Watch Ma-ma

"Ma-ma" is a foreign film musical based on the folktale "The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids." The film was directed by Elisabeta Bostan and shot in three languages: Romanian, Russian, and English. It featured Lyudmila Gurchenko as Rada the goat and Mikhail Boyarsky as Titi Suru the Wolf. The dancers in the film came from the Moscow Circus and the Bolshoi Ballet Company.

The film's opening breaks with tradition by showing the actors putting on their costumes and makeup in the dressing room. They are shown rehearsing and even acknowledging the camera and audience. This sets the tone for the surreal quality of the film where the actors portray humanized versions of their animal characters, donning only wigs with animal ears and fake tails to show the physical animal traits of their characters. They also adapt animal speech patterns into their singing parts, such as Titi Suru the Wolf's tendency to howl certain notes.

The animals live in a small, cheerful village where the children play outside together. Titi Suru the Wolf lives in a shadowy tower overlooking the village. The Wolf, his friends the Donkey and the Lynx, and his nephew the Little Wolf cause anxiety in the villagers when they venture out. Only Rada, mother of the goat family, is unperturbed.

Rada leaves her five children at home to attend a village festival, instructing them to only open the door to her voice. Unbeknownst to her, one child sneaks out and follows. While Rada is away, Titi Suru comes by the house several times. Finally, he is able to imitate Rada's voice and the children let him in. He kidnaps two of the children, including the one returning home from following Rada. Although the other villagers make attempts at confronting the Wolf, only Rada is able to defeat him by throwing him into icy water. She then reunites her family.