The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights (cartoon). The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights Analysis of “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights” by Pushkin A S

The king and queen said goodbye
Prepared for the journey,
And the queen at the window
She sat down to wait for him alone.

Dear visitors. You can listen to this tale in an audio version directly on our website or download the audio tale on the page ""

The king and queen said goodbye
Prepared for the journey,
And the queen at the window
She sat down to wait for him alone.
He waits and waits from morning until night,
Looks into the field, indian eyes
Got sick looking
From white dawn until night;
No sight of my dear friend!
He just sees: a blizzard is swirling,
Snow is falling on the fields,
The whole white earth.
Nine months pass
She doesn't take her eyes off the field.
Here on Christmas Eve, right at night
God gives the queen a daughter.
Early in the morning the guest is welcome,
Day and night so long awaited,
From afar at last
The Tsar Father returned.
She looked at him,
She sighed heavily,
I couldn’t stand the admiration
And she died at mass.

For a long time the king was inconsolable,
But what to do? and he was a sinner;
The year has passed like an empty dream,
The king married someone else.
Tell the truth, young lady
There really was a queen:
Tall, slender, white,
And I took it with my mind and with everything;
But proud, brittle,
Willful and jealous.

She was given as a dowry
There was only one mirror;
The mirror had the following properties:
It can speak well.
She was alone with him
Good-natured, cheerful,
I joked with him kindly
And, showing off, she said:
“My light, mirror! Tell
Tell me the whole truth:
Am I the sweetest in the world,
All rosy and white?”
And the mirror answered her:
“You, of course, no doubt;
You, queen, are the sweetest of all,
All blush and whiter.”
And the queen laughs
And shrug your shoulders
And wink your eyes,
And click your fingers,
And spin around, arms akimbo,
Looking proudly in the mirror.

But the princess is young,
Silently blooming,
Meanwhile, I grew, grew,
Rose and blossomed,
White-faced, black-browed,
The character of such a meek man.
And the groom was found for her,
Prince Elisha.

The matchmaker arrived, the king gave his word,
And the dowry is ready:
Seven trading cities
Yes, one hundred and forty towers.
Getting ready for a bachelorette party
Here is the queen, dressing up
In front of your mirror,
I exchanged words with him:
All rosy and white?”
What's the answer to the mirror?
“You are beautiful, no doubt;
But the princess is the sweetest of all,
All blush and whiter.”
As the queen jumps away,
Yes, as soon as he waves his hand,
Yes, it will slam on the mirror,
It'll stomp like a heel!..
“Oh, you vile glass!
You are lying to me to spite me.
How can she compete with me?
I'll calm the stupidity in her.
Look how much she has grown!
And it’s no wonder that it’s white:
Mother belly sat
Yes, I just looked at the snow!
But tell me: how can she
Be nicer to me in everything?
Admit it: I am more beautiful than everyone else.
Go around our entire kingdom,
Even the whole world; I have no equal.
Is not it?" Mirror in response:
“But the princess is still sweeter,
Everything is more rosy and whiter.”

Nothing to do. She,
Full of black envy
Throwing the mirror under the bench,
She called Chernavka to her place
And punishes her
To his hay girl,
News to the princess in the depths of the forest
And, tying her up, alive
Leave it there under the pine tree
To be devoured by the wolves.

Can the devil deal with an angry woman?
There is no point in arguing. With the princess
Here Chernavka went into the forest
And brought me to such a distance,
What did the princess guess?
And I was scared to death,
And she prayed: “My life!
What, tell me, am I guilty of?
Don't ruin me, girl!
And how will I be a queen,
I will spare you."
The one who loves her in my soul,
Didn't kill, didn't tie up,
She let go and said:
“Don’t worry, God bless you.”
And she came home.

