Blue Puppy

Blue Puppy
Directed by	Yefim Gamburg
Written by	Yuri Entin
Starring	Dubbing: Mikhail Boyarsky Alisa Freindlich Alexander Gradsky Andrei Mironov
Music by	Gennadi Gladkov
Cinematography	Mikhail Druyan
Distributed by	Soyuzmultfilm
Release date	November 28, 1976
Running time	19 min 09 s
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian English

Blue Puppy (Russian: Голубой щенок, translit. Goluboy shchenok, alternative translations - Pale Blue Puppy/Slate puppy) is a 1976 Soviet animated film. The lyrics and screenplay were written by Yuri Entin, loosely based on the tale by Gyula Urban.

Several quotes from the film's lyrics became common colloquial sayings, for example, "What trouble can we stir up?" and "Ah, how I'm angry, ooh, how I'm angry!" voiced by Mikhail Boyarsky, and the phrase "One ought to live skilfully."

The film was unique in utilizing a non-traditional animation technique where spots of colorful India ink were used to form the characters. This gave a great deal of plasticity to the animated characters. For example, the Black Cat would vanish from the foreground only to reappear immediately in the back, or the evil Pirate would transform into a thundercloud by inflating himself with his own malice.

A puppy, who is strangely born with a coat that is a shade of light blue, is rejected by all. Nobody wants to play with him or to be his friend. Even the Grey Dogs avoid him. The Black Cat, a dodger and a faker, is the only one that feigns interest. Unexpectedly, the Pirate attacks the island and using the Black Cat, kidnaps the Blue Puppy.

Along comes the Good Sailor, who always helps ones in trouble and does good things. As the Sailor sails the sea, the Black Cat tells him about the abduction of the Puppy. The Sailor decides to rescue the puppy and begins chasing the Pirate; the Pirate eventually attacks the Seaman with a sawfish which sinks the Sailor's ship. The Pirate ties the Seaman and the Puppy together with shackles, but the Puppy manages to free both himself and the Sailor.

Meanwhile, the Pirate and the Black Cat are celebrating their victory and sing a song about their spurious friendship. Their celebration is cut short, however, as the Seaman confronts and defeats the Pirate. He and the Puppy return to the island as heroes. Now, nobody tries to avoid the Puppy. More importantly, however, the Puppy now has a real friend. The moral of the story is that it is not so awful to be different from others, as long as one has friends, and the respect of one's peers.

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Wikipedia