''The Humpbacked Horse'' (russian: Конёк-Горбуно́к; tr.:''Konyok Gorbunok'', that is ''The Little Horse - Little Humpback''), is a 1947

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

directed by I. Ivanov-Vano and produced by the

Soyuzmultfilm Soyuzmultfilm ( rus, Союзмультфи́льм, p=səˌjʉsmʊlʲtˈfʲilʲm , ''Union Cartoon'') (also known as SMF Animation Studio in English, Formerly known as Soyuzdetmultfilm) is a Russian animation studio based in Moscow. Launched in ...

studio in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. The film is based on the

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

Pyotr Pavlovich Yershov Pyotr Pavlovich Yershov (russian: link=no, Пётр Павлович Ершов; – ) was a Russian poet and author of the famous fairy-tale poem ''The Little Humpbacked Horse'' (''Konyok-Gorbunok''). Biography Pyotr Yershov was born in the vil ...

, and because of this, it is spoken in rhyme. The English dub has few rhymes and is not an overall feature. A

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

also by Ivanov-Vano and Soyuzmultfilm was released in 1975. This version, translated in English by George Molko, was released on October 25, 1977 as ''The Magic Pony''.

Plot

An old man has three sons: the elder two are considered fairly smart, while the youngest, Ivan, is considered a "

fool Fool, The Fool, or Fools may refer to: *A jester, also called a ''fool'', a type of historical entertainer known for their witty jokes *An insult referring to someone of low intelligence or easy gullibility Arts, entertainment and media Fictio ...

." One day the father sends the three to find out who's been taking the hay in their fields at night. The elder brothers decide to lie hidden in a haystack, where they promptly fall asleep. Ivan, meanwhile, sits beside a birch tree and plays on his

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

. Suddenly, he sees a magnificent horse come flying out of the sky. Ivan grabs her mane and holds on as the horse tries to shake him off. Finally, the horse begs him to let her go and in return gives him two beautiful black male horses and a little humpbacked horse (''Konyok-gorbunok'') to be his companion. Ivan leads the two black horses to a stable and runs off with ''Konyok-gorbunok'' to fetch them buckets of water. When he comes back, he finds that his brothers have taken his horses. ''Konyok-gorbunok'' tells him that they will catch them in the city, so Ivan sits on its back and they go flying through the clouds. Along the way, Ivan finds the fiery feather of a

firebird Firebird and fire bird may refer to: Mythical birds * Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures * Bennu, Egyptian firebird * Huma bird, Persian firebird * Firebird (Slavic folklore) Bird species ''Various sp ...

, which shines without giving off any heat, and takes it despite ''Konyok-gorbunoks warning that it will cause him difficulty later. They reach the city, and Ivan outwits his brothers and sells his black horses to the

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

. When it is found that nobody can control them except Ivan, he is put in charge of the Tsar's

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

s. Spalnik, one of the Tsar's

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...

s (identified as a

chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

in the original Russian and either a soothsayer or a

groom A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bridegroom's future spouse (if female) is usually referred to as the bride. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man an ...

in various English dubbings), takes a disliking to Ivan and hides himself in the stables to watch him at work so that he can think of a way to remove him from the Tsar's favour. After seeing Ivan use the firebird's feather for light, he steals it from him and shows it to the Tsar, who commands Ivan to catch him a firebird or lose his post. With ''Konyok-gorbunoks help, Ivan catches one and brings it back to the Tsar. Spalnik tells the Tsar to make Ivan catch a beautiful Tsar-Maid, so the Tsar summons him and tells him that the consequences will be dire if he doesn't bring her within three weeks. Ivan again manages to do this. The elderly Tsar is overjoyed and begs the young maiden to marry him, but she refuses, telling him that she would only marry him if he were young and handsome, and that to become young and handsome he would need to bathe first in boiling milk, then in boiling water, and finally in freezing water. Spalnik tells him to try this out on Ivan first, hoping at last to be rid of his nemesis. The Tsar agrees, and when Ivan protests upon being told of this the Tsar orders him to be thrown into prison until everything is ready the next morning. ''Konyok-gorbunok'' comes to Ivan and through the prison bars tells him not to worry - to simply whistle for him in the morning and let him put a magic spell on the water so that it will not be harmful to him. Spalnik overhears this, and kidnaps ''Konyok-gorbunok'' just as he is walking away from Ivan. In the morning, Ivan whistles for ''Konyok-gorbunok'', who is tied up in a bag. He manages to free himself eventually, knocking Spalnik out a window and into a

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

. Spalnik presumably falls to his death when the rope holding the bucket breaks, and ''Konyok-gorbunok'' comes to Ivan's rescue at the last moment, putting a spell on the three cauldrons of water. Ivan jumps into the boiling milk, then the boiling water and then the freezing water, and emerges as a handsome young man instead of a boy. The young maiden falls in love with him and they walk away. Meanwhile, the Tsar gets excited and decides that he also wants to be young and handsome. However, the spell is no longer working, so after he jumps into the boiling milk he doesn't come back out. Ivan, meanwhile, takes the maiden as his own wife and becomes the new Tsar, with ''Konyok-gorbunok'' continuing to follow him as his friend.

