Plasticine Crow

Infobox Film
name = Plastilinovaya vorona


image_size =
caption =
director = Aleksandr Tatarskiy
producer = Aleksandr Tatarskiy
writer = Aleksandr Tatarskiy
lyrics by Alexander Kushner
Ovsey Driz
Eduard Uspensky
narrator =
starring =
music = Grigory Gladkov
cinematography = Ernst Gaman
editing =
distributor = Studio Ekran
released = August 6, fy|1981
runtime = 8 min 57 sec
country = USSR
language = Russian
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0219251

Plasticine Crow ( _ru. Пластилиновая ворона, Translit|"Plastilinovaya vorona") is a 1981 Soviet clay animation by Aleksandr Tatarskiy ("T/O Ekran" studio). Animation divided into three independent parts ("Picture", "Game" and "But maybe, but maybe...").

Plot synopsis

Picture

This first part tells kids about the three painting styles - landscape, still life and portrait.

Lyrics for the first part were composed by Alexander Kushner.ru icon [http://a-pesni.golosa.info/baby/okartinah.htm Song about the paintings] ]

Game

This part narrates about the children game where the player periodically opens and shuts his eyes. Every time the player opens them he's amazed as the new details appear.

Lyrics for the second part were composed by Ovsey Driz. Performed by Leonid Bronevoy.ru icon [http://a-pesni.golosa.info/baby/votjavizu.htm Here I see...] ]

But maybe, but maybe...

This part is sung by storytellers who have forgotten the details of Krylov's fable "The Crow and the Fox", and who are trying to remember it on the fly.

Thus, instead of the crow from Krylov's story, a dog appears, and then a cow, and even a Hippopotamus! The original fox is also replaced by an ostrich and then by a janitor.

At the end of the entirely distorted fable, a distorted moral is given: "Don't stand and don't jump, don't sing and don't dance there, where the construction works in progress or hanging heavy load." (This is a pun on the two common Russian danger signs - "Don't stand under heavy load" and "Beware! Construction works in progress!").

Lyrics for the third part were composed by Eduard Uspensky.ru icon [http://a-pesni.golosa.info/baby/amozvorona.htm But maybe Crow…] ]

Voice cast

* Leonid Bronevoy
* Grigory Gladkov
* Lev Shimelov

Censorship

The Soviet censorship wanted to decline the film because they saw it as "ideological nonsense". Xeniya Marinina and Eldar Ryazanov saved it by showing "The Crow" in one of the releases of their "Kinopanorama" in contrary to the Soviet censors.

Interesting facts

* Creation of the film required about 800 kg of soviet plasticine. Because of a withered colors the plasticine was dye-colored.
* The music in the third part of the film was intended to sound in the ordinary tempo, but it's total length appeared to be longer than the animation created (8 minutes instead of 5). While Tatarskiy was in doubt the voices arrived. Then the genius decision came when Tatarskiy remembered how the gramophone-recorded voice of Lenin was restored by varying speed of phonation. He griped the recording to the necessary length (5 min) and the song acquired it's recognisable sounding.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0219251 Plasticine crow] at IMDB
* [http://www.animator.ru/db/?p=show_film&fid=4932 Plasticine crow] at Animator.ru
*