# The Lost Letter (1945 film)

The Lost Letter (Russian: Пропа́вшая гра́мота, Propavshaya gramota), or A Disappeared Diploma, is a 1945 Soviet animated film directed by the "grandmothers of the Russian animation", Brumberg sisters, and Lamis Bredis. It is the first Soviet traditionally-animated feature film. It was produced at the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow and is based on the 1832 story with the same name by Nikolai Gogol. The creators of the film managed to convey national Ukrainian color and to recreate the magical, fantastic atmosphere peculiar to works of the writer. Also, for a more realistic style of dance in the Zaporozhets and the Cossack, Igor Moiseyev was involved.

## Plot

On a hot August day, a messenger sends the Cossack to the capital with the diploma, meant for the queen, tucked away under his hat. On the road he strikes up an acquaintanceship with a loose Zaporozhet. During a break in their journey, the new friend told the Cossack that he sold his soul to a devil and waits for payment. At night the Cossack didn't go to bed, deciding to take the role of lookout. As the night darkened, the place they rested grew progressively as the devil came, took away the cossack's horse, and the queen's diploma with her. It was necessary to look for to the devil in order to retrieve the Cossack's items, but the devil was lost in the wood, Furthermore, it became clear that these woods were overflowing with evil spirits. Soon the Cossack found himself in the presence of many minor devil spirits and the evil witch-like entity who was controlling them. He challenged her to a card game in order to get his horse and the queen's diploma back. Despite the queen's cheating, he caught her and beat her, winning in the end, being able to leave with all of his things. In the morning the Cossack said goodbye to the acquaintance and, without further stops, rushed off to St. Petersburg.

## Creators

| | English | Russian |
| Directors | Lamis Bredis Zinaida Brumberg Valentina Brumberg | Ламис Бредис Зинаида Брумберг Валентина Брумберг |
| Directors' assistants | K. Apestina Ye. Novosel'skaya Ye. Golovanova T. Fyodorova I. Kul'neva Ye. Shilova | К. Апестина Вы. Новосельская Вы. Голованова Т. Федорова И. Кульнева Вы. Шилова |
| Scenario | Zinoviy Kalik Zinaida Brumberg Valentina Brumberg | Зиновий Калик Зинаида Брумберг Валентина Брумберг |
| Art Directors | Yevgeniy Migunov Anatoliy Sazonov | Евгений Мигунов Анатолий Сазонов |
| Decorative artists | B. Suteyeva G. Nevzorova V. Valeryanova I. Troyanova O. Gemmerling V. Rodzhero | Б. Сутеева Г. Невзорова В. Валерйанова И. Троянова О. Геммерлинг В. Роджеро |
| Animators | Pyotr Repkin Y. Popov Aleksandr Belyakov Tatyana Fyodorova Boris Dyozhkin Nina Mindovskaya Nadezhda Privalova Tatyana Basmanova Gennadiy Filippov Lamis Bredis N. Fyodorova Roman Davydov Faina Yepifanova | Пётр Репкин Ю. Попов Александр Беляков Татьяна Фёдорова Борис Дёжкин Нина Миндовская Надежда Привалова Татьяна Басманова Геннадий Филиппов Ламис Бредис Н. Фёдорова Роман Давыдов Фаина Епифанова |
| Camera Operators | Nikolai Voinov Yelena Petrova | Николай Воинов Елена Петрова |
| Composer | Serafim Vasilenko | Серафим Василенко |
| Sound Operator | Nikolay Prilutskiy | Николай Прилуцкий |
| Sound Engineer | Valeriy Popov | Валерий Попов |
| Artistic Administrator | Aleksandr Ptushko | Александр Птушко |
| Voice Actors | Mikhail Yanshin Boris Livanov Sergey Martinson Leonid Pirogov | Михаил Яншин Борис Ливанов Сергей Мартинсон Леонид Пирогов |
| Narrator | Vasiliy Kachalov | Василий Качалов |

## Video

In the mid-nineties, Studio PRO Video (together with the best Soviet animated films) and the Soyuz studio let out videotapes with this animated film.
In the 2000s, the animated film is released on DVD by Soyuz studio.