by Linda Kay

English Title: Tale of Moonlight

Directed by: Irina Gurvich

Synopsis: This sweet Russian animated short tells the tale of a playful kitten who goes in search of a light to replace a broken lamp.

Cartoon Cat: The little black kitten at the center of the story is introduced as being “black as night, because that’s how he was born.”

The kitten’s owner is an older male doctor who reads his newspaper by lamp light. When the kitten tries to get the man to play with him he jumps on the newspaper then leaps back, knocking the lamp off the table.

The kitten feels terrible about breaking the lamp and looks for a way to replace the broken bulb.

Spotting the moon rising on the horizon, the kitten hurries toward the satellite, braving scary statues and other unknown entities in the dark.

The kitten reaches the moon at the top of a large hill and climbs aboard.

As the moon rises into the sky it takes the kitten along for the ride.

It isn’t long before the kitten realizes the moon has no lamp and so he starts trying to catch the stars instead.

When the moon returns to the hill after going around the world, the kitten is now white and glowing!

As the kitten hurries home, he leaves a trail of light behind him.

Back at home, the old doctor is surprised to find his previously black kitten glowing brightly.

The man lifts the kitten by the scruff and brushes off the moon and star dust, funneling it into a glass by which he can now read.

The kitten starts to get playful again but eyeing the jar and remembering what happened before he changes his mind.

Final Mewsings: It’s very unusual for a kitten to feel guilty about anything!

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