The Secret of the Third Planet

The Secret of the Third Planet (1981) is a beloved Soviet animated sci-fi you can watch online on iFILM. It's the end of the 22nd century, and young Alisa, her scientist father and the perpetually gloomy Captain Zelyony set off across the galaxy to gather rare animals for the Moscow Zoo.

The trip quickly turns into a mystery. Out among strange planets the crew befriends the giant, big-hearted Gromozeka, frees two long-lost space captains, and ends up with a talking bird named Govorun who's cleverer than he looks. Trailing them the whole way is the sinister Doctor Verhovtsev, guarding a secret of his own.

Director Roman Kachanov adapted Kir Bulychov's novel "Alice's Travels," and the film's dreamlike alien worlds, designed by artist Natan Lerner, still look like nothing else in animation. Fifty minutes long and endlessly quotable, it remains a high point of Soviet hand-drawn cinema. Stream The Secret of the Third Planet online on iFILM.