Hugo the Hippo is a 1975 animated film produced by the Pannónia Filmstúdió of Hungary and co-produced in the United States by Brut Productions, a division of French perfume company Faberge. It was released in Hungary in 1975 and in the United States in 1976 by 20th Century-Fox (as its first animated feature film distribution). The film was directed by William Feigenbaum and József Gémes (who directed the animation).

Plot

The harbor of Zanzibar becomes infested with a gang of vicious great white sharks, which makes it impossible for trading ships to dock. In an attempt to fix the problem, the Sultan charges his advisor, Aban-Khan, to bring twelve hippopotamus into the harbor to keep the sharks away. His idea works well enough, but once the hippos are no longer a novelty and the people no longer feed them, they begin to starve. After the hungry hippos rampage through the city looking for food, Aban-Khan brutally slaughters all the hippos except one, a baby hippo named Hugo. Hugo escapes across the sea to the city of Dar es Salaam, on the African mainland.