Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Koshkin dom" or "The Cat's House" is a 29-minute animated short film from the Soviet Union. The people who made this one were director Leonid Amalrik and writers Nikolay Erdman and Samuil Marshak. While the latter is mostly known for his live action work, the other two have made themselves a solid name in terms of Soviet animation. I don't think this one here contributes a whole lot to their bodies of work. It is a prime example of quantity of quality. They included so many animals in here, such as goats, pigs, chicken, cats and others of course too, but they failed to properly elaborate on most of these and the result is a very mediocre short film that is nowhere near the best the Soviet Union had to offer in terms of animation. The quality of the visual side is fine for an almost 60-year-old film, but it clearly comes short in terms of story-telling and the music wasn't really good either. This one dragged, even at under half an hour, on quite a few occasions. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
