The Russian State Film Fund (Gosfilmofond) presents
The 3rd color animated film from film studio "Mosfilm" using the 3-color process of Pavlov Mihaylovich Mershin,
"THE TALE OF THE FISHERMAN AND THE FISH" was released on 3 November 1937
The color version was restored in 2010 from the original color-separated film negatives
from the collection of the Russian State Film Fund
Film-Studio "Mosfilm" 1937 a 3-dimensional animation
Screenwriter and director of the production - Aleksandr Ptushko assisted by G. Yelizarov, N. Kuznetsov
art-director - P. Bazhenov music - Leonid Shvarts
camera - Fyodor Firsov sound - Vyacheslav Leshchev
animators - Mariya Benderskaya, A. Vasilyeva, A. Vesyolova, V. Krylov, B. Nevezhin, K. Nikiforov
puppets - N. Gekhtman, A. Pavlova, V. Chernihova, Ye. Shirkova Background art - M. Speranskiy
Color filming using the method of operator P.M. Mershin
A. S. Pushkin 1799-1837
The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish
There once lived an old man with his old wife on the shore of the deep blue ocean;
They lived in a tumble-down hovel For thirty-three summers and winters.
The old man used to fish for his living. And his wife spun yarn on her distaff.
"Put me back, old man, into the ocean!
I will pay you a right royal ransom,
I will give you whatever you ask me."
"God bless you, my dear little goldfish!
Thank you kindly, I don't want your ransom.
Go back to your home in the ocean,
And roam where you will without hindrance."
"I did not dare take her ransom;
So I let her back into the sea."
"Oh you simpleton! Oh you great dimwit!
Couldn't make a mere fish pay a ransom!
You at least might have asked for a wash-tub -
For ours is all falling to pieces!"
"What is it, old man, you are wanting?"
"Forgive me, Your Majesty Goldfish!
My old woman has scolded me roundly,
Won't leave me alone for a minute,
She says that she wants a new wash-tub,
For ours is all falling to pieces."
"Do not worry, go home, God be with you -
Very well, you shall have a new wash-tub."
"Oh you simpleton! Oh you great dimwit!
To ask for a tub - a mere wash-tub!
What good can you get from a wash- tub?
Return to the goldfish, you dimwit,
Bow down low and ask for a cottage."
"Oh you simpleton! Oh you great dimwit!
To ask for no more than a cottage!
Go and bow to the goldfish, and tell it
That I'm tired of being a peasant,
That I want to be made a fine lady."
"What is it, old man, you're wanting?"
"Forgive me, Your Majesty Goldfish!
My old woman is madder than ever,
Says she's tired of being a peasant,
And wants to be made a fine lady."
"Greetings, your ladyship, greetings, fine lady!
Now I hope that your soul is contented!"
"Go. Bow to the goldfish and tell it
I'm tired of being a lady,
And I want to be made a Tsaritsa."
"Woman, you've surely gone crazy!
"How dare you, muzhik, stand and argue,
Stand and argue with me, a fine lady?
Go at once - if you don't, then I warn you,
You'll be dragged to the shore, willy-nilly."
"Forgive me, Your Majesty Goldfish!
Again my old woman's gone crazy!
Now she's tired of being a lady!
She wants to be made a Tsaritsa."
"Do not worry, go home, God be with you!
Very well! She shall be a Tsaritsa!"
"Greetings, Oh mighty Tsaritsa!
Now I hope that your soul is contented!"
"Go, bow to the goldfish, and tell it
That I'm tired of being Tsaritsa,
Of the seas I want to be mistress,
With my home in the blue ocean waters;
The goldfish I want for my servant
To do my commands and my errands."
"Forgive me, Your Majesty Goldfish!
What shall I do with my cursed old woman?
She is tired of being Tsaritsa,
Of the seas she now wants to be mistress,
With her home in the blue ocean waters;
She wants you to be her own servant,
To do her commands and her errands."
And behold - there again stood his hovel;
On the doorstep sat his old woman, With the same broken wash-tub before her.
The End Subs by Eus
Restored by mixing colors drawn from the original negatives, the original film and digital frame by frame reconstruction by Nikolay Mayorov
Rare film material scanned by Vladimir Kotovskiy
The Russian State Film Fund 2010