Many years ago when I was a child the early movie networks like HBO and The Movie Channel used to fill their interstitial between movies with short films, usually cartoons. I distinctly remember even after all these years seeing a cartoon That begins with an astronaut leaving a glass bottle of soda with a drop left in it. Then Ravels Bolero begins and the cartoon shows the unfolding of a whole evolution based on that drop. I particularly remember the animals marching to the music and a line of marching dinosaurs. Does anyone else remember this cartoon, it’s name, and where I might find a copy? I seemed to recall there was some kind of Russian connection but that part is hazy so I may be mistaken.
It’s a segment from Allegro non Troppo, kind of an answer/parody of Disney’s Fantasia. No Russian connection that I know of, but rather Italian; it was made by Bruno Bozzetto and released in 1977.
Thank you soooo Much. I think that before the internet, all of us had things like this. “I saw this thing when I was a kid, do you remember it?” and so many people answered no, we began to doubt our own memory. Now we can ask enough people at once to deny (or give terrible weight to) are insanity. If anyone else wants to comment on the movie feel free.
I have a copy of Allegro Non Troppo. The animation is frequently interesting (I’ve like Bruno Bozzetto’s shor4t films better, though), but the stories illustrated are frequently serious downers – and not just for the cynicism (The “Bolero” sequence is wonderfully ctynical, in addition to being a parody of the “Rite of Spring” sequence from Fantasia. The last sequence – with the snake eating the apple from the Garden of Eden – is nicely cynical, too). But the one with the cat and the “Afternoon of he Faun” are downright depressing.
The shorter sequences – Vivaldi’s “Summer” and the "Polovezian Dance (Which might be your Russian coonection) were the non-cynical non-depressing parts.
And if that’s not enough for you, check out Valse triste to rip your heart out.
The whole movie is wonderful, although as Cal points out, some of it is very sad. I saw it in a second-run movie house back a year or two after it first came out. I’m so glad we have the internet to let us revisit the old memories, and to keep things like this from never being seen again by any more than a few.
I remember that cartoon and have been trying to find out how to get a copy. I believe it played on TMC - but I could be wrong. If anyone knows how to get a copy, please advise. Thanks.
Yes, I remember that movie and have been searching for it myself. Your description is spot on! It’s a brilliant work. I found it just now on YouTube. Here’s the link:
I’ve been asking and searching for this cartoon since I saw it at the one and only Danish TV network 29 years ago in 1986/87 and I only had an old black&white TV, with horrible sound too…
And now I found the full cartoon and learnt some new things I didn’t know about it.
All thanks to your question, and these nice people above replies.
I cant say how happy and grateful I am. But its A LOT!!
If anyone else wants to comment on the movie feel free.
