Space Dogs (2019) - full transcript
Laika, a stray dog, was the first living being to be sent into space and thus to a certain death. A legend says that she returned to Earth as a ghost and still roams the streets of Moscow alongside her free-drifting descendants.
Once upon a time,
far out in the Earth's orbit,
a dead dog floated
in a space capsule.
The dog was called Laika,
and she had once lived
on the streets of Moscow.
Laika had been the first creature
to be fired into space.
But soon she lay dead in the capsule.
For months, the lifeless animal
floated through the darkness
like some cosmic flotsam.
And yet it seemed Earth
could not just surrender its dead dog
to the infinite cosmos.
With all her might, Earth drew her dog
ever closer to herself.
But as the capsule
finally touched the atmosphere,
the heat grew so enormous
that Laika's body was burned up.
At that very moment,
what had been a Moscow street dog
became...
a ghost.
According to a legend, Laika's ghost
had fallen to Earth like a comet,
and has roamed
the streets of Moscow ever since.
After the dog Laika
had burned up in the cosmos,
a rocket was launched in America
with a chimpanzee on board.
He had once lived
in the tropical rainforest of Cameroon.
One day he had fallen into a trap
and was sold to the US Air Force.
From then on, his name was:
Number 65.
Good evening,
the monkey is here for the party!
Number 65 had to complete
many months of training.
But during his first space flight
he got into a panic.
He tore the sensors from his body and
beat on the walls of the space capsule.
Be good.
Stop messing around, okay?
Come on, make a cheerful face.
Don't fidget.
The monkey, the monkey!
What a sweet monkey!
Good evening.
- Can I touch him?
Show me what a monkey does!
Do you remember your dance?
Show me how you clap!
Number 65 returned to Earth alive.
But the flight to the cosmos
had changed him.
At the very sight of the space capsule
he would fall into a rage.
This made this chimpanzee
unsuitable for future flights.
Easy now.
Easy now!
Slowly... Where's your hand?
Wait. This way with your hand.
Good boy. Well done.
We get dressed, so.
From then on,
he lived at the zoo in Washington DC.
But because he'd got so used to humans,
he kept away from the other chimpanzees.
Lonely and overweight,
Number 65 died of liver failure.
Good boy, come along, come along!
We're almost there.
Well done, little Buh!
Hello.
- Hello.
I'm glad to see you!
Can we get a photo?
Good evening,
dear audience and guests.
This evening
we're glad to receive a special visitor
who comes to us
from the distant country of Africa.
He's brought us
a very special show programme.
Let's welcome Buh the Monkey
with a big round of applause.
Whilst new chimpanzees
were being brought to America,
in Moscow, scientists
were going out onto the streets
to catch countless dogs.
For, since Laika's flight,
Moscow street dogs
were considered tough and courageous
like no other animal.
Thus the Space Age had finally begun
for the dogs of this city.
Only the strongest and bravest
Muscovite street dogs
were suitable for space travel.
They were taken to a secret place
far, far from the city gates.
The selection of dogs
was according to strict rules
that sounded like the commands
of a mighty king.
They were to be so brave
as to pass their training,
so obedient
that they might serve the people,
and so beautiful,
so fearless in their appearance,
that they should personify
the enchantment of heroic explorers.
After days in weightlessness,
the dogs slowly drifted off to sleep.
They circled their home planet
time and time again.
Alone the beat of their hearts
was transmitted to Earth as a signal.
But no one knew
what they had seen up there.
And no one wondered
what they might have dreamt about
in their space capsules.
Here, take the bone.
Take the bone.
Eat the bone at least.
I'll take the meat for my dogs.
They'll eat it up quickly.
If you don't want meat,
I'll give it to my dogs.
Then wait for the bone.
I'll find one more for sure.
If I find something interesting,
I'll give it to you.
But I don't think I'll find anything.
Yes, yes, my Burbakaka.
Come along, come along,
my little Limpy-Leg.
I don't need that.
After countless orbits of the Earth,
after weeks in stifling darkness,
only a few dogs returned to Earth alive.
The bodies of the dogs
resembled relics of a distant world
in which the secrets of the cosmos
were supposedly concealed.
Only a few weeks
after the dogs returned to Earth,
something began
that the scientists called ‘The Wedding’.
A female and a male
were locked in a cage together until
they had mated again and again.
A few months later, tidings of the birth
of the first cosmic children
spread throughout the land.
Their existence
was meant to prove to everyone
that the journey into the cosmos
was not harmful to living beings.
The dogs were presented
to famous personalities as trophies.
But none of them
ever returned to the streets of Moscow.
Anticipating the discovery of new worlds,
humans soon wished to fly to the stars.
But before they themselves ventured
on the long voyage,
two turtles should be the first
living beings to circle the moon.
It's a remarkable coincidence
that of all species,
this one was chosen.
Because humans once believed
that the Earth is a disk
and is borne
by a gigantic, cosmic turtle.
Perhaps this lunar flight
was meant to finally
put an end to this myth.
From up there, the two animals
were to see with their own eyes
that the Earth is round,
and not borne
by a huge member of their kind.
But the two turtles
never returned to Earth.
The space capsule
drifted off its calculated course
and was lost to mankind forever.
Left to themselves,
the turtles floated
through the endless depths
of the cosmos.
But perhaps the two creatures
found a new world
at the other end of the universe
that they might carry on their backs
throughout eternity.
Look how strong their shells are.
How many kilos can they bear?
I'll take it.
Up in the treetops,
high above the puppies,
lived a nightingale.
It sang so loud as if it wanted to
drown out all the sounds of this world.
It seemed as if its song was meant
to warn the puppies of impending doom.
