''Once Upon, a Dog'' (''Once Upon a Time, There Lived a Dog'', (''Zhil-byl Pyos'')) is a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

adapted from the Ukrainian folk tale, Sirko. The cartoon won the first place at the 1983 International Film Festival in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

and a special prize at the 1983 festival in

Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...

Plot

The day comes when an old watchdog becomes useless but the masters, being kind, decide not to drive him away. However, they become exasperated when the Dog is indifferent during a burglary. The Dog is kicked out and sprints to the forest, where he is left to fend for himself, alone, homesick and hungry. Too slow and unaccustomed to hunting prey, the Dog despairs and contemplates hanging himself from a tree. Tragedy is averted when he encounters an old wolf whom the Dog used to chase. The Wolf commiserates with the Dog, and the two hatch a plan. The next day, the Wolf stages a kidnapping of the baby belonging to the Dog's former masters. The Dog "rescues" the unharmed child and is welcomed back to the

khutor A khutor ( ; rus, хутор, p=ˈxutər) or khutir (, ) is a type of rural locality in some countries of Eastern Europe; in the past the term mostly referred to a single- homestead settlement.howl Howl most often refers to: * Howling, an animal vocalization in many canine species * "Howl" (poem), a 1956 poem by Allen Ginsberg Howl or The Howl may also refer to: Film * '' The Howl'', a 1970 Italian film * ''Howl'' (2010 film), a 2010 Am ...

of the Wolf. The Dog remembers to repay the Wolf's kindness. He helps the Wolf enter the house where there is a wedding in progress and fetches him different kinds of food from the table. Becoming tipsy from the effects of a large meal, alcohol and a warm house, the Wolf starts to howl his "song." The wolf howls and is discovered, but the quick-thinking Dog saves him by 'chasing' him from the house. The Wolf thanks the Dog and the aging friends bid farewell. The story reveals the problem of becoming old and useless. It appeals to everyone's ability for mutual readiness to help, despite past history.

Credits

The cartoon repeatedly features the Ukrainian folk songs "Oi tam na hori" ("Oh, there at the mountain", performed by an ensemble from Solonytsia,

Lubny Raion Lubny Raion () is a raion (district) in Poltava Oblast in central Ukraine. The raion's administrative center is the city of Lubny. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions of Poltava Obla ...

Poltava Oblast Poltava Oblast (), also referred to as Poltavshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of central Ukraine. The capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the city of Poltava. Most of its territory was par ...

), "Ta kosyv batko, kosyv ya" ("My father mowed, I mowed", performed by an ensemble from Iskivtsi, Lubny Raion, Poltava Oblast), and "Oi do boru stezhechka" ("Oh, there is a path to the pine barren", performed by the folk ensemble of

Kyiv Conservatory The Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music (), formerly Kyiv Conservatory, is a national music tertiary academy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Its courses include postgraduate education. History The Kyiv Conservatory was founded on 3 November 1913 at ...

). The Dog was voiced by

Georgi Burkov Georgi Ivanovich Burkov (; 31 May 1933 – 19 July 1990) was a Soviet and Russian film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1967 and 1988. He died on 19 July 1990 at the age of 57 due to thrombosis. Selected filmography * ''Zigzag of Succ ...

and the Wolf by

Armen Dzhigarkhanyan Armen Borisi Dzhigarkhanyan (3 October 193514 November 2020) was a Soviet Union, Soviet, Armenian, and Russian actor. Born and raised in Yerevan, Dzhigarkhanyan started acting in the academic and Russian theaters of the city, before moving to Mos ...

. Animators – Anatoly Abarenov, Natalia Bogomolova, Sergey Dezhkin, operator – Mikhail Druyan, sound producer – Andrey Filchikov. A steel monument to the Wolf was placed in 2005 in

Tomsk Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...

and a copy was made in 2007 in

Angarsk Angarsk ( rus, Ангарск, p=ɐnˈgarsk) is a city and the administrative center of Angarsky District of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Kitoy River, from Irkutsk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History Ang ...

.About the monument to the Wolf in Angarsk
/ref> The monument is unofficially called "Monument to Happiness".

Notes

External links

{{wikiquote
YouTube video with English subtitlesIMDb entry
Soyuzmultfilm 1982 films 1982 animated short films Soviet animated short films Animated films about dogs Animated films about wolves Animated films about friendship Films about old age