"What? - the queen told her, -
Where is the beautiful maiden?
- There, in the forest, there is one, -
She answers her. -
Her elbows are tightly tied;
Will fall into the claws of the beast,
She will have to endure less
It will be easier to die.
And the rumor began to ring:
The royal daughter is missing!
The poor king grieves for her.
Prince Elisha,
Having prayed earnestly to God,
Hitting the road
For a beautiful soul,
For the young bride.

But the bride is young,
Wandering in the forest until dawn,
Meanwhile everything went on and on
And I came across the tower.
The dog meets her, barking,
He came running and fell silent, playing;
She entered the gate
There is silence in the courtyard.
The dog runs after her, caressing her,
And the princess, getting close,
Went up to the porch
And she took the ring;
The door opened quietly,
And the princess found herself
In the bright upper room; all around
Carpeted benches
Under the saints there is an oak table,
Stove with tiled stove bench.
The girl sees what's here

Good people live;
You know, she won’t be offended!
Meanwhile, no one is visible.
The princess walked around the house,
I put everything away in order,

I lit a candle for God,
I lit the stove hot,
Climbed onto the floor
And she quietly lay down.
Lunch hour was approaching
There was a stomping sound in the yard:
Seven heroes enter
Seven ruddy barbels.
The elder said: “What a miracle!
Everything is so clean and beautiful.
Someone was tidying up the mansion
Yes, he was waiting for the owners.
Who? Come out and show yourself
Make friends with us honestly.
If you an old man,
You will be our uncle forever.
If you're a ruddy guy,
You will be called our brother.
If the old lady, be our mother,
So let's call it a name.
If the red maiden
Be our dear sister."

And the princess came down to them,
I gave honor to the owners,
She bowed low to the waist;
Blushing, she apologized,
Somehow I went to visit them,
Even though I wasn’t invited.
Instantly, by their speech, they recognized
That the princess was received;
Sat in a corner
They brought a pie;
The glass was poured full,
It was served on a tray.

From green wine
She denied;
I just broke the pie,
Yes, I took a bite,
And get some rest from the road
I asked to go to bed.
They took the girl
Up into the bright room
And left alone
Going to bed.
Day after day goes by, flashing,
And the princess is young
Everything is in the forest, she’s not bored
Seven heroes.

Before dawn
Brothers in a friendly crowd
They go out for a walk,
Shoot gray ducks
Amuse your right hand,
Sorochina rushes to the field,
Or head off broad shoulders
Cut off the Tatar,
Or chased out of the forest
Pyatigorsk Circassian.

And she is the hostess
Meanwhile alone
He will clean and cook.
She won't contradict them
They won't contradict her.
So days go by.
Brothers dear girl
Loved it. To her room
Once, as soon as it was dawn,
All seven of them entered.
The elder said to her: “Maiden,
You know: you are a sister to all of us,
All seven of us, you
We all love for ourselves
We would all like to take you,
Yes, you can’t, for God’s sake
Make peace between us somehow:
Be one's wife
Other affectionate sister.
Why are you shaking your head?
Are you refusing us?
Are the goods not for the merchants?

“Oh, you guys are honest,
Brothers, you are my family, -
The princess tells them,
If I lie, may God command
I won't get out of this place alive.
What do i do? because I'm a bride.
For me you are all equal
All are daring, all are smart,
I love you all from the bottom of my heart;
But to another I am forever
Given away. I love everyone
Prince Elisha."
The brothers stood silently
Yes, they scratched their heads.
“Demand is not a sin. Forgive us, -
The elder said bowing, -
If so, I won’t mention it
About that." - “I’m not angry,”
She said quietly,
And my refusal is not my fault.”
The suitors bowed to her,
Slowly they moved away
And everything agrees again
They began to live and get along.
Meanwhile, the queen is evil,
Remembering the princess
I couldn't forgive her
And on the mirror
I sulked and got angry for a long time;
Finally had enough of him
And she followed him, and sat down
In front of him, I forgot my anger,
Started to show off again
And with a smile she said:
“Hello, mirror! Tell
Tell me the whole truth:
Am I the sweetest in the world,
All rosy and white?”
And the mirror answered her:
“You are beautiful, no doubt;
But he lives without any glory,
Among the green oak groves,
At the seven heroes
The one who is still dearer than you.”
And the queen flew in
To Chernavka: “How dare you
Fool me? and what!..”
She admitted everything:
Anyway. Evil queen
Threatening her with a slingshot
I put it down or not live,
Or destroy the princess.
Since the princess is young,
Waiting for my dear brothers,
She was spinning while sitting under the window.
Suddenly angrily under the porch
The dog barked and the girl
Sees: beggar blueberry
Walks around the yard with a stick
Driving the dog away. “Wait,
Grandma, wait a little, -
She shouts to her through the window, -
I'll threaten the dog myself
And I’ll bring you something.”