Creators

Awards

Version of 1947 * 1948 — the Honourable diploma on the III MKF in Mariana Laznyakh ( CSR). * 1950 — the Special award of jury on the IV MKF in Cannes. Version of 1975 * 1977 (November) — the Bronze medal for the best animated film on category of children's movies on the VI MKF in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Interesting facts

* In the opening credits of 1947 version Ivan Ivanov-Vano is credited as "I. Vano", but the cast and narrator are uncredited. * In the book "Shot Off-screen" Ivan Ivanov-Vano writes: In film distribution, on a film studio there are letters with a request again to release "Konyok-gorbunok". But the movie negative was badly damaged, and to print new copies from it was impossible. When these lines were written, Vano finished work on the new version. * In 1988 the USSR mail of the USSR released a series (6 pieces) of stamps "Animated films". One of brands was devoted to the animated film "Konyok-Gorbunok". * Appreciation to the movie was given by

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

, who showed it to his animators and artists.

1975 version

In 1975

Ivan Ivanov-Vano Ivan Petrovich Ivanov-Vano (russian: Иван Петрович Иванов-Вано; – 25 March 1987), born Ivanov, was a Soviet and Russian animation director, animator, screenwriter, educator, professor at Gerasimov Institute of Cinematog ...

made another version of the same film. The 1975 film is 73 minutes long; 18 minutes longer than the original. Although the progression of scenes and their plot content is usually the same as in the original, the animation and specific actions of the characters are different; for example, a scene may be taken from a different angle or in a different location (all of the backgrounds were also newly-drawn). Sometimes a scene was drawn out, other times contracted (for example, the scene where Ivan first sees the white horse is much-simplified compared to 1947). The cartoon keeps the plot of Ivan getting Tsar-Maid's ring from the sea at her demand, with the help of a giant whale, absent in the 1947 cartoon. This was done because the original film was then in a very bad shape and the technical expertise for a restoration did not exist. In 2004, with the technical expertise now existing in Russia, the original film was restored and released on DVD by Krupnyy Plan (Крупный План). The 1975 version was redubbed, recut and released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as ''The Magic Pony'' in October 25, 1977, with

Erin Moran Erin Marie Moran-Fleischmann (October 18, 1960 – April 22, 2017) was an American actress, best known for playing Joanie Cunningham on the television sitcom ''Happy Days'' and its spin-off ''Joanie Loves Chachi''. Early life Erin Marie ...

voicing the Magic Pony,

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom '' Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in ''Rebel Without a Cause ...

as the voice of the Tsar,

Hans Conried Hans Georg Conried Jr. (April 15, 1917 – January 5, 1982) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for providing the voices of George Darling and Captain Hook in Walt Disney's ''Peter Pan'' (1953), Snidely Whiplash in Jay Ward's ''Dudle ...

as Spalnik and

Johnny Whitaker John Orson Whitaker, Jr. (born December 13, 1959) is an American actor notable for several film and television performances during his childhood. The redheaded Whitaker played Jody Davis on ''Family Affair'' from 1966 to 1971. He also originated ...

as Ivan. This version of the film was first released on VHS in the early 1980s by Video Warehouse, Inc, and later again in 1984 by Vestron Video through their Children's Video Library division. Starmaker Entertainment and Anchor Bay Entertainment released it on VHS again in 1995. Another English dub was done in 1995 by Films by Jove for the series ''Stories from My Childhood''.

Voices

;Additional Voices *

Diana Alton Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997) ...

* Robb Cigne * John Craig *

Wayne Heffley Wayne Heffley (July 15, 1927 – November 19, 2008) was an American television and film actor, known for the role of Vern Scofield on ''Days of Our Lives'', as well as over 100 other roles. He died of kidney failure in 2008. He was guitarist ...

Jason Wingreen Jason Wingreen (October 9, 1920 – December 25, 2015) was an American actor. He portrayed bartender Harry Snowden on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1977–1979), a role he reprised on the continuation series ''Archie Bunker's Place'' (1 ...

* Sandra Wirth

Home video

Both versions of ''The Humpbacked Horse'' have been released on home video. In the 1980s, Videoprogrammoy Goskino USSR (Видеопрограммой Госкино СССР) released the film in the

SECAM SECAM, also written SÉCAM (, ''Séquentiel de couleur à mémoire'', French for ''color sequential with memory''), is an analog color television system that was used in France, some parts of Europe and Africa, and Russia. It was one of th ...

system, and later in the 1990s in the

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

system. The 1975 edition was released on home video by film association Krupny Plan in the early 1990s. Both were later released on VHS by Soyuzmultfilm, and also by Studio PRO Video in their collection "The Best Soviet Animated Films”. The film has been issued on DVD from the 2000s on. The 1947 version has been restored and distributed by Krupny Plan. The 1975 version first received a DVD release in 2003, in the 5th release of “The Golden Collection of Favourite Cartoons”, and later on by Soyuzmultfilm in the animated film collection "Tale of a Fairy Tale".

References

External links

* * ** (duplicate IMDB entry) * (Official Russian) * (Russian with English subtitles) * (English)
Konyok-gorbunok (1947)
at

animator.ru Animator.ru is a Russian website chronicling the films, people and studios of the animation industry in Russia, the former Soviet Union and (to a lesser extent) the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It also includes a forum, a news block, ...

Konyok-gorbunok (1975)
at

Konyok-gorbunok at myltik.ru
(Russian)
The Little Humpbacked Horse (Конек-горбунок)
1947 and 1975 online in Russian and English a
Soviet Cartoons Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Humpbacked Horse, The 1947 animated films 1947 films Films based on fairy tales Films directed by Ivan Ivanov-Vano Animated films about horses Soviet animated films Soyuzmultfilm Films based on poems Animated films based on Slavic mythology Films based on Russian folklore Russian children's fantasy films 1940s children's animated films 1940s Russian-language films Soviet children's fantasy films