#goluboi

A 20 minute Soviet Cartoon about the misfortune a puppy suffers for being blue, this short musical displays charming aesthetics and songs with incredibly caricatured but attractive characters. Directed by Yuri Entin in 1976, I have found this to be a catchy and sweet, heartwarming tale of how a puppy becomes accepted and realizes that his blue colour shouldn’t get in the way of who he is. If one would like to watch this cartoon, here are two links: Unsubbed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7Syt8haPIM Subbed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To2csb4eK-o&t=68s

‘The pale blue, so very pale blue puppy.’ The main character of the story, this poor Charlie Chaplin like puppy is bullied from the beginning of the film for his colour. Portrayed as a frail, but excitable and sweet creature, the puppy is shown to be a good citizen that is simply mistreated for something he cannot control. The entire cartoon is based on his misadventures for the very same reason, and though the cartoon uses the puppy to say ‘bullying is not okay,’ most of the animation is distracted by an entertaining and clever appeal. Likewise, this endearing character is one we can easily sympathize with, and clearly one to pity and be happy for as they eventually are accepted for being blue.

‘The mean, far too mean pirate’ is our clear villain. With one of the catchiest songs in Russian animation, the pirate is delightfully malevolent in his desire to do something bad. His ship is an axe, he transforms into horrible little figures, has a big cannon and an eyepatch, and loves to drink. The dynamic in this character, especially alongside the cruel cat is a clearly strong but fun appearance. One of the joys of this cartoon is that it enjoys showing off its aesthetics, and ‘transformations’ to fit the caricatures. This pirate clearly has no true goal, and so such pirate could ever exist for the sake of it, but it is the way you see him behave that makes this film so fun and interesting. This ‘evil’ pirate is simply an enjoyable example portraying this ‘horrible’ thing.

‘The cruel, clearly cruel cat’ is an incredible antagonist. In the history of Soviet animation, there have been examples of cats having flexible forms, but its incredible to see this one’s form, especially since he’s so inspired from a deck of cards. The cat is voiced by a prominent Russian/Soviet actor Andrei Mironov (Three Men in a boat, The Straw hat, A year like a life) and shows him to be an incredible trickster who plays along with anyone around him, but at heart seems to like the more ‘cruel’ and ‘evil’ sides of things. However, the way he appears is outstanding, with his appearance constantly flowing around, showing his careless will to do whatever. Even if one is not a fan of musicals or such things, watching this cat trickster move and dance is entertaining and seductive in its own right.

‘The kind, rarely kind sailor’ is a hero appearing for the purpose of being a hero, singing like the oh so evil pirate, but instead of chanting about ‘what horrible thing should I do?’ it becomes ‘what good thing should I do?’ Dancing and singing, this hero accepts all life forms and helps the puppy gain self confidence as he learns that ‘it’s not all that bad being blue.’ Once again, a lovely aspect of this film is that it doesn’t treat its caricatures as propaganda to teach kids how to be, but just plays with the very figures others have created, and this rosey sailor is no different.

Ofer: Do you remember what is goluboi in Russian? 

Me: Light blue - another word for gay

Ofer: Not a very polite one. hehe 

Me: Why do you ask?

Ofer: Now watch this Soviet Cartoon from early 1970s. Quite Metaphorical. 

Me: That was adorable! Loved it!

Ofer: I don't know... Too homophobic and racist

Me: lol how?

Ofer: Rejection of different

Me: Yes but they try to say it is okay. So how is it homophobic?

Ofer: And projection of the idea that if you're different you have to work twice harder to be accepted Goluboi!! Not purple or green.

Me: I think it was a good effort to highlight how it is mean to single out someone just because they are differentA person watching will always be having sympathy with goluboi puppy rather than others.

Ofer: Yeah, but the crowd that rejected him is not punished!So it seems to be ok.

Me:Well they don't have to punished. As long as he is happy that is what matters.

Ofer: So it's ok to marginalise somebody?

Me: Noooo the film does not say that

Ofer: And if he becomes a star then we will take him back. It suggests so.