Crudely animated, though to be taken in-context of a rebuilding post-war cinema. Best shots are under the titles: a mysterious forest, a pillar with a human face. Afterwards, the illusion of magic is lost: the film's Kraków is unconvincing, the king's throne-room shoddy. Character animations range, though some a are well-done. The puppets have a style to them. The dragon, however, poses a problem, and is adequate at-best. His demise isn't well-handled and he comes off without much "personality". Meanwhile, politics surface in the character of an arrogant [Nazi] German knight who's come to slay the monster, but ends up getting spooked, fleeing up a tree, and then eaten; on his chest: a swastika. By the time the good cobbler kills the beast and marries the princess, we're glad it's over—and not because we hated the dragon. Under King Krakus is a historical curiosity, mostly.
Zenon Wasilewski, 1947
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