Adventures of Juku the Dog

Kutsu - Juku seiklusi ( German adventure doggy Juku ) is the title of probably the first Estonian animated film. The premiere of the film took place on April 17, 1931 in Modern Cinema held in Tallinn (according to other sources on April 30, 1931).

Action

The little dog Juku riding on a pig, struggling with a frog and a cow, and then travels to Hell, where he meets a dancing skeleton and a fire-breathing dragon. The intertitles between episodes are in Estonian.

Overall, the film is a " grotesque schlappohrige with unmistakable Mickey appeal. " Individual motives, especially the dancing skeleton, are also seen in one of the first Walt Disney films ( The Skeleton Dance, August 1929).

Production

The Estonian film pioneer Voldemar Pats (1878-1958) wrote the screenplay and directed. The cartoon was technically still very experimental. The production line was in the hands of Aleksander Teppor, draftsman was Elmar Janimägi ( 1907-1937 ). Originally the film was to come for Christmas 1930 in the cinemas. However, the production was delayed.

For the film, about 5,000 drawings have been made ​​in the Tallinn city center in the production studio Eesti Joonisfilm ( " Estonian cartoon " ) by Aleksander Teppor. The length of the film was about 180 meters, of which 1986 one hundred meters were recovered in Tartu. They were restored in 2001 with support from the Estonian Film Foundation ( Eesti Filmi Sihtasutus ). The length of the restored version is four minutes, about two minutes shorter than the original version.

The music for the black -and-white silent film was Tormolen Co. Parlophon sold on records of the corporation, which had probably been manufactured in Berlin. You are no longer obtain.

A planned second film with adventures doggy Juku was not completed. The designs have not survived.