This is the first animation that was imported to Ukraine from Russia AND fully voiced in Ukrainian. Before, we used to only get subtitled versions of Russian movies and TV-shows (though, one might wonder why are we importing anything at all, considering the war). So, despite being understandably cautious, I was expecting something at least half-decent. Russians aren't at all that bad at making animations and movies ― I've watched a lot of them and I've found some very worthy ones.
In "Savva", however, we can clearly see politics bleeding into the territory of art. The result of such process is a piece of not art, but barely concealed propaganda, a product of Russian brainwashing industry. The most prominent example of it is the animation's portrayal of villains ― hyenas, which were painted* in blue and yellow, Ukrainian national colors. Symbolism of this is beyond obvious, it's practically screaming 'Ukrainians are evil'. At this point I was surprised this was even allowed to reach theaters in my country.
Also, one of the voice-acting stars who voiced Ukrainian version of "Savva" was Vladimir Zelensky, an actor and a TV-series director known for his anti-Ukrainian attitude and offensive statements. His photo was even featured on this animation's posters. I hope you can imagine in which way this fact influenced my impressions of the title.
The parts of it that are not trying to plant a toxic idea in your subconscious aren't good either. A pile of random ideas crumpled together, the execution of which is pathetic. Some people might like background music, but to me it seemed like a wasted effort. The story is not interesting, in fact, it's barely even there.
All in all, I'd say "Savva" is just bad. It's poorly made, and it's harmful to your mental health, unless you count brainwashed as a natural state of mind (you WILL get brainwashed, eventually, if you subsequently watch this, or the likes of it). So, please, do yourself a favor and stay away from this atrocity. You'll thank me later.
* ― there's this speculation that they weren't originally supposed to be like this. In the first teaser (03.03.2011) hyenas were shown to be green and yellow, instead of blue and yellow. However, we have to judge the product by its final state.