The blueberry answers her:
“Oh, you little girl!
The damned dog prevailed
Almost ate it to death.
Look how busy he is!
Come out to me." - The princess wants
I went out to her and took the bread,
But I just left the porch,
The dog is at her feet and barks,
And he won’t let me see the old woman;
Only the old woman will go to her,
He is angrier than the forest beast,
For an old woman. “What kind of miracle?
Apparently he didn't sleep well, -
The princess tells her: -
Well, catch it!” - and the bread flies.
The old woman caught the bread:
“Thank you,” she said. -
God bless you;
Here’s to you, catch him!”
And to the princess a liquid,
Young, golden,
The apple is flying straight...
The dog will jump and squeal...
But the princess in both hands
Grab - caught. "For the sake of boredom
Eat an apple, my light.
Give thanks for lunch."
The old lady said,
She bowed and disappeared...
And from the princess to the porch
The dog runs into her face
He looks pitifully, howls menacingly,
It’s like a dog’s heart is aching,
As if he wants to tell her:
Give it up! - She caressed him,
Ruffles with a gentle hand;
“What, Sokolko, what’s wrong with you?
Lay down! - and entered the room,
The door was quietly locked,
I sat down under the window and grabbed some yarn.
Wait for the owners, and looked
It's all about the apple. It
Full of ripe juice,
So fresh and so fragrant
So ruddy and golden
It’s like it’s filled with honey!
The seeds are visible right through...
She wanted to wait
Before lunch; couldn't stand it
I took the apple in my hands,
She brought it to her scarlet lips,
Slowly bit through
And she swallowed a piece...
Suddenly she, my soul,
I staggered without breathing,
White hands dropped,
I dropped the ruddy fruit,
Eyes rolled back
And she's like that
She fell head on the bench
And she became quiet, motionless...

The brothers went home at that time
They came back in a crowd
From a brave robbery.
To meet them, howling menacingly,
The dog runs to the yard
Shows them the way. “Not good! -
The brothers said: - sadness
We won’t pass.” They galloped up,
They entered and gasped. Having run in,
Dog at apple headlong
He rushed barking, got angry,
Swallowed it, fell down
And died. Got drunk
It was poison, you know.
Before the dead princess
Brothers in grief
Everyone hung their heads
And with the holy prayer
They lifted me from the bench, dressed me,
They wanted to bury her
And they changed their minds. She,
Like under the wing of a dream,
She lay so quiet and fresh,
That she just couldn’t breathe.
We waited three days, but she
Didn't rise from sleep.
Having performed a sad ritual,
Here they are in the crystal coffin
Young princess corpse
They laid it down - and in a crowd
They carried me to an empty mountain,
And at midnight
Her coffin to six pillars
On cast iron chains there
Screwed down carefully
And they fenced it off with bars;
And, before the dead sister
Having made a bow to the ground,
The elder said: “Sleep in the coffin;
Suddenly went out, a victim of anger,
Your beauty is on earth;
Heaven will receive your spirit.
You were loved by us
And for the dear one we keep -
No one got it
Only one coffin."

