Uncle Fedya, His Dog, and His Cat

The film title screen.

Uncle Fedya, His Dog, and His Cat was adapted into the animated film trilogy with the same name by Studio Ekran.[5] Studio Ekran released three short films, Matroskin and Sharik (Russian: Матроскин и Шарик) in 1975,[6] Mitya and Murka (Russian: Митя и Мурка) in 1976,[7] and Mom and Dad (Russian: Мама и Папа) in 1976.[8] The series was directed by Yury Klepatsky and Lidia Surikova with the music composed by Anatoly Bykanov.[9] The films were narrated by A. Mikhailov with characters voiced by Victor Baikov, Svetlana Kharlap, A. Gorunova, A. Verbitsky, Z. Andreyeva, Y. Khromova.[5] Among the animators were Olga Anashkina, Boris Savin, A. Abadkina, N. Bazeltseva, Vladimir Kadukhin. These films are largely forgotten nowadays, put in the shade by the much more popular series created at the Soyuzmultfilm studio.[9]

Soyuzmultfilm made three films set in Prostokvashino, all directed by Vladimir Popov. However, only the first one, The Three from Prostokvashino (1978), is based on the book. The other two films, School Holidays in Prostokvashino (1980) and Winter in Prostokvashino (1984) have original screenplays written by Eduard Uspensky. He later incorporated some of those plots into his Prostokvashino novellas. All three films received critical praise and were very popular in the Soviet Union.[9] They were praised for their "realism", "recognizable characters and situations" and for the fact that they appealed to adults as well as children.[9] Oleg Tabakov's performance as Matroskin the Cat became especially famous.[9]

Uncle Fyodor (Russian: Дядя Фёдор), or Fedya for short ("Fedya" is a hypocorism of the Russian given name Fyodor) is the main character of the series. At the beginning of the first book he lives in the city with his parents Dima and Rimma. He likes animals, and often brings stray animals home to the disapproval of his mother who won't let him keep any pets. After meeting and yet another argument with his parents, he decides to leave home. At the end of Uncle Fedya, His Dog, and His Cat Fyodor's mother takes a liking to Matroskin the Cat.

Uncle Fyodor is voiced by Maria Vinogradova in Soyuzmultfilm's series.[10] His hair is blond in Ekran's films and red in Soyuzmultfilm's film series.

The voice actor Oleg Tabakov holding the painting of Matroskin the Cat, presented to him (2007).

Matroskin the Cat (Russian: Кот Матроскин, матрос lit. seaman) is an anthropomorphic cat. He has a very economical, sensible, and rational personality, and he looks for financial benefits in everything. He used to live in the capital with the professor who studied the animal language. From professor Syomin, Matroskin learned to understand and speak the human language. He also learned to read, write and count. Matroskin becomes the housekeeper and the farmer in Uncle Fyodor's house. He has many interests and skills, including accounting, embroidery, cooking, baking, sewing, singing, playing the guitar, and reading. He takes care of their home economics. He calls "Matroskin" his "surname". He likes to tease Sharik, but generally treats him well, although he is often upset by Sharik's "uselessness". Matroskin the Cat is voiced by Svetlana Kharlap in Ekran's films and by Oleg Tabakov in Soyuzmultfilm's series.[10]

Sharik (Russian: Шарик lit. small balloon) is an anthropomorphic dog. He is a good-natured stray dog, who had lived in the village before meeting Uncle Fyodor. He learned to speak from the same professor who taught the cat.[11] While guarding professor Syomin's country house, Sharik learned to speak because the professor was writing a Sighthound Dictionary. To Matroskin the Cat's utter disappointed, Sharik does not have many useful skills: he admits that he can only wash the dishes by "licking" them. However he follows the letter of the law, i.e. he has a passport, as opposed to Matroskin who claims that his paws and tail are his identity documents. He is voiced by Lev Durov in Soyuzmultfilm's series.[10]

Pechkin (Russian: Печкин, печка lit. oven), or Igor Ivanovich Pechkin, is described as a middle-aged man in a hat. He is the postman in Prostokvashino. He is extremely nosy and thinks that he has the right "to know everything" that is happening in the village. Pechkin is a comical character, who is always being outsmarted by the animals.[11] He is voiced by Boris Novikov in Soyuzmultfilm's series.[10]

Jack Grabbit[11] (Russian: Хватайка, tr. Khvatayka from the Russian verb хватать meaning "to snatch" or "to grab") is a small thieving jackdaw. He snatches everything that catches his eye, hides it in the cupboard, and then fiercely protects his "treasures", which is very inconvenient for Fyodor and his friends. Matroskin tries to teach him the human language, but Jack Grabbit only manages to learn one phrase: "Who's there?" Still Matroskin counts that as a success, because he thinks that a well-timed question asked behind the door could scare away the burglars. This idea backfires when Pechkin comes to the house while there's nobody in. After announcing: "This is Pechkin the Postmaster, I've brought your Murzilka magazine" he is being continuously asked "Who's there?" by Jack Grabbit. This conversation continues for a long time, leading to Pechkin's nervous breakdown, and afterwards Uncle Fyodor has to treat him with tea and candies. Jack Grabbit is voiced by Zinaida Naryshkina in Soyuzmultfilm's series.

Murka (Russian: Мурка, a female cat name lit. purry) is a red cow. After Matroskin starts to miss milk and decides to purchase a cow, he comes back from the service bureau with a cow that he names Murka. To Sharik's amazement, she eats all the curtains and potted flowers in their house. Fyodor eventually chains her up. Murka is a silly and spoilt animal, however she gives a lot of milk. In fact, Matroskin gets so much milk, that he fills every bucket, jar and even the fish tank with it. After soured milk starts leaking from the tap, he decides to buy a calf, but it turns out to be unnecessary because Murka gives birth to a black calf. They name him Gavryusha (Russian: Гаврюша hypocorism for Gavriil). At the end of Uncle Fedya, His Dog, and His Cat Murka reveals that she can use human language too. When Matroskin asks why she didn't talk before, she answers: "To you? What for?"