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Russian Animation “There Once Was a Dog”

Открытый Российский Фестиваль Анимационного Кино (the Open Russian Festival of Animated Film) is annual festival devoted to Russian animation. The festival, held in Suzdal, takes place in early spring. This year the festival was held in the beginning of March and a special prize has been awarded to the animation “Жил-был пёс” (There Once Was a Dog), as the best cartoon of the century.

The director and scenarist, Eduard Nazarov created this animation in 1982. It took him a year to write the script. This is based on an Ukrainian folk tale about the friendship between an old guard dog and a wolf.

The plot

A thief, taking advantage of a tired old dog and the absence of his master, introduce himself in the house and steal many goods. On his return, the master get angry and chases the dog from the house. Ashamed, the dog decides to hang himself when he meets an even older wolf with an hoarse voice...

The cartoon only lasts 10 minutes, but is full of jokes, of folk music, of original characters. Though there are little dialogues, some sentences have entered the Russian language. For example: “Щас спою!” (Now, I will sing!) “щас” is the short way to say “сейчас” (now), or “Ну ты, это, заходи, если что…” (drop by if you need anything...)

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This film took the 1st place at the festival of Odense in Denmark in 1983, and received a special prize the same year at the festival in Annecy.

Елена Коновалова

Открытый Российский Фестиваль Анимационного Кино (the Open Russian Festival of Animated Film) is annual festival devoted to Russian animation.