Who Is The First?
About Who Is The First?
Forest animals line up for a bicycle race: the Toptygin brothers, a fox, and a hare. The hare pulls ahead. Sure the race is his, he lies down under a tree, then goes for a swim still wearing the racing shirt and shorts. He loses track of the time. The others pass him, and the early lead is gone.
Cast & crew
More about Who Is The First?
Boris Dyozhkin directed. Klimenti Mints wrote the script. Elena Petrova was cinematographer and Yuri Levitin composed the score. Vadim Sinyavsky is the credited voice. Soyuzmultfilm released the short in 1950.
Themes
Making
Dyozhkin builds the gag on a sports broadcast rhythm: a long lead, a stupid pause, and a lost finish.
Look
Elena Petrova shot the drawn race, including the hare's stop under the tree and the swim in racing clothes.
Music
Yuri Levitin wrote the score. Vadim Sinyavsky calls the race.
Preservation
A print of the short survives.
Notes
- The Russian title is Kto pervyy.
- The hare's rest and his swim, still in kit, are what cost him the race.
- The Toptygins are the bear brothers in the field.
- Sinyavsky, a sports announcer, voices the cartoon race.
- Dyozhkin specialized in sports cartoons. This is one of the bicycle ones.
Scenes
- The hare opens a gap and then lies down under a tree.
- He swims in the racing shirt and shorts.
- The other riders take the finish while he is still out of the saddle.
