Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf

In honor of the Oscars this Sunday I wanted to share another animated short nomination, Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. When you think of Peter and the Wolf the first thing that probably comes to mind is the music, I know when I was a kid i had one of those storybook records that told the story over the songs and BONGed when you needed to turn the page.

Sergei Prokofiev composed and wrote this version of the tale in 1936 for his son, arranged so that each character in the story is represented with it's own instrument.
The story is told through claymation and puppetry directed by Suzie Templeton for Breakthru Films. Templeton's version of the classic tale adds a bit of darkness to the somewhat jovial orchestration, through the lighting, color scheme and even the puppets themselves.

You can view the trailer here. You also may be interested in checking out some of Suzie Templeton's previous work, Stanley and Dog.