On the same day the evil queen
Waiting for good news
Secretly I took a mirror
And she asked her question:
“Am I, tell me, the cutest of all,
All rosy and white?”
And I heard in response:
“You, queen, no doubt,
You are the sweetest in the world,
All blush and whiter.”
For his bride
Prince Elisha
Meanwhile, he jumps around the world.
No way! He cries bitterly
And whoever he asks
His question is tricky for everyone;
Who laughs in his face,
Who would rather turn away;
To the red sun at last
Well done.
“Our sunshine! You walk
All year round across the sky, you bring
Winter with warm spring,
You see us all below you.
Al will you refuse me an answer?
Haven't you seen anywhere in the world
Are you young princess?
I am her groom." - “You are my light,”
The red sun answered, -
I haven't seen the princess.
She is no longer alive.
Is it a month, my neighbor,
I met her somewhere
Or a trace of her was noticed.”
Dark Night Elisha
He waited in his anguish.
It's only been a month
He chased after him with a prayer.
“A month, a month, my friend,
Gilded horn!
You rise in deep darkness,
Chubby, bright-eyed,
And, loving your custom,
The stars are looking at you.
Al will you refuse me an answer?
Have you seen it anywhere in the world?
Are you young princess?
I am her groom." - “My brother,
The clear month answers, -
I have not seen the red maiden.
I stand on guard
Just in my turn.
Without me, the princess, apparently,
I ran." - “How offensive!” -
The prince answered.
The clear month continued:
"Wait a minute; about her, perhaps
The wind knows. He will help.
Now go to him
Don’t be sad, goodbye.”

Elisha, without losing heart,
He rushed to the wind, calling:
“Wind, wind! You are powerful
You are chasing flocks of clouds,
You stir the blue sea
Everywhere you blow in the open air,
You're not afraid of anyone
Except God alone.
Al will you refuse me an answer?
Have you seen it anywhere in the world?
Are you young princess?
I am her fiancé.” - “Wait,”
The wild wind answers, -
There behind the quiet river
Eat high mountain,
There is a deep hole in it;
In that hole, in the sad darkness,
The crystal coffin is rocking
On chains between pillars.
No trace of anyone to be seen
Around that empty space;
Your bride is in that coffin.”
The wind ran away.
The prince began to cry
And he went to an empty place,
For a beautiful bride
Watch it again at least once.
Here he comes; and got up
The mountain in front of him is steep;
The country around her is empty;
There is a dark entrance under the mountain.
He's heading there quickly.
Before him, in the sad darkness,
The crystal coffin is rocking,
And in the crystal coffin
The princess sleeps in eternal sleep.
And about the coffin of the dear bride
He hit with all his might.
The coffin broke. Virgo suddenly
Alive. Looks around
With amazed eyes,
And, swinging over the chains,
Sighing, she said:
“How long have I been sleeping!”
And she rises from the grave...
Ah!.. and they both burst into tears.
He takes her in his hands
And brings light from darkness,
And, having a pleasant conversation,
They set off on their way back

And the rumor is already trumpeting:
The royal daughter is alive!
At home idle at that time
Evil stepmother sat
In front of your mirror
And she talked to him.
Saying: “Am I the cutest of all,
All rosy and white?”
And I heard in response:
“You are beautiful, there are no words,
But the princess is still sweeter,
Everything is redder and whiter.”
The evil stepmother jumped up,
Breaking a mirror on the floor
I ran straight to the door
And I met the princess.
Then sadness took over her,
And the queen died.
They just buried her
The wedding was celebrated immediately,
And with his bride
Elisha got married;
And no one since the beginning of the world
I have never seen such a feast;
I was there, honey, drank beer,
Yes, he just wet his mustache.

Dear readers!

All materials from the site can be downloaded absolutely free. All materials have been scanned by antivirus and do not contain hidden scripts.