But the nightingale's song was in vain.
Under the cover of night,
a human had come to this place
and placed poisoned meat here,
in front of the puppies' den.
far out in the Earth's orbit,
a dead dog floated
in a space capsule.
The dog was called Laika,
and she had once lived
on the streets of Moscow.
Laika had been the first creature
to be fired into space.
But soon she lay dead in the capsule.
For months, the lifeless animal
floated through the darkness
like some cosmic flotsam.
And yet it seemed Earth
could not just surrender its dead dog
to the infinite cosmos.
With all her might, Earth drew her dog
ever closer to herself.
But as the capsule
finally touched the atmosphere,
the heat grew so enormous
that Laika's body was burned up.
At that very moment,
what had been a Moscow street dog
became...
a ghost.
According to a legend, Laika's ghost
had fallen to Earth like a comet,
and has roamed
the streets of Moscow ever since.
After the dog Laika
had burned up in the cosmos,
a rocket was launched in America
with a chimpanzee on board.
He had once lived
in the tropical rainforest of Cameroon.
One day he had fallen into a trap
and was sold to the US Air Force.
From then on, his name was:
Number 65.
Good evening,
the monkey is here for the party!
Number 65 had to complete
many months of training.
But during his first space flight
he got into a panic.
He tore the sensors from his body and
beat on the walls of the space capsule.
Be good.
Stop messing around, okay?
Come on, make a cheerful face.
Don't fidget.
The monkey, the monkey!
What a sweet monkey!
Good evening.
- Can I touch him?
Show me what a monkey does!
Do you remember your dance?
Show me how you clap!
Number 65 returned to Earth alive.
But the flight to the cosmos
had changed him.
At the very sight of the space capsule
he would fall into a rage.
This made this chimpanzee
unsuitable for future flights.
Easy now.
Easy now!
Slowly... Where's your hand?
Wait. This way with your hand.
Good boy. Well done.
We get dressed, so.
From then on,
he lived at the zoo in Washington DC.
But because he'd got so used to humans,
he kept away from the other chimpanzees.
Lonely and overweight,
Number 65 died of liver failure.
Good boy, come along, come along!
We're almost there.
Well done, little Buh!
Hello.
- Hello.
I'm glad to see you!
Can we get a photo?
Good evening,
dear audience and guests.
This evening
we're glad to receive a special visitor
who comes to us
from the distant country of Africa.
He's brought us
a very special show programme.
Let's welcome Buh the Monkey
with a big round of applause.
Whilst new chimpanzees
were being brought to America,
in Moscow, scientists
were going out onto the streets
to catch countless dogs.
For, since Laika's flight,
Moscow street dogs
were considered tough and courageous
like no other animal.
Thus the Space Age had finally begun
for the dogs of this city.
Only the strongest and bravest
Muscovite street dogs
were suitable for space travel.
They were taken to a secret place
far, far from the city gates.
The selection of dogs
was according to strict rules
that sounded like the commands
of a mighty king.
They were to be so brave
as to pass their training,
so obedient
that they might serve the people,
and so beautiful,
so fearless in their appearance,
that they should personify
the enchantment of heroic explorers.
After days in weightlessness,
the dogs slowly drifted off to sleep.
They circled their home planet
time and time again.
Alone the beat of their hearts
was transmitted to Earth as a signal.
But no one knew
what they had seen up there.
And no one wondered
what they might have dreamt about
in their space capsules.
Here, take the bone.
Take the bone.
Eat the bone at least.
I'll take the meat for my dogs.
They'll eat it up quickly.
If you don't want meat,
I'll give it to my dogs.
Then wait for the bone.
I'll find one more for sure.
If I find something interesting,
I'll give it to you.
But I don't think I'll find anything.
Yes, yes, my Burbakaka.
Come along, come along,
my little Limpy-Leg.
I don't need that.
After countless orbits of the Earth,
after weeks in stifling darkness,
only a few dogs returned to Earth alive.
The bodies of the dogs
resembled relics of a distant world
in which the secrets of the cosmos
were supposedly concealed.
Only a few weeks
after the dogs returned to Earth,
something began
that the scientists called ‘The Wedding’.
A female and a male
were locked in a cage together until
they had mated again and again.
A few months later, tidings of the birth
of the first cosmic children
spread throughout the land.
Their existence
was meant to prove to everyone
that the journey into the cosmos
was not harmful to living beings.
The dogs were presented
to famous personalities as trophies.
But none of them
ever returned to the streets of Moscow.
Anticipating the discovery of new worlds,
humans soon wished to fly to the stars.
But before they themselves ventured
on the long voyage,
two turtles should be the first
living beings to circle the moon.
It's a remarkable coincidence
that of all species,
this one was chosen.
Because humans once believed
that the Earth is a disk
and is borne
by a gigantic, cosmic turtle.
Perhaps this lunar flight
was meant to finally
put an end to this myth.
From up there, the two animals
were to see with their own eyes
that the Earth is round,
and not borne
by a huge member of their kind.
But the two turtles
never returned to Earth.
The space capsule
drifted off its calculated course
and was lost to mankind forever.
Left to themselves,
the turtles floated
through the endless depths
of the cosmos.
But perhaps the two creatures
found a new world
at the other end of the universe
that they might carry on their backs
throughout eternity.
Look how strong their shells are.
How many kilos can they bear?
I'll take it.
Up in the treetops,
high above the puppies,
lived a nightingale.
It sang so loud as if it wanted to
drown out all the sounds of this world.
It seemed as if its song was meant
to warn the puppies of impending doom.
But the nightingale's song was in vain.
Under the cover of night,
a human had come to this place
and placed poisoned meat here,
in front of the puppies' den.