The Blue Bird (1970 film)

The Blue Bird
Directed by	Vasili Livanov
Written by	Maurice Maeterlinck (play) Vasili Livanov
Starring	Liya Akhedzhakova Vladimir Kenigson Yury Yakovlev Rina Zelyonaya Lyudmila Gnilova
Edited by	Nadezhda Treshchyova
Music by	Gennady Gladkov
Release date	1970 (1970)
Running time	53 minutes
Country	USSR
Language	Russian

The Blue Bird (Russian: Синяя птица, Sinyaya Ptitsa) is a 1970's Soviet animated feature film, based upon the 1908 play by Maurice Maeterlinck. This film was the first American-Soviet co-production—a single film made by the pooling of American and Soviet talents. It was directed by Vasily Livanov and produced at the Soyuzmultfilm studio. It combined a mix of traditional and cutout animation. The musical composition for the film was written by Gennady Gladkov and performed by the State Symphony Cinema Orchestra of cinematography under the direction of Vladimir Vasilyev the Moscow state chorus and the Children's chorus "Sputnik". The follow-up film, also titled The Blue Bird (1976), was filmed in Moscow and Leningrad and based on the same theme.

Plot

The movie takes place in a modern capitalist city. While searching for food in the market, a boy rescues a homeless dog from a cruel vendor. Moved by his kindness, an old woman passing by gives the boy a "bluebird of happiness". The bluebird is impossible to sell or purchase and can only be given as a present. The boy hides the gift in the attic among other old things to show to his little sister.

Having climbed up to the attic during the night, he sees a vision of his grandmother and grandfather, who have been dead for a long time. They explain to him that the bluebird of happiness takes all other happiness away from everyone and therefore, it has to be set free. At this point, it is too late to set the bluebird free as a cat has stolen the bluebird and its cage.

Together with the rescued dog, the children search for the bluebird of happiness. They meet a rich man who is also looking for the bluebird of happiness and wants to use the bird to start and win World War III. The rich man tries to feed the children various delicacies so they forget about the bluebird of happiness. A fairy helps them avoid temptation and gifts them the aid of "eternal companions" — Fire, Water, and Bread. As the children chat with the fairy, it becomes clear that the cat stole the bluebird of happiness on the instructions of the hostess Night. She intends to sell it to the rich man. The eternal companion, Fire, burns the Night. Water drowns the cat, and the boy rescues the bluebird from the rich man. During the pursuit, the boy breaks the cage holding the bluebird from the Tower of Hours.

The next morning, the boy wakes up in his tiny apartment and realizes that everything was a dream. Together with his sister, he climbs into the attic and sets the bluebird of happiness free. The bluebird dies from the victory of battle wars.

Crew

English	Russian
Director	Vasily Livanov	Василий Ливанов
Scenario	Vasily Livanov	Василий Ливанов
Art Directors	Boris Sadovnikov Maks Zherebchevskiy	Борис Садовников Макс Жеребчевский
Artists	S. Kuznetsov Anna Atamanova Stanislav Sokolov L. Chalaya Z. Zarb Alexei Solovyov Ye. Balabanova Dmitriy Anpilov	С. Кузнецов Анна Атаманова Станислав Соколов Л. Чалая З. Зарб Алексей Соловьёв Е. Балабанова Дмитрий Анпилов
Animators	Kirill Malyantovich Yana Volskaya Gennadiy Sokolskiy Anatoliy Abarenov Yuriy Kuzyurin Iosif Kuroyan Yuriy Butyrin Valentin Kushnerev Oleg Safronov Nataliya Bogomolova Violetta Kolesnikova Boris Butakov S. Zhutovskaya Sergei Dyozhkin	Кирилл Малянтович Яна Вольская Геннадий Сокольский Анатолий Абаренов Юрий Кузюрин Иосиф Куроян Юрий Бутырин Валентин Кушнерев Олег Сафронов Наталия Богомолова Виолетта Колесникова Борис Бутаков С. Жутовская Сергей Дёжкин
Camera Operator	Mikhail Druyan	Михаил Друян
Executive Producer	Lyubov Butyrina	Любовь Бутырина
Composer	Gennady Gladkov	Геннадий Гладков
Sound Operator	Georgiy Martynyuk	Георгий Мартынюк
Script Editor	Arkadiy Snesarev	Аркадий Снесарев
Voice Actors	Liya Akhedzhakova Vladimir Kenigson Yury Yakovlev (grandpa) Rina Zelyonaya (grandma) Lyudmila Gnilova	Лия Ахеджакова Владимир Кенигсон Юрий Яковлев (Дедушка) Рина Зелёная (Бабушка) Людмила Гнилова
Editor	Lidiya Kyaksht	Лидия Кякшт

See also

• History of Russian animation
• List of animated feature-length films

External links

• The film at animator.ru
• The Blue Bird on YouTube (Russian)
• The Blue Bird on YouTube (Russian with English Subtitles)
• The Blue Bird at IMDb