The materials in the archive are not marked with watermarks!

The site is updated with materials based on the free work of the authors. If you want to thank them for their work and support our project, you can transfer any amount that is not burdensome to you to the site’s account.
Thank you in advance!!!

The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights

Cartoon frame
Cartoon type hand-drawn
Genre Fairy tale
Director Ivan Ivanov-Vano
Based fairy tales by A. S. Pushkin
written by Yuri Olesha
Ivan Ivanov-Vano
Composer Yuri Nikolsky
Animators Vladimir Arbekov
Nadezhda Privalova
Boris Butakov
Lidia Reztsova
Faina Epifanova
Joseph Staryuk
Grigory Kozlov
Tatiana Fedorova
Renata Mirenkova
Nikolay Fedorov
Fedor Khitruk
Konstantin Chikin
Lev Popov
Konstantin Malyshev
Operator Nikolay Voinov
Sound engineer Nikolay Prilutsky
Studio film studio "Soyuzmultfilm"
A country USSR USSR
Language Russian
Duration 31 min. 48 sec.
Premiere
IMDb ID 2234421
BCdb
Animator.ru ID 3014

"The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights"- soviet drawn cartoon, released by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in 1951, and a film adaptation of the fairy tale of the same name (1833) by Alexander Pushkin.

Plot

There lived a king and a queen. The king left for 1 year. While the king was away, her daughter was born. The queen dies when the king returns home. He grieves, but a year passes, and a new queen appears in the palace. She is very beautiful, but cruel, capricious and envious. The queen has a magic mirror that talks to her. When the queen looks in the mirror, she asks him:

My light, mirror! Tell
Tell me the whole truth:
Am I the sweetest in the world,
All blush and whiter?

From year to year the mirror answers that in the whole world there is no one more beautiful than the queen. But the years pass, and the queen is no longer young. But her stepdaughter, on the contrary, is growing up and becoming more and more beautiful. One fine day the mirror tells the queen that she is beautiful, but there is one who is much more beautiful:

You are beautiful, no doubt;
But the princess is the sweetest of all,
All blush and whiter.

The queen's nature makes itself felt, and envy of the main character has no limits. The queen calls her maid Chernavka and orders her:

You are a princess in the wilderness of the forest
Take me away. Tied up, alive
You'll leave it there under the pine tree
To be devoured by the wolves.

Fulfilling the queen’s order, Chernavka leads the princess into the forest, but does not wish her harm. She only fulfills the mistress’s order and therefore releases the princess. Then Chernavka returns to the queen and informs her about the death of the princess.

The king, having learned about the disappearance of his daughter, grieves. The princess's groom, Prince Elisha, sets off around the world in search of his missing bride. The latter wanders for a long time deep forest and as a result, in the wilderness, he finds big house. The princess comes there, but the owners of the house are not there. By evening they appear. These are seven heroic brothers. The princess tells what happened to her, and the heroes leave her to live in their house.

The main character runs the house. The heroes liked her. The latter invite her to choose one of them as her husband. The princess replies that all the heroes are dear to her, but she already has a groom, and she is forced to refuse. Meanwhile, the queen, thinking that her stepdaughter has been dead for a long time, asks the mirror:

Am I the sweetest in the world,
All blush and whiter?

The mirror replies that the queen is undoubtedly beautiful, but the princess is still more beautiful. Then the queen decides to kill her stepdaughter herself. She disguises herself as an old woman, goes into the forest to look for the princess and finds the house of seven heroes. The princess does not recognize her stepmother, takes pity on the old woman and gives her alms. Only the guard dog barks angrily at the old woman. The queen gives her stepdaughter a poisoned apple. The princess bites it and dies.

When the heroes returned in the evening, they saw the princess’s body. A dog that swallowed a poisoned apple lies nearby. The heroes realize that the princess was poisoned. Later they will place her in a crystal coffin, which will be hung in a mountain cave. The satisfied queen hears the long-awaited answer from the mirror that she is more beautiful than anyone in the world.

