When a rich old lady dies, despite having numerous relatives, she leaves all her money to her pet bulldog. The dog begins a life of indulgence. With the millions he has inherited he eats fabulous food, wears tailored doggy suits and smokes expensive cigars. The dog goes to all the high-class parties and ignores all of his old doggie friends. He also lives in a fancy house and has a fancy car that takes him to the races and to nightclubs where he drinks and dances.
Eventually the bulldog joins the millionaire’s club. The millionaires are bankers. They teach him that peace is not profitable. The bulldog is elected to congress. Eventually, with crooked money, he becomes a senator.
“The Millionaire” was released in 1963 and was directed by Vitold Bordzilovsky and Yuriy Prytkov. It is a Soviet cold war propaganda cartoon showing the decadence of Capitalism. At less than ten minutes long, the film is short and to the point.
There are a lot of nuances in this little film. For example, when the bulldog drinks too much he dances on all fours and pees in public. This shows that even those with money revert to their animalistic selves when they overindulge. The bankers are expressed as devils with sneering smiles. In fact, there are a lot of hidden innuendos and stereotypes in the film. The fact that the pet is a bulldog has some symbolism as well. The bulldog could mean stubbornness and making oneself the judge and jury of an issue. A part of the ruling class so to speak. But, as the film indicates, in the end, even a dog is just a dog underneath.
The fact that reference is made to both the House of Representatives and the Senate shows that the film is aimed squarely at America. The film indicates that America is Capitalistic, and that Capitalism is bad. Themes shown are greed, arrogance, aggression, entitlement, money means power, and just about every negative expression of a Capitalistic system.
Despite the completely overt trashing of Americans, the film is actually well made. There is some really good artistic expression and clever techniques involved in the animation. The dialogue is short but rhythmic. It is an intelligent film but with a rather offensive message. Even as an American I could see humor in some of the film’s viewpoint. For the record, not all American’s are Capitalists and just about every society has its good points and bad points.