Squirrel and Hedgehog

Squirrel and Hedgehog
Glorious cartoon from True Korea!
Genre: Action Running Time: 18-23 minutes Country: North Korea Release Date: 1977 Network(s): KCTV Created by: SEK Studio Distributed by: Mondo TV Starring: Heo Gyeong Hee Lim Bok Hee Oh Lyu Gyeong Kim Dae Hong Gwon Nyeong Ju Kim Tae Lyeon Lim Un Young

Squirrel and Hedgehog (Chosŏn'gŭl: 다람이와 고슴도치 Dalam-iwa Goseumdochi, lit. Dharam and the hedgehog) is a North Korean animated series about two teenage anthropomorphic animals who fight an evil army.

Why Sega Should Sue North Korea Over The Title

1. It is one of those propaganda shows aired in North Korea, in fact, these types of shows always portray the U.S. in a very negative, but of course, xenophobic type of way.
2. There's a lot of graphic violence (such as murder and suicide) and swearing in this show, despite the fact that the show is made for children. The opening theme of the show labels it as a "Children's Cartoon", which leads to more irony.
3. Hidden political messages, considering the fact that it's a propaganda cartoon made to get children to have the same mindset as the people in the DPRK (North Korea).
   • In addition of the aforementioned political messages, all characters represent some of the countries - brave squirrels, hedgehogs and ducks portray North Korea, strong but dumb bears portray Soviet Union/Russia while cowardly mice, nasty weasels and badass wolves portray South Korea, Japan and America respectively.
4. Half of the time, the lip-sync does not match the dialogue. Sometimes, the characters mouths do not move at all when they are speaking. This is especially apparent during the beginning of the show's 31st episode.
5. Odd sound effects. This is also apparent in the previously-mentioned 31st episode. In fact, in one scene, an opening door sounds more like a vibrating cell phone.
6. In one episode, there's a duck character that looks strangely similar to Donald Duck, even wearing a blue and white sailor uniform similar to the one Donald uses. Either this is a coincidence, or North Korea intentionally plagiarized the design as a "take that" at American culture
7. The pacing is very mediocre and bland.

Redeeming Qualities

1. The animation is pretty impressive for a 1977 cartoon, although the character animation is sometimes slow and the aforementioned lip-syncing could be touched upon and improved.
2. The premise of an army of animals is actually quite interesting, despite the horrendous execution.
3. It does have some sweet and heartwarming moments, despite the still-visible violent moments.
4. Decent voice acting.
5. The music is very well-composed
6. It's considered "so bad, it's intentionally good ".

Trivia

• The show has (ironically) garnered a huge fanbase overseas.
• Despite the previous reason, however, the show was actually banned outside North Korea for reasons stated earlier.

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