"Last Year's Snow Was Falling" "Hard to tell when, but a while ago, in a good olde clay time in one plasticine country just as I wanted to tell you the tale of the Pike fish" "You know, in this story, all kinds of things can happen some things work out and some don't" "For instance, there were once two nice and charming... whoops, looks like they too took off!" "Or, say, the miller." "Once the miller decided..." "I could tell you a story or two about him!" "Or: the Mug was forever chained..." "But we better not talk about it." "And one gentleman loved watermelons..." "Remind me to tell you about him tomorrow" "Wait... wait a minute!" "This is who I should tell you about!" "Solidly built, finely cut out - just like me when I was younger" "Where did he go?" "I wanted to tell you his story..." "And he spoiled it all." "All that's left are these bones, dogs, and... hey, where did the Mug go?" "!" "What a strange tale this is..." "Oh, here he is again!" "So, like I was saying: a long time ago in one very plasticine country... hold on, don't go anywhere, Okay?" "... there once was a lion of a man" "I don't get it!" "Alas, he couldn't pronounce right some letters and numbers and was very hard-working... not!" "but he did enjoy slacking a lot" "It's a good thing his wife was strict and authoritative" "Once, just before New Year's day, she sent him... well, she sent him to get a fir tree." " Yea, she sent me pretty good!" "Because, she said, what sort of New Year would it be without a fir tree, eh?" "So, why are you hesitating?" "She sent you - so cut the tree" " It's not quite big enough!" "Too small!" " Ah, well, all right then" "How about this princely fir then, big like a house?" "Just look at him sneaking up to it." "What are you sneaking up for?" "Shh, be quiet!" "Can't you see the animal!" " I'll catch him!" " In your dreams..." "Noble beast!" "Fur!" "Meat!" "I'll roast me some cracklings!" "No, I better take it to the fair, lots of fools there but not enough hares" "Who wants a hare, a hare-rabbit?" "Freshly-caught hare anybody?" "Say what you want, but it's not quite enough!" "Not quite enough" "Now that I'm such a mighty merchant, what good is that skinny wife of mine?" "Not quite enough!" "Please meat my better half" "With a wife like that, you better get a new house - like this or like this!" "or even like this!" " Not quite enough!" " How about a mansion, full to the brim?" "No, that's not it again." "I'll build me a better kind of house" "Solid, well-built, all good!" "And even if I'm being greedy, it's from the bottom of my heart" "Ah, great house!" "Humongous!" "With a fountain like this, why not become a boyar" "We boyars are industrious folk Such is our boyar lot" "Not quite large enough!" "That's my kind of size" "Hey, boyar dummy, have you forgotten about the fir tree?" "A ripe acorn - any pig will gobble up" "With pigs like these you yourself become..." "I could even sign up to be a tsar!" "Who is last in line to be tsar?" "No one?" "Then I'll be first!" "Get me a carriage, a carriage I say!" "Oh what a palace you got there, with swans, stuffed animals" "Oh how I love and respect all this wealth" "As soon as I become tsar, first thing... what shall I do?" "Ah yes, I'll get a piano" "What sort of life would it be without a piano?" "I'll give banquets" "Not big enough!" "I want a mountain-size feast" " Watch your happiness slip away" " Oh, get lost, down there!" "Life is boring." "Tsar yesterday, tsar today." "Everyday I'm just a tsar." "Not quite enough." "And I myself am not quite big enough." " Not quite big enough!" " Wait, stop growing before you explode!" " Not quite big enough!" " Well, have you knocked it off yet?" "Oh, hare... stay, just you wait!" "No fir tree, no hare, you've got nothing" "And you lost the matchbox last spring" "Oh well, piano-piano" "And yet, I pity the poor chap" "The End" " Is this how it all ends?" " It's not over until it's over!" "His wife didn't let him home, and sent him again for a fir tree" "Don't return without a fir, she said But with a fir tree - do come back" "What a forest!" "And where did all the fir trees go?" "Oh, you remind me of something!" "And it seems like you weren't here before" "Cast no dirt into the well..." "Have you forgotten the proverb?" "You'll recall it soon enough..." "The lights are on, but nobody's home?" "Oh well..." "What a madhouse" "Not quite big enough" "Aren't you being a bit pushy?" "Oh what a nuisance you are, buzz off!" "Check that out!" "All kinds of old junk here" "Fine workmanship, I say" "Pretty." "And magical." "I don't get it!" "Chilly standing in the snow, isn't it?" "Sorry, not all things can be planned for" "Don't you have an itching palm!" "Just look at them kicking up their heels!" "Oh, your curious nose!" "And what a nice floor mat... it was" " Oh, your insatiable eyes..." " And what's this?" "Looks wooden..." "It's your thick head that's wooden, the wand is magical, be careful!" "A bit greedy, aren't you?" " I don't get it!" " You soon will" "Grow back at once, grow back I say!" "What sort of game is this?" "Help!" "..." "Somebody help me!" "I'm dying here, and life is so beautiful!" "I've seen that show" "Shave all you want, you're still no fir tree" "Lots of fir trees, and lots of you, just "not quite enough" sense in all this" "I can now turn into whatever I want A pleasant flexibility formed in my body" " Just can't turn into myself" " Nothing ever ticks right for you" "Mama mia!" "That's it, game over!" "How will I get home now?" "I don't even have no legs and at home, I've got the wife" "Wand, magic stick, come to me" "Auntie, do let me go." "I know the magic word: please!" "Look folks, it's me!" "Time to take to the woods" "And where did she go?" "Where?" "Wasn't there a house right here?" " So, why are you silent now?" "Ah?" " I'm tired of you!" "Oh these fairy tales..." "Oh those fairy-tellers..." "That's where the fairy tale ends and the true story begins" "He went looking for a fir tree the third time, and did get one but it was spring by then, so he took the fir tree back" "Last Year's Snow Was Falling" "Screenplay:" "Sergei Ivanov" "Directed by:" "Aleksandr Tatarsky" "Camera:" "I. Golomb Art director:" "L. Tanasenko" "Music:" "Grigory Gladkov Arranged by:" "I. Kantyukov" "Animators:" "A. Fedulov, B. Savin, A. Tatarsky, V. Barbe" "Artists:" "V. Kosareva, I. Romanov, I. Cherenkova" "Artists:" "O. Pryanishnikova, O. Tkalenko, T. Kuzmina" "Editing:" "L. Georgieva Sound:" "N. Kudrina" "Editor:" "A. Feodoridi Producer:" "Z. Saraeva" "The End" "Special thanks to Stanislav Sadalsky for giving his voice to the characters" "Copyright © 1983 by Creative Association "Screen" of USSR Gosteleradio"