Merry Christmas to all of my readers who celebrate today!
I went to the local art gallery for a screening of Bolshoi’s Nutcracker today. It was magnificent! Today is a good day to listen to Tchaikovsky. Here’s my gift to you - Soviet animation and timeless music. Enjoy!
Nutcracker, directed by Boris Stepantsev (USSR, 1973)
In today’s installment of Weird Soviet Cartoons we have a cynical masterpiece - “Wings, Legs, and Tails”, dir. Alexander Tatarsky and Igor Kovalyov (1986). It’s one of those things everybody can quote.
FILM, FILM, FILM
dir. Fyodor Khitruk, 1968
Not quite as weird as FRU-89 