Description:

A bear cub and a little hare become friends despite their mothers' disapproval. Based on the illustrations of Yevgeniy Charushin.

Charushin was an acclaimed Soviet illustrator of children's books - they would usually be about small furry animals, with either short stories or funny poems. In the words of director Fyodor Hitruk:
"One day, I found my own script from my student days in my desk drawer. It was about a bear cub. I'd long had a secret dream — to "do Charushin". He is a divine animal artist. And everything coincided. But it was titanically difficult. Each drawing of Charushin is unique, exquisite, like a divine inspiration: one brush stroke, and a bear comes to life. But here there were a thousand movements, a thousand frames. There's no place for divine revelation to hide in such a "deluge". It was only partially recognizable as Charushin. But still, some moment of magic remained."

A text version of the story (also by Hitruk) can be read here. It has been published in a number of editions and collections, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to have ever been illustrated by Charushin (or in a similar style).

Awards:
1964 - Bronze Lion of San Marco at the XXV Venice International Film Festival.
1964 - Prize at the VI International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Venice (Italy).