Many, if not most, Janácek devotees will resist the very idea of this DVD version of The Cunning Little Vixen, a cartoon realisation of a seriously cut version of the score. Though the timing above suggests 75 minutes, the actual opera, as presented here, lasts a mere 56 minutes, or just over half the length of the full score, with the rest of the DVD timing devoted to ‘extras’. As for the cartoon element, that in principle at least should be acceptable, when this is an opera – almost certainly the only one ever – inspired by a comic strip in a newspaper.

Geoff Dunbar, responsible both for the direction and the animation, in many ways reflects the graphic style of the original cartoons. Yet with flat computer colour as well as movement added, the result is disconcertingly like a cross between early Disney and the sort of cartoon strips that for generations delighted young readers of the Dandy and Beano. So the insects wear football boots, the Fox wears a spotted neckerchief, and the chorus of foxes at the wedding wear folkcostume, with the vixens in dirndl skirts, while Harasta, the poacher, has a five-o’clock shadow on his chin to identify him as a criminal, making one almost expect the heavy sack over his shoulder to have the label, ‘SWAG’.

The inspiration behind the project came largely from the conductor, Kent Nagano, who undertook the difficult job of cutting the score, concentrating on the central character of the Vixen. He was convinced that cutting was essential to satisfy the needs of television, and I imagine also the attention-span of youngviewers, not normally given to watching opera. Certainly the result makes for easy viewing, bringing out the big emotions implied in the piece: this may be a miniaturisation in medium and time-length but hardly at all in what makes this a deeply involving opera.

Whether or not you accept the style of animation, with the fox-cubs trotting along in stylised synchronisation, the visualisation of the Czech countryside is charming. Even so, Dunbar occasionally has an extra fit of early Disney style, with animals and trees in black silhouette against an enormous moon or stags standing proud on skylines in echo of Disney’s Bambi. The Badger’s set, cruelly taken over the Vixen, might have been designed for Wind in the Willows: with armchair by the cosy fireside there is even a clock on the mantelpiece.

Musically, the result is far less controversial except for the cutting, with Nagano the dedicated conductor and some excellent singing, notably from Grant Doyle as the Forester (splendid in his big final aria) and Keel Watson as Harasta. As the Vixen herself, Christine Buffle is aptly bright and characterful, though a shrillness in the voice too often prevents one from hear her English words. The booklet contains nosynopsis, but the extra features include Geoff Dunbar’s fascinating account of the process of animation and a multi-screen illustration of the development of different passages. There is also an interactive storyboard, which allows one to follow the stages of animation from different angles using the ‘angle’ button. The text includes some rather coy jokes, but generally this is a DVD that should carry the message of Janácek and opera to a far wider audience than usual, not least to children.