd. It provides a grotesque depiction of the borderline sadistic training methods of contemporary competitive sports. The screenplay was written by József Nepp – “the Hungarian grand master of black humour”. Nepp worked as a screenwriter on all of Ternovszky’s later films – including the world-famous Cat City.