Elisha is looking for the princess all over the world, but his bride is nowhere to be found. Then he turns for help to those who see everything - to the sun, moon and wind. The sun and the moon know nothing about the missing princess. Only the wind gave Elisha a sad answer:

There behind the quiet river
There is a high mountain
There is a deep hole in it;
In that hole, in the sad darkness,
The crystal coffin is rocking
On chains between pillars.
No trace of anyone to be seen
Around that empty place
In that coffin is your bride.

The saddened Elisha goes to look at his bride and kisses her, which contributes to her awakening. Happy lovers return home to get married. At this time, the queen asks the mirror who is the most beautiful in the world, and again hears that the princess is more beautiful than her. In a fit of rage, the queen breaks the mirror into pieces, and during a personal meeting with the princess she dies of melancholy. The film ends with the wedding of the princess and the prince Elisha, at which, apparently, the princess's named brothers, the seven heroes, are present.

Video on the topic

Differences from the original

  • In the original, a poisoned apple is brought to the princess by a beggar monk (nun) on the orders of the queen. In the film, the queen herself does this, disguised as a nun.
  • At the end of the film, the princess wakes up from Elisha's kiss, whereas in the original he breaks her coffin.

Creators

  • Screenplay by Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Yuri Olesh
  • Music by Yuri Nikolsky
  • Stage director: Ivan Ivanov-Vano
  • Second director: Alexandra Snezhko-Blotskaya
  • Main artist: Lev Milchin
  • Second artist: Viktor Nikitin
  • Operator: Nikolay Voinov
  • Sound engineer: Nikolay Prilutsky
  • Artist assistants: Lydia Model, A. Durakov
  • Decorative artists:

Among other fairy tales created by the great Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin (and there are five of them written in total), “The Tale of dead princess and seven heroes" occupies special place. She seems to be standing in the middle. Both according to the time of writing (1863. Boldino), and according to deep meaning to the prisoner in it.

It may not be as popular as, say, the cheerful “Tale of the Priest and His Worker Balda” or filled with folk common sense and the concept of supreme justice, “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish,” which became part of folklore. It is simpler in plot than the touchingly naive “The Tale of Tsar Saltan,” in which miracles are at every turn, or the philosophical and satirical “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel.”

But in it, as, perhaps, in no other of Pushkin’s fairy tales, we're talking about about another magic, about another power than the machinations of some Koshchei or Baba Yaga. There is essentially no truly magical witchcraft here. Of course, this is a fairy tale. And therefore, it contains a talking mirror, and the elements of nature giving advice to Prince Elisha, and a wonderful heroic mansion in the thicket of a deep forest, and the traditional saying “I was there: I drank honey, drank beer, but only wet my mustache.”

But let’s think, wouldn’t the loving queen, who died at the beginning of the fairy tale “from admiration,” from love, barely waiting for her husband to return from distant wanderings, to whom she gave birth to a daughter, would she, if she had been a sorceress, have been able to stay alive? Or would Prince Elisha, if he had self-assembled tablecloths, flying carpets and invisible hats, have wandered around the world for so long in search of the disappeared Princess? And having finally found her, would he have grieved so much if he had known some Magic word, capable of reviving his bride? But in other fairy tales everything was different.

As soon as Guidon wanted something, his wish was instantly fulfilled. As soon as the old man went to the seashore and clicked on a goldfish, his grumpy old woman immediately got whatever she wanted.
But in “The Tale of the Dead Princess” there is nothing like that. Here, perhaps, the only sorceress is the evil, envious queen. And even then, no thunder from heaven overtook her - she herself died “from melancholy,” unable to bear the weight of her anger. It is quiet, not solemn, very sad and good fairy tale. It is rather a lyrical story in verse, a poem about the power of love, omnipotent, overcoming everything, saving. This is a story about “gentle disposition”, about the beauty of feeling, about devotion and fidelity that conquers death itself.

