It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The animated "Zolushka" is a 1979 17-minute movie from the Soviet Union. The director is Ivan Aksenchuk and I believe he and his two writers did a good job with the base material by Charles Perrault here. Maybe hearing this French name, now you already know that this is a Cinderella version from over 35 years ago. I liked the way Cinderella looked and behaved and I think the stepmother and the two daughters bring in mostly comic relief and don't seem really evil which shows that this film is also aimed at younger audiences. But I do think it is also suitable for grown-ups. Maybe it is just that the original Cinderella story is so good, but I also think that the people who made this one added their own personal notes in here, which once again elevates the material. It also never drags during its slightly under 20 minutes. Really solid watch. Go check it out.

On my recent tape of Russian animation, I came across a nicely made Animated short called "Zolushka". Zolushka is based off of a Russian faery tale not unlike Cinderella. The only differences is that Zolushka is an orphaned peasant and the people she serves are a snobbish Czarina and her two spoiled rotten daughters. Poor Zolushka, things seem hopeless until she comes across the ghost of her mother that came to life from an old portrait that Zolushka kept with her in her working quarters. And like the Grimm bros. and the Roger and Hammerstein Cinderella stories, the ghost turns a pumpkin into a chariot, rodents into horses and salamanders into horsemen leading the chariot. She is given Diamond slippers instead of glass (makes a lot more sense too!). And if you read the tale (I know most have), you will know the rest of the story and smile at the end.Nice plot faithful to the original "Russian Cinderella-esque" story and lovely animation, especially the scenes of the motherly ghost that helps Zolushka and the festival scenes. Hopefully, you will eventually come across it if you are into Russian or Eastern European animation and animated short collections.