Just a note to say that I absolutely love what I've seen of Russian animation! I have a copy of Masters of Russian Animation which includes There Once Was a Dog, among many others equally good!! And, the Winnie the Pooh, Russian style, is really wonderful!

For those who like Westerns, are you familiar with Have Gun Will Travel? The hero, Paladin, travels the Wild West using his gun to help people. He lives the life of a gentleman in San Francisco in between adventures. Here is a link to one episode (the prominent sign for a production of Cyrano de Bergerac gives an idea of the plot): http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/categ ... 4mEmkAc2E#

You might notice a young Charles Bronson in the film....many famous stars made guest appearances in this cleverly written program.

Also, I cannot find it online, but, in an episode called "Alaska," the program features a very positive Russian character - he is a friend of Paladin's - they have been playing chess with each other by mail . He needs Paladin to help settle a land dispute, so Paladin goes to Alaska. The Russian is just a really nice guy - willing to work things out, kind to women, a good friend - but the evil new settlers are greedy, etc...A nice change of pace from the usual Russian bad guy! And, this program was produced during the 1950's!