Tale about the Lost Time (Russian: Сказка о потерянном времени, romanized: Skazka o poteryannom vremeni) is a 1964 Soviet fantasy comedy film directed by Aleksandr Ptushko.

[1][2] The protagonist, third-grader Petya Zubov, is first shown as a lazy boy who is wasting time.

Once upon a time, four evil wizards, whose main mission in life is to do bad to people, realize that they are old and cannot work the way they used to.

To do this they must find a few young lazy children to collect time that is spent ineptly, and then use it to make and eat flatbread.

After seeing his class and introducing himself as his own grandfather, he goes to the city, where he tries himself in various adult roles, which end in failure because he is not well-versed in anything.

Lacking money, Petya decides to go with his dog to the forest where no humans have ever set foot.

Entering the empty house, he talks to the magic cuckoo clock and gives it water, which the wizards never did.