Ascended Fan Nickname: In Georgia, the name Tovlis Gunda is the colloquial name for the short, much like how Pac-Man is called "Comecocos" in Spain. Tovlis Gunda* something along the lines of "the balls of snow", i.e. a three-ball stack of snow means "snowballs" in English, and has since become the vernacular for a snowman. The 2018 remake goes by the name Tovlis Gunda, making the name official.
Due to Georgian Film Studio's animated output being poorly catalogued in the digital age (along with most Soviet-era media), nearly every Georgian cartoon including I'll Return as the Rain was hit with a lack of unavailability. Home video of any kind for Soviet media was scarce, and it would not be until the late 1990s that anything would be published; but the damage was already done.
Every single copy of I'll Return as the Rain published on the internet consisted of poor quality, to the point where on a first time watch it's impossible to tell what's going on in several scenes. This was due to being sourced from homemade 2004 telecines, a time when videos had to be compressed in order to be downloadable at slow internet speeds. For the longest time, the only way to watch the short (and in good quality) was to catch it on TV.
This would all be subverted in October 2019, as it was announced by Georgian Film Studio's current form that I'll Return as the Rain along with other Georgian animated shorts would be rescanned and digitally restored with the assistance of the original cinematographer Violeta Karosanidze. After 35 years, the short finally has a accessible (and watchable) avenue.
The Merch: Thanks to becoming one of the most popular shorts in Georgia, I'll Return as the Rain has since been the source to various memorabilia in both past and current. There exists dolls and plushes of Guda-Guda, several books based off of the short, crayons, a commercial for TBC Bank depicting the characters long after the original short took place, and a stage play.
No Export for You: Outside of Russia, I'll Return as the Rain has never seen a release outside Eastern Europe. In fact, it was virtually unknown to the outside world until 2009, when Japanese illustrator Satoru Otuka, who's also a enthusiast for Eastern European media wrote a blogpost on his website about the cartoon along with other Georgian ephemera. This was the first ever writeup on I'll Return as the Rain. Up to that point, there was nothing written about the short except for YouTube uploads.
The Other Darrin: Despite it clearly sounding like it, this is subverted. With the exception of some scenes every single line from Guda-Guda was rerecorded by N. Kvashali (the voice actor for both versions) under a deep voice for the Russian redub.
Voiced Differently in the Dub: Guda-Guda's voice in the 1986 short's Russian redub was changed into a Simpleton Voice which applies to the musical segments. This causes... quite the contrast when Guda-Guda sings with the girl, whose voice hasn't been changed.
What Could Have Been: According to a interview from the camera operator Violeta Karosanidze, I'll Return as the Rain was originally going to have a continuation in the form of another short. This didn't even make it past pre-production, as Georgia's films were still under a arduous Soviet process and the production was vetoed by the Moscow censors.
Karosanidze: ...By the way, Gogi [Kasradze] really wanted to shoot a sequel. However, it never got made because during the Soviet era, everything was approved in Moscow and the short was not allowed to proceed production.
As of 2024, I'll Return as the Rain remains the first and only Georgian short on TV Tropes that has been given a page.
with the assistance of the original cinematographer Violeta Karosanidze. After 35 years, the short