Description:

The clown Karandash (Pencil) and his dog go hunting, but nothing seems to go their way.

It stars the Soviet clown Karandash, who was then at the height of his fame.

This was the first puppet animation at Soyuzmultfilm to begin production, and one of the first to be released. The director wrote about the story in detail in his partly-published memoirs; the relevant text can be read here (in Russian).

The production was stressful, as director Migunov (together with mechanic Semyon Etlis) was forced to set up and build all the technical equipment for making puppet animation within the standard production period, despite the fact that this had never been done at the studio before. There were also unforeseen problems with making a mold or the puppets. Once they were finally cast, in latex, they turned out almost two times smaller than was expected after drying. Due to the time constraints, the picture was filmed without a single retake. Although Migunov was disappointed with the quality of the animated acting (done by Vadim Dolgikh), and with the film overall, the management was pleasantly surprised. There were some positive domestic and international reviews. Migunov wrote the script for a sequel, but decided to take a holiday to Yalta. When he came back, he felt unwelcome in the building, and he never again worked in puppet animation.