Secrets of the cartoon "Three from Prostokvashino": Who became the prototype of Matroskin's cat, and why Uncle Fedor changed beyond recognition

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Eduard Uspensky's story "Uncle Fyodor, the Dog and the Cat" was published in 1973, and 5 years later the famous cartoon was shot based on it, which has long become a classic of Soviet animation and has not lost its popularity among children or parents for 40 years. But even the most devoted fans are hardly aware that some of the characters had real prototypes, and the heroes themselves initially looked completely different, and from series to series their appearance underwent significant changes …

This story began in a pioneer camp, where at that time Eduard Uspensky worked as a librarian. There were not enough good children's books in his library, and the aspiring writer began to invent stories about the adventures of the inhabitants of the village of Prostokvashino. This is how Uncle Fedor, the cat Matroskin, Sharik and the postman Pechkin were born. Initially, Uncle Fyodor was an adult forester living in a fairytale village, but on the advice of the writer Boris Zakhoder, Uspensky made him a 6-year-old boy - the same as his potential readers. "", - said Ouspensky.

In fact, Ouspensky's book was first filmed back in 1975. However, the three-part cartoon "Uncle Fyodor, the Dog and the Cat" was not successful. After 3 years it was decided to reshoot, for which Eduard Uspensky had to rewrite the script. However, the result justified all the efforts spent - "Three from Prostokvashino" enjoyed incredible popularity, hundreds of times more than a book.

Two art directors worked on the new cartoon: Levon Khachatryan created images of the postman Pechkin, Uncle Fedor and his parents, and Nikolai Erykalov was the creator of Matroskin's cat, Sharik, Murka's cow and Gavryusha's calf. The hardest part was the work on the image of Galchonok - the bird did not turn out the way the director wanted to see it. As a result, several animators had to work on it at once.

Some of the characters had real-life prototypes. For example, Levon Khachatryan copied the appearance of Uncle Fedor's mother from his wife, actress Larisa Myasnikova. "", - said Khachatryan. Larisa Myasnikova was not happy with the result - the heroine copied from her looked too capricious and nervous on the screen. However, the very shape of the glasses made her change her anger to mercy: "".

The image of Uncle Fyodor became the subject of heated debate - the director was not happy with the final result. While working on the next series - "Vacations in Prostokvashino" - another animator, Arkady Sher, joined the work. He changed the appearance of almost all the characters, but the most noticeable transformations took place with Uncle Fedor. Because of this, Levon Khachatryan quarreled with the director and then left the project. In the creation of the third series - "Winter in Prostokvashino" - he no longer took part. And Uncle Fyodor, meanwhile, has changed beyond recognition. “”, - Levon Khachatryan lamented.

Not only Uncle Fyodor's mother had its own prototype, but also the cat Matroskin - however, this applies to a book, not a cartoon character, and to a greater extent his character, and not his appearance. Eduard Uspensky "copied" the cat from his friend, an employee of the satirical newsreel "Fitil" Anatoly Taraskin. From him, the cat Matroskin inherited prudence, thoroughness, practicality, rationalism, thriftiness, and at the same time his surname - after all, in the original version he was a Taraskin cat.

However, the prototype rebelled against the excessive caricature of the image: "". Taraskin could not even imagine how popular the character copied from him would become. According to Uspensky, he later regretted his decision and said: "". But the audience associates Matroskin more with the actor who gave him his voice - the brilliant Oleg Tabakov.

At the request of the script department, many of the characters' lines had to be rewritten. Eduard Uspensky said that initially the cat Matroskin, pacing from corner to corner "like a political prisoner," had to say: "". But in the final version, this phrase sounds more "politically correct": "".

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