17 min; no dialog; dir. Anatoly Solin / Multelefilm
A humorous history of the Olympic games, made in the context of the 1980 Moscow Olympics (see also Khitruk’s film Olympians and I. S. Aksenchuk’s The Grand Relay for other Russian treatments of this topic).
As Georgy Borodin notes, “Due to the time required to rework the script, the film’s production schedule was greatly compressed. This prompted Solin and Pshenichnaya to abandon backgrounds and celluloid and choose an unusual technology: the entire film was shot on sheets of “tracing paper” (the outline was drawn with a pen and colored with colored pencils), while the set design was simplified to a minimum and reduced to a few details that were drawn anew at every phase of movement.”
The film begins with an overview of the ancient Greek world: we see Poseidon in the water, Icarus attempting to fly, a temple surrounded by ruins and statues. The main narrative of the film is the rivalry between Ares and Hercules, who challenge each other to compete in a series of sporting events which Zeus sanctions by laughing at the pair. First up is a wrestling match, then a discus throwing competition, an archery competition, a chariot race, the long jump, a running race, a weight-lifting contest, and finally a boxing match. Funny things happen during each event – for example, the horses win the chariot race after Ares pushes Hercules then falls down himself. Zeus gets angry at Ares for cheating and throws lightning bolts at him at one point. Hercules wins the final event fair and square and Zeus awards him the victory. The film ends with Nike placing a victory wreath on his head and the spectators cheering, then erecting statues in his honor.
Animated Antiquity 
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