Mirror of Time, The
Entry updated 26 July 2021. Tagged: Film.
Russian animated film (1976; original title Zerkalo vremeni). Soyuzmultfilm. Directed by Vladimir Tarasov. Written by Anatoliy Korobkov and Vasiliy Livanov. Voice cast includes Lev Lyubetskiy and Mariya Vinogradova. 10 minutes. Colour.
Aboard a Spaceship, a boy (Vinogradova) and his father (Lyubetskiy) discuss Time and Time Travel, mentioning Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and H G Wells's The Time Machine (1895), as well as an old account of Central European villagers seeing the Battle of Waterloo in the clouds. These are animated – the King in the first looking like Henry VIII rather than Arthur – with the battle in the clouds being rationalized scientifically. This leads to the reveal that the spaceship houses a telescope and mirror which, when correctly positioned, collect light reflected ages ago from the Earth, so enabling historical events to be watched (see Time Viewer).
An impressive, visually appealing work – the bright, colourful animation is influenced by psychedelia, with even the titular submersible from Yellow Submarine (1968) making an appearance. [SP]
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