If you haven't any of Soyuzmultfilm's work yet and are a fan of animation and ones not from the UK or US, you are in for a treat. If you have seen a couple already and are eager to see more, you shouldn't be disappointed. Have been a fan of the studio for nearly a decade since seeing one of the best available versions of a personal favourite story of mine 'The Snow Queen', and have yet to see anything disappointing by them. Coming from someone who has seen most of their output.
Do prefer other Soyuzmultfilm efforts over 'The Brave Hare', and not just 'The Snow Queen' but also 'The Snow Maiden', 'The Wild Swans', 'Mowgli', 'The Nutcracker', 'Hedgehog in the Fog' and 'Tale of Tales' and they are just a few examples. If that is sounding disparaging and coming over as me thinking negatively of it, that is far from the truth. Actually think 'The Brave Hare' is great and definitely recommend it, just feel that Soyuzmultfilm did a lot of classics and that it is not quite one of them.
There is very little wrong with 'The Brave Hare', but to me it was a little bit of a slow starter. As charming as the live action prologue was, it did go on for too long for my tastes and perhaps been a minute or two shorter.
Other than that, 'The Brave Hare' is great in every other department. One of its best assets, like a lot of Soyuzmultfilm's output, is the animation. Especially the landscapes and the backgrounds, which are nothing short of incredible. The music is playful, sumptuous in orchestration and atmospheric, its use, tone and placement always ideal and not in any way discordant with the action. Actually found it beautifully understated and it didn't go overboard on the emotion.
It is written with much sincerity and charm and the story is engaging throughout, not feeling too thin for the length. The protagonist is a rootable one, felt sorry for him when he was scared and identified with him when he wanted to prove he had courage. The instructive element didn't come over as preachy to me while certainly making its point, it didn't feel out of date either.
Altogether, hugely impressive and well worth sticking with if unsure at first. 9/10
