If you have ever seen The Beatles' Yellow Submarine, you will have a good idea of the art style you can expect in Hugo the Hippo. Bright, psychedelic, trippy and very 1960's is the order of the day here. The story is narrated by the warm-voiced Burl Ives, a voice anyone who ever watched those classic Christmas shows like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer will immediately recognize. This film is a musical and it is chock-full of weird songs that seem perfectly appropriate for 1975, but not so much old world Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam in Africa, where the story takes place. The easily recognizable Paul Lynde (Bewitched, Charlotte's Web) voices Aban Khan, Law and Finance Minister of Zanzibar and advisor to the Sultan (Robert Morley) and although Paul Lynde was a popular actor of the time and has a crazy voice, he just didn't convey the character to me, at least as an adult watching the film. But on to the story...
Zanzibar is a harbor town relying on the export of its clove spices for its main source of income. Since the harbor is very shallow, workers hand-carry the spices out to the waiting ships, harbored out in the water. It is a system that has worked well for years, but then a kink is thrown into the works when a slew of sharks decide to move in and feast on the workers trying to deliver the spices. The Sultan is beside himself, since the city is doomed without being able to export the spices and the workers aren't willing to risk death to do the work. It is decided that a group of hippos must be captured and brought to the harbor to drive out the sharks and the plan works marvelously! The hippo tribe of 12, including the hippo king, his queen and their tiny son Hugo, who is merely a stowaway on the ship to Zanzibar, all become the heroes of Zanzibar when they drive out the sharks, at least for a while. As Zanzibar grows, the hippos are forgotten and must find food on their own. When they turn to pillaging the local farms for a food source, the evil Aban Khan suggests they all be slaughtered because they are a nuisance. When this occurs, Hugo is the sole survivor and manages to escape to nearby Dar es Salaam, where he is befriended by a young boy named Jorma (Ronnie Cox). He soon becomes a popular friend of the local children, but once again, he becomes hated by the community of adults who think he is taking time away from their children's education and is destroying their farms. When Hugo goes on trial for his life, will he die for his crimes of "thievery" to merely survive or will someone from his past speak out for him?
Okay, first and foremost, this story is G rated, but it is not for kids. Children of this era would turn it off in a heartbeat because they would probably be bored or confused by it, but with the death and mayhem, it's just not a film for children anyway. Besides that, it contains some fairly controversial and creepy stuff, including one of the sharks wearing a Nazi helmet, and Africans all having American accents (the children, at least). Most of the songs throughout the film are sung by Marie Osmond and her younger brother Jimmy, as well as Burl Ives.
While I loved this story in book form as a child, when the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia are removed and I watch this film as an adult, I'm not entranced anymore. It is an interesting novelty, but definitely not a film for the masses. If Hugo the Hippo holds a special place in your heart, then by all means, buy it. Do remember that Warner Archives is the only place you will be able to get it, since it is manufactured on demand.