Everyone loves here, except the queen-stepmother. The Tsar and the Queen-Mother love, the Princess and Prince Elisha love, even Chernavka at first let the princess go alive, even the dog, out of love and devotion, deliberately swallowed a poisoned apple. All seven mighty and kind heroes love the princess. The author also loves his wonderful heroes. He seems to admire them. That’s why his voice is so mocking and harsh when he ridicules the narcissistic queen spinning in front of the mirror (who really loves only himself!). That is why the narrator’s tone softens and warms when he fixes his gaze on the quiet, lovely Princess. And therefore, the intonations of his unhurried story become melodiously affectionate (just like those of the peasants, from whom he wrote down some motives for his fairy tale-poem), as soon as it comes to the gentle disposition of the “secretly” blossoming beauty. And the point here is not even the beauty of the Princess, about which the magic mirror so insistently repeats. It is much more important for Pushkin that we understand: no beauty can replace spiritual nobility. And this is it: in the triumphant, albeit not at all loud, affirmation of the omnipotent power of human spiritual beauty, in the unostentatious superiority of heartfelt fidelity, inner grace over the noisy boasting of narcissistic and empty “ruddiness” - this is precisely the most wonderful and most truthful secret of Pushkin’s fairy tale .

People's Artist of the USSR Vera Petrovna Maretskaya, who reads “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights,” spoke about her attitude towards Pushkin's fairy tales, about your understanding of their meaning. “It’s impossible not to love Pushkin. His work among the people is a whole choir of voices, polyphonic, admiring, pronouncing the lines of the great poet as if they were their own, the people’s. Now I tried to fulfill my old dream. I’ve wanted to do this for a long, long time. But... I didn’t dare. Or rather, she was afraid to touch. Everyone will understand this. No one can probably capture them perfectly on tape. I tried my best, to the best of my love, admiration, and fascination. Well, if we talk about this love, then Pushkin amazes me every time with his splashing cheerfulness, extraordinary abundance of vitality, boundless kindness. This is an indescribable feeling. My dream is to give the listener the joy of communicating with this magical source of fantasy, so that he plunges headlong into the stormy ocean of Pushkin’s thoughts, Pushkin’s kindness...”
M. Babaeva

The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights

Cartoon frame
Cartoon type hand-drawn
Genre Fairy tale
Director Ivan Ivanov-Vano
Based fairy tales by A. S. Pushkin
written by Yuri Olesha
Ivan Ivanov-Vano
Composer Yuri Nikolsky
Animators Vladimir Arbekov
Nadezhda Privalova
Boris Butakov
Lidia Reztsova
Faina Epifanova
Joseph Staryuk
Grigory Kozlov
Tatiana Fedorova
Renata Mirenkova
Nikolay Fedorov
Fedor Khitruk
Konstantin Chikin
Lev Popov
Konstantin Malyshev
Operator Nikolay Voinov
Sound engineer Nikolay Prilutsky
Studio film studio "Soyuzmultfilm"
A country USSR USSR
Language Russian
Duration 31 min. 48 sec.
Premiere
IMDb ID 2234421
BCdb
Animator.ru ID 3014

"The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights"- a Soviet hand-drawn animated film released by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in 1951, and a film adaptation of the fairy tale of the same name (1833) by Alexander Pushkin.

Plot

There lived a king and a queen. The king left for 1 year. While the king was away, her daughter was born. The queen dies when the king returns home. He grieves, but a year passes, and a new queen appears in the palace. She is very beautiful, but cruel, capricious and envious. The queen has a magic mirror that talks to her. When the queen looks in the mirror, she asks him:

My light, mirror! Tell
Tell me the whole truth:
Am I the sweetest in the world,
All blush and whiter?

