The Millionaire
Directed by V. Bordzilovski, Soviet Union, 1963, 10 minutes 18 seconds
The original post on this short discusses the film within the context of the Soviet Union and addresses it as a piece of anti-Capitalist propaganda. I think that for the purpose of this class, I think it would be much more interesting to look at this film within a group of self-aware and sophisticated animated short films. Every classic animated short we studied this semester had a very adult twist- from the very obviously politically charged "Private Snafu" to even "Duck Amuck", which has meta undertones and can even function as an experimental short.
This film captures the spirit of these politically and self aware animations that challenge the assumption that animations are simply for kids or that "cartoons" do not have artistic/historical/cultural value. "The Millionaire" has a definite style which might be enjoyable to children but a message that would only be truly meaningful to adults and is only fully understood with a knowledge of the political climate of the time. This film fits within a tradition of animations with an edge and more importantly, with a purpose, that helped to shape the world of short films.
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