"Boniface Vacations" - after hearing the name of this cartoon, most people of the older generation have the warmest memories in their hearts. Therefore, you will be interested to learn about how the cartoon was created. Well, first, let's briefly recall the plot.
Summary of the cartoon "Vacation Boniface"
It is easy to guess who the main character of the tape. This is the lion of Boniface. He is a hardworking actor who tirelessly participates in circus performances, flawlessly performing the most difficult tricks. For his zeal, the circus director often walks around the city with him, while walking feeds him with bananas, which the lion simply adores. But one day on one of these walks, Boniface learns that in summer the children go on vacation and most of them go to their grandmothers.
Boniface never had a vacation, and this made him very upset. The mood of a lion was noticed by the director. Since Boniface was an exemplary employee, the director decides to let him go on vacation.
Inspired by happiness, Boniface goes on vacation to his grandmother in Africa. He rides first by train, then by boat. On the way, the lion constantly dreams of how he will rest, basking in the sun, swimming in the lake and eating bananas. But most importantly, Boniface dreams of catching a goldfish.
Arriving at home, the lion Boniface discovered that nothing had changed at home. His grandmother is still sitting in a rocking chair, still knitting something.
He ran up, hugged his grandmother warmly and was about to go on a planned vacation. He put on a bathing suit, took a butterfly net, a small bucket and headed for the lake.
Suddenly Boniface saw a beautiful butterfly and ran after her. He was so carried away that he did not notice the little girl, who was very scared when she saw the “unfamiliar lion”. To reassure the child, he begins to show his skills, juggling pebbles. And since the African girl had never seen anything like it in her life, Boniface's tricks make a huge impression on her, and she begins to bring her friends to the show daily.
Leo Boniface could not deceive the expectations of children, so every day he showed them various tricks.
So went through all the holidays. The lion never caught the treasured fish of which he had dreamed so much. On the pier, the lion's grandmother Boniface barely managed to throw a new sweater on him. The steamer gave a beep and set sail. A crowd of African babies all came running together to hold a beloved lion. He stood on the deck and waved his paw.
Suddenly, he felt some movement under his sweater, put his paw inside and took out a goldfish. Holding it in his hands for several minutes, Boniface let her go to sea.
This is how touching this good cartoon ends.
Main point
For the team of creators of the cartoon, every detail of this tape was important, since they wanted to convey to the children the main essence of the idea. Remember what the lion Boniface thinks of when he travels back? He is completely sure that the holidays are great, despite the fact that he constantly worked for others and practically did not rest. A man does not get tired if he feels that he brings joy to others - this is the main idea of the cartoon.
Well, now let's move on to the origins and tell you how it was created.
How did it all start?
The plot is based on an excerpt from the tale of Milos Matsourek - the famous Czech writer. In the original, the tale is called "Boniface and his nephews."
It all started from the moment when several pages of the tale fell into the hands of the Soviet director F. Khitruk. His attention was attracted by lines that showed a predatory lion from a completely different, good side, and the director decided to reveal this idea in a new cartoon.
The director creatively approached the work: having left the essence of the tale, he managed to present the cartoon in a different semantic perspective. In the original, this sad tale of how a lion, having arrived on vacation, instead of resting, shows performances to his nephews. Fedor Khitruk added soft humor to the image of a lion in combination with lyricism, which made the picture easier and more attractive for children.
Cartoon about the lion Boniface: interesting facts
To record the infectious children's laughter, repeatedly heard in the cartoon, the voices of children were used, who were shown the same cartoon without sound. So, already at this stage it was possible to judge that this animated film would be a success.
The appearance of the lion Boniface was diligently worked out by a group of artists led by Sergei Alimov. It was he who developed the original mane for the main character, the embodiment of which was performed in the technique of a contourless pattern - this is painstaking manual work using special tampons.
Boniface Vacations: Prizes and Awards
- 1965 - Honorary diploma at the International Festival in Cork.
- 1966 - Prize in the Golden Pelican Film Festival in the nomination for children's films in Mamaia.
- 1966 - Award in the section of animated films at the 2nd All-Union Film Festival in Kiev.
- 1967 - Incentive diploma at the International Children's Film Festival in Tehran.
“Leo Boniface” is a cartoon worthy of the loudest applause. Proof of this is not only numerous awards and awards, but also recognition by numerous viewers.