The Stolen Sun
About The Stolen Sun
The sun is up, flowers open, birds sing, and the animals look after their young. A crocodile that has caught nobody swallows the sun. In the dark the animals run to the bear and ask him to bring it back. The bear cannot find his cubs. He fights the crocodile, beats him, and forces the sun out. The animals cheer the bear.
Cast & crew
More about The Stolen Sun
Drawn at Soyuzmultfilm from Korney Chukovsky's poem of the same name. Kinoglaz credits direction to Ivan Ivanov-Vano and Olga Khodatayeva and dates the film 1943. A Soyuzmultfilm fan reference gives the premiere as 21 March 1944 and credits the script to Ivanov-Vano and Emmanuil Dvinsky. Assistants named there include Alexandra Snezhko-Blotskaya and Olga Khodatayeva. The surviving copies are black and white and have sound. A color version is described as not surviving.
Themes
Background
Soyuzmultfilm released the short during the war, from a Chukovsky poem in which a bear fights a crocodile for the sun.
Technique
It was made as a sound cartoon. Circulating prints are black and white. Sources say a color version does not survive.
Preservation
Black-and-white sound prints survive. Accounts of the film say the color version does not.
Notes
- One catalogue times the film at 11 minutes 11 seconds.
- Kinoglaz lists cinematography by Yelena Fedorova, Yelena Petrova, and Nikolay Voinov.
- The catalog year is 1943. The March 1944 date is a later premiere listing.
- The English title is The Stolen Sun. The Russian title is Kradenoye solntse.
Scenes
- The crocodile swallows the sun and the day goes black.
- The bear forces the crocodile to give the sun back.
Influenced by
- The Stolen Sun (poem)
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (1943. Краденое солнце.webm)
