This 1968 adaptation of 'The Cat that Walked by Himself' is the first of two adaptations of the same story by Soyuzmultfilm. The other being the darker version twenty years later, which was their third adaptation of a Rudyard Kipling work after this and 'Adventures of Mowgli' (one of my favourites from the studio). Am a big fan of Soyuzmultfilm as a studio and love much of their work (find their political efforts less good). The original story is also one of the darkest of the 'Just So Stories', which lends itself well to animation.
Evident here in this 1968 adaptation courtesy of Aleksandra Snezhko-Blotskaya, who regularly collaborated with another Russian animation master Ivan Ivanov-Vano. All her solo directing efforts are worth watching at least once and the best of them are brilliant, and 'The Man that Walked by Himself' is no exception. There is a very slight preference for the darker, more visually striking and better known later Soyuzmultfilm effort but they are about equal in their own way quality-wise.
Like the later adaptation, the human scenes aren't as strong and the adaptation loses a little momentum in those scenes. The character writing for the humans also could have been more subtle and taken more seriously perhaps.
A lot is great here. While the animation style in the 1988 film is more striking, atmospheric and complex, there is a lot of vibrancy and atmosphere in the more traditional animation here and it's beautifully if simply drawn and detailed. The music is an improvement here as it actually fits and is used more appropriately. The dialogue is sincere and has elements of poignancy, it flows well too.
Voice acting fits well too and is expressive and well suited to the characters, the voice acting for the cat is more powerful in the later adaptation but the character is still very well voiced. The dialogue is easy to understand and any repeated lines/passages don't come over as repetitive. The story has the dark nature of the original story adeptly, while not being too dark and never over-serious, and conveys the messaging with force but also honesty.
While the later adaptation is truer in spirit to the original story, this is more faithful in detail as the later one is quite loose. The animal characters are very well written, especially the cat who is written with a lot of heart and understanding.
Overall, very good. 8/10.
