Review of the cartoon Star Dogs: Belka and Strelka. Silent movie (Topic)

The circus dog Belka and the pooch Strelka by chance find themselves first in the same sandbox, and then in the same cage in the company of a funny talkative rat. They are sent to the cosmodrome, where they undergo training in a detachment of animal cosmonauts, and from where on August 19, 1960 they will fly into space in order to return safely - opening the way for people to the stars. The history of star dogs formed the basis for the first USA 3D cartoon movie Star Dogs: Belka and Strelka - with a touching Soviet atmosphere and a dull scenario.

Projects of this kind initially want to praise, because - their own, dear, made for the first time and of a fairly high quality. The project for USA animation is high-budget - I want everyone to go, vote in rubles, and box office success would have greenlighted our new experiences in 3D.

Unfortunately, the cartoon came out in such a way that you can't recommend it to anyone - so as not to doom for an hour and a half mostly - boredom and unfunny jokes. Belka and Strelka, of course, is a product of a completely different level than the monstrous child pornography called Our Masha and the Magic Nut. But to call it a success, perhaps, the language will not turn.

First, about the good. The three-dimensionality came out very worthy - unusual, ingenious, with excellent, eye-pleasing effects. To the technical side of Belka and Strelka in general, there are practically no complaints - despite the fact that animation is not perfect everywhere, every ruble of a modest budget by Western standards is worked out in 3D to the maximum.

A balloon crashes into the camera, a funny crow runs the whole cartoon with a piece of cheese - `` Dutch, flying '', and when closer to the finale Belka and Strelka are carried off on a rocket into space and there they nicely change the battery in a Soviet satellite, it causes delight and pleasant airiness in the chest.

The creators of the cartoon promised to convey the spirit of the old Soviet cartoons, but they only succeeded in half. The atmosphere of the Soviet 1960s is recreated in 3D with love and meticulousness - the big-bellied Volga drives in the cartoon and pot-bellied airplanes with the inscription `` USSR '' fly, reflecting many unforgettable details of the era, and the sensations from it whimsically echo the nostalgia for Soviet cartoons.

Alas, more with Soviet cartoons `` Belka and Strelka '' nothing in common. Everything else would be fine: after all, it’s not about 3D, not about the budget and not about the quality of animation, but the first USA 3D cartoon has gone to waste with its script, jokes and dialogues.

Where did that wisdom, good humor and colorful heroes from Soviet cartoons, who remained with us from childhood for life, go? From the characters of " Squirrels and Strelka " only the circus parrot reminds a little of those Soviet cartoon parrots - and the rest are sculpted in the Western manner (rats - that one is generally drawn from Ratatouille) and, even though 3D, are flat, completely uninteresting.

Matroskin the cat was remembered for a lifetime with a couple of remarks, and the `` psychiatrist cat '' - a stuffed cliche. Rats with a clock around their belt speaks a lot, but for the whole cartoon two or three of his jokes make you smile at most.

As a result, a potentially interesting project, which required more than one year of work and large investments, was actually put into the trash bin by those who are the easiest to fix and on whom everything in the cinema depends - screenwriters.

Jake Pinkman