The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

The first Soviet animated Munchausen, 1929: the Baron steps off the title page of his memoirs and tells a hunt that becomes a flight to the moon. Daniil Cherkes directed; Natalia Sats co-wrote; the animators include Ivan Ivanov-Vano and Vladimir Suteev, names that would define Soyuzmultfilm. Eighteen minutes, drawn, silent. The horse is cut in half and sewn back; ducks carry him home; a woodcutter throws him back into the book. Mezhrabpom-era cartooning in the Fleischer-Disney grammar, used on a liar who can only exist in drawings. It is the Russian animation school announcing itself in someone else's tall tale.