Pan didn't know who he was messing with yet! The inimitable Ukrainian animator Vladimir Dakhno never stopped there, but was constantly in the creative movement. During his long career in Kyivnauchfilm, he shot many wonderful short cartoons, each of which boasted its own individual feature. It is quite clear that the most popular among the audience were the adventures of Tour, Gray and Oka, the three best friends of the Cossacks, who did not get tired of fighting with the enemies of the Zaporozhye Sich, and sometimes just rested on their favorite mountain to the spectators for fun. The first success to Vladimir Dakhno came thanks to the Cossacks. However, he understood that sometimes it is necessary to distract from a favorite topic and master new stories for a while, in order to return to the old one, look at it with a fresh, undisturbed look. Having released the incredibly successful cartoon “How the Cossacks of Brides Rescued”, Dakhno switched to the creation of projects such as “In the World of Birds” and “What It Looks Like”. These short films were another break of the maestro’s pen, and in them he was not afraid to experiment with the technique of drawing, script and other mandatory attributes of the cartoon. The mass audience is not very familiar with these paintings. But with the subsequent should familiarize everyone who appreciates in animation quality and enthusiasm. Vladimir Dakhno returned to his favorite theme and in 1975 released a charming film called “How the Cossacks bought salt”. By tradition, the script was written by Vladimir Kopustyan. However, this time Vladimir Dakhno also made his efforts to the script, complementing the efforts of Kopustyan with his own findings, born during the work on third-party short films. “How the Cossacks bought salt”, as it is not difficult to guess, at one time received no less attention than the previous parts of the series and became one of the favorite cartoons of both Soviet viewers and the peoples of the post-Soviet space.
So, the plot this time is not replete with long campaigns of the Cossacks against a foreign invader or other large-scale events. The story returns to its origins, to a mountain with an ancient idol, where a trio of our old acquaintances live. War is war, and lunch is scheduled. The Cossacks sat around their huge vat and began to cook the infused kulush, but at the decisive moment they remembered that they banally ran out of salt! Since there are no neighbors nearby, Tour, Gray and Oko go to the Fairs to bargain a pinch of the necessary substance from the Chumaks. Arriving at the place, the Cossacks understand that something was wrong - the Chumaks are sitting behind the counter, and they have no goods. The unfortunate merchants told the heroes that along the way their road was blocked by the local Pan, who considers himself the lord of the nearby territories, and he is a priori allowed everything. It is quite clear that he imposes a tribute on the carriageways, and the Chumaks did not escape the sad fate, however, unlike other wanderers, the traders took absolutely all the goods. Unable to tolerate a blatant injustice, the Cossacks go to Pan’s estate for justice, and take a whole cart of salt straight from under his nose. An angry landowner rushes to intercept the Cossacks, but when Tur, Gray and Oko are involved in the case, their rivals have no chances. The Cossacks once again showed that they are on the guard of truth and justice, and in return they need nothing but a kind word.
Unlike the last parts of the adventures of the Cossacks, the story about salt seems rather modest, somewhere even a chamber project. Vladimir Dakhno for some reason refused long by the standards of the series timing, limiting “How the Cossacks sought salt” ten minutes. In addition, the scale of the action is limited to a very small territory and no enemy armies and other misfortunes are observed in the plot. The animation has also been simplified. According to the scenario provided, the animators were quite calmly able to do with standard drawings without delving into numerous details. However, these little things do not affect the overall impression of viewing. The cartoon turned out to be colorful, dynamic and not moderately cheerful. Despite the fact that there is deception and dishonest theft in Dakhno’s world, he does not forget to prove time and again that only inaction leads to unpleasant results. Do not stand aside when you can unite and fight back the enemy. In this regard, the animated series about the Cossacks is an excellent message to children who need a heroic role model. The heroes of Vladimir Dakhno, despite the bright Ukrainian origin, will be clear to everyone, because with their help, the viewer will easily see how to resist evil. Skin color and clothing are secondary.
It is also worth noting that without the peculiarities of the original Ukrainian culture in this cartoon, too, did not do. Viewers of other countries are likely not to pay attention to certain moments of the plot, but they are directly borrowed from the old legends and beliefs of the Zaporozhye Sich and even Kievan Rus. Taking as a basis the story about the search for salt, Vladimir Dakhno and Vladimir Kapustyan could not help but illustrate for the audience how important it is for the Ukrainian people. For a long time, groups of Chumaks went across the thirtieth lands to the sea edges to stuff carts with bags of salt and bring it to their native lands so that people could cook only delicious food. According to legends, the Milky Way is also called the Chumatsky Shlyakh, because the scattering of stars is nothing more than salt scattered long ago. No one remembers how it got to heaven, but now it serves as a guiding thread for the Chumaks and does not allow them to get lost in the wilderness.
As for the dishonest Pan, this is another character from stories and folklore, which is difficult to penetrate warm feelings. The smug landlord never understood the common people. And no matter what kind of attack happened to the Ukrainian land, he thinks first of all about his well-being. He does not care that around him his tribesmen suffer troubles and adversity. Pan is his own head. It is impossible to live with such a philosophy very long and happy. In Ukrainian literature, there are many stories about how angry Haydamaks sweep away their master, thereby showing the rest of the nobility that the people must be respected. So Vladimir Dakhno did not miss an opportunity to show the world another feature of his culture, without which it is impossible to form a holistic opinion about the ancient Ukraine. It is quite clear that the director showed all the facts with the help of hilarious irony and caricature, so that we first of all enjoyed an entertaining work that causes a smile, and not another tragedy, which is especially not needed by anyone.
In the end, I want to say that the tape “How the Cossacks searched for salt” is a great representative of the popular franchise, which is definitely worth reading. Perhaps in some ways this series is inferior to the more famous parts of the people, but it is still magnificent.
10 out of 10