From year to year the mirror answers that in the whole world there is no one more beautiful than the queen. But the years pass, and the queen is no longer young. But her stepdaughter, on the contrary, is growing up and becoming more and more beautiful. One fine day the mirror tells the queen that she is beautiful, but there is one who is much more beautiful:

You are beautiful, no doubt;
But the princess is the sweetest of all,
All blush and whiter.

The queen's nature makes itself felt, and envy of the main character has no limits. The queen calls her maid Chernavka and orders her:

You are a princess in the wilderness of the forest
Take me away. Tied up, alive
You'll leave it there under the pine tree
To be devoured by the wolves.

Fulfilling the queen’s order, Chernavka leads the princess into the forest, but does not wish her harm. She only fulfills the mistress’s order and therefore releases the princess. Then Chernavka returns to the queen and informs her about the death of the princess.

The king, having learned about the disappearance of his daughter, grieves. The princess's groom, Prince Elisha, sets off around the world in search of his missing bride. The latter wanders for a long time through the dense forest and as a result, in a remote thicket, finds a large house. The princess comes there, but the owners of the house are not there. By evening they appear. These are seven heroic brothers. The princess tells what happened to her, and the heroes leave her to live in their house.

The main character runs the house. The heroes liked her. The latter invite her to choose one of them as her husband. The princess replies that all the heroes are dear to her, but she already has a groom, and she is forced to refuse. Meanwhile, the queen, thinking that her stepdaughter has been dead for a long time, asks the mirror:

Am I the sweetest in the world,
All blush and whiter?

The mirror replies that the queen is undoubtedly beautiful, but the princess is still more beautiful. Then the queen decides to kill her stepdaughter herself. She disguises herself as an old woman, goes into the forest to look for the princess and finds the house of seven heroes. The princess does not recognize her stepmother, takes pity on the old woman and gives her alms. Only the guard dog barks angrily at the old woman. The queen gives her stepdaughter a poisoned apple. The princess bites it and dies.

When the heroes returned in the evening, they saw the princess’s body. A dog that swallowed a poisoned apple lies nearby. The heroes realize that the princess was poisoned. Later they will place her in a crystal coffin, which will be hung in a mountain cave. The satisfied queen hears the long-awaited answer from the mirror that she is more beautiful than anyone in the world.

Elisha is looking for the princess all over the world, but his bride is nowhere to be found. Then he turns for help to those who see everything - to the sun, moon and wind. The sun and the moon know nothing about the missing princess. Only the wind gave Elisha a sad answer:

There behind the quiet river
There is a high mountain
There is a deep hole in it;
In that hole, in the sad darkness,
The crystal coffin is rocking
On chains between pillars.
No trace of anyone to be seen
Around that empty place
In that coffin is your bride.

The saddened Elisha goes to look at his bride and kisses her, which contributes to her awakening. Happy lovers return home to get married. At this time, the queen asks the mirror who is the most beautiful in the world, and again hears that the princess is more beautiful than her. In a fit of rage, the queen breaks the mirror into pieces, and during a personal meeting with the princess she dies of melancholy. The film ends with the wedding of the princess and the prince Elisha, at which, apparently, the princess's named brothers, the seven heroes, are present.

Differences from the original

  • In the original, a poisoned apple is brought to the princess by a beggar monk (nun) on the orders of the queen. In the film, the queen herself does this, disguised as a nun.
  • At the end of the film, the princess wakes up from Elisha's kiss, whereas in the original he breaks her coffin.

Creators

  • Screenplay by Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Yuri Olesh
  • Music by Yuri Nikolsky
  • Stage director: Ivan Ivanov-Vano
  • Second director: Alexandra Snezhko-Blotskaya
  • Main artist: Lev Milchin
  • Second artist: Viktor Nikitin
  • Operator: Nikolay Voinov
  • Sound engineer: Nikolay Prilutsky
  • Artist assistants: Lydia Model, A. Durakov
  • Decorative artists: