It is one of a total of nine original episodes of the most famous Ukrainian animated series about the three Cossacks from Zaproža, Oka, Hraj and Tur, which in its meaning could be compared to, for example, the Czech Krteček or the Polish Bolko and Lolko. Animated Cossacks hardly speak at all, or they only speak through music and are therefore understandable to (not only) children’s audiences in any country.
Cossacks meet the devil
The story of the series is based on the works of the writer of Ukrainian origin Mykola Hohoľ (alias Nikolai Gogol) and the beginning is mysterious: a pair of sleeping Cossacks are abducted at night by two unknown dark beings. Strongman Tur is disappointed to discover that the unknown beings were actually the wives of his friends, trying to return the adventurers to an orderly family life. On the way to his hill, the sad Tur meets a beautiful brunette at the well, but she has no shoes. Hoping to impress Miss Tur, he wants to give her a pair of beautiful red high boots and sets off on his trusty horse.
But friends Oko and Hraj don’t give up just like that, and after a while they find out where Tur went to the lady. They follow him, along the way, when evening falls, they come across a strange signpost stone. After a while, shoes, a ghost and hags flying on broomsticks appear. And on the signpost he discovers the face of the devil himself!
But there is nothing to scare the brave Cossacks, and they continue through the dark forest. Suddenly they come across a cottage, of course on chicken legs. She turns around and an inscription appears on it – Krčma Mlýn, where demons start flocking from everywhere to drink. The main devil commands everyone to boast about their evil deeds. One demon will show that he has seduced drunkards, another that he has divided neighbors and friends. But the devil is most interested in the Cossack Tur, whom the innkeeper managed to put to sleep. The devil offers the Cossack a deal – beautiful boots for his soul. Of course, the Cossack refuses, and wants to cut the devil, he pulls out a saber, but it betrays him.
Friends watch the events through the window and think what to do. It occurs to them that if they disguise themselves as Death, they could disperse the entire Sabbath. And so they do. The demons are frightened by the unknown visitors and begin to flee. But the brave Cossacks manage to catch them all and drive them into a barrel and throw the whole tavern into the river. A fairy-tale treasure, a beautiful woman’s red boots and two wedding rings will appear under the chicken’s leg.
The episode ends with a story about a spectacular wedding at which only one wedding guest – a rescued drunkard – did not drink a drop. He told everyone about the incredible miracles he had witnessed, but no one believed a man who drank a lot of “horilka” (brandy).
Nine unforgettable stories
The animated fairy tale about the struggle of Cossacks with demons is one of the most famous in Ukrainian children’s works. But its author was not recognized during his lifetime, because Russian art had to have priority in the Soviet Union. Volodymyr Dachno studied at the Kyiv Construction Institute, drew cartoons, published the funny newspaper “Koště”. During his internship in Moscow, he saw how cartoons were made, but he did not want to stay at “Soyuzmulfilm”, he returned to Kiev. He worked as an architect, but applied to Kyivnaukfilm (now Ukranimafilm) studio. He had purely Ukrainian views on the creation of Ukrainian animation, and since Dachno was originally from Zaporozhye, he created a series about Cossacks that is still recognizable at first glance. The first part, still crudely drawn, came out already in 1967. A trio of Cossacks played football in different European countries, helped musketeers, fought pirates and rescued brides, stood up to the Greek god of war Mars, even helped aliens find the right oil for a flying saucer engine, but they also helped in the defense of Bulgaria, invented the baths in Rome and almost ended up on the Spanish Inquisition border. Volodymyr Dachno created a total of 9 episodes of 20-minute stories about Cossacks – almost half of his animated work. The last volume about the three Cossacks was published in 1995.
The director died in poverty, he did not live to see a sequel
Until the end of his days, the artist continued to devote himself to his favorite thing – animation, hoping that in the totally broken media and art field, even after the independence of Ukraine, a sponsor would be found for the production of a continuation of the successful series about the Cossacks. He wanted to work with professional producers, entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, he did not see the arrival of large investors, the state at the time did not understand what kind of work the director had created and left behind. At that time, copyright was not particularly protected, and creators had almost nothing left over from the profit. In the last 15 years of his life, the eminent director Volodymyr Dachno lived in poverty with a modest pension.
Almost 10 years after Dachno’s death, the animation studio “Barabán” decided to continue the series and started the production of new 26 shorter episodes about Cossack adventures, filmed by Marina Medviď. The premiere of the new series took place on May 30, 2016. Here, the Cossacks travel to various European countries, including the Czech Republic, and also play football. For example, in Romania they defeat Dracula with garlic and his captives are released, in Ireland they help an impoverished cobbler’s elf and in Portugal they help make wine, they are even in danger due to the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.
However, the new computer-animated parts were no longer met with such enthusiasm as the original cartoons. The trio of brave Cossacks is a national brand that represents Ukrainian animation.
Ukraine announced the mandatory evacuation of children from 52 settlements in the Sumy region. Local authorities plan to evacuate 297 children with their families or other legal representatives to safer regions of Ukraine free of charge, the Reintegration Ministry said.
Turkey’s trade boom with Russia is faltering due to “rapidly expanding” Western sanctions lists, Bloomberg reported. Turkish engineering equipment exporters, who benefited from a surge in sales to Russia last year, could see their sales drop by $1 billion in 2024 due to sanctions.
View full online