YOUR DAILY CARTOON: September 2015

Friday, September 25, 2015

Cat In The Rain, Alexi Denim, 2001

eus347 writes-

Normaly I translate & subtitle animations on russian texts I receive from my friends. I made an exception for this one because of it's history.
At the heart of the animated film "Cat in the Rain" is a song about friendship between a lonely old women and cats, which many years ago was written by Milkina Sofia - wife of filmmaker Michael Schweitzer. Once Schweitzer and his wife were on vacation in Voronezh. There they envisioned the cartoon character in A local old lady, always surrounded by a bunch of cats, catching fish, apparently, just for their pets.

After some time, the couple remembered the old lady, and Milkina dedicated her cheerful song to her. In 1985, the song was recorded on tape: sang by her whole family - soloist Sophia Abramovna, children sang and Schweitzer played the role of one of the cats. In those same years, they met with the director-animator Yuri Norshtein. The idea of the film in the song about the old lady was born itself. At first it was just talk, then they evolved into detailed discussions, Norstein even found a talented young artist who started to create drawing images. But the work progressed very slowly, and then completely stalled.

In 1997, Sofia Milkina died. Michael Schweitzer, has decided to return to the film about the old woman. Yuri Norstein was busy filming. Then he asked Alexei Demin. "Sonia Milkina drew cats from morning till night, - said Alexey Demin in an interview with NTV.RU. - I've seen all these pictures, and I think in mood they are very close to my film. Maybe someday I will be able to "revive" them. "

Because of scarce funding the work dragged on longer than 2 years. The director worked virtually alone. The film "The Cat in the Rain" has been finished February 8, 2001. At 12 o'clock in the morning Alexey Demin came out of the studio, at 11 am on February 9 he went to Tarusa to the festival, where the animated film "Cat in the Rain" was a real event. The director received several awards, including "For the most humane film."

Michael Schweitzer never saw the movie, having died a year before the end of the work on the cartoon.
Story

In a small house on the edge of a lake a lonely old woman lives surrounded by cats. On a rainy day the old woman goes on a fishing trip. Behind her come the cats, who, sitting on the shore, wait for treats. But suddenly a large catfish bit and the old woman could not help falling into the river. The cats come to the rescue and save an old woman. At home all together celebrate the salvation of the old lady, and the cats gets plenty of entertainment.