One of the several Czech cartoon series's aired by the BBC in the mid 1970s (along with 'Dorothy and her Parrot' and 'The Mole'), this was shown on weekdays in between Playschool and Jackanory. It was a simple tale of fearless, down-to-earth woodsman Boris, who worked as a lumberjack in the forest and was in love with the Emperor's daughter Mariana. Needless to say, the despotic monarch disapproved of the match but failed to prevent it, so devoted much time and energy to avenging himself on the lowly bearded woodcutter, but Boris's huge physical strength and his sharp wit always came out tops in the end. A story much approved of by the authorities of the then Communist Czechoslovakia (and, indeed, by many in the West as well), this was an age-old theme that both East and West enjoyed, of the little guy getting the better of the rich and powerful. Few people remember this great little cartoon nowadays- can I be the only one around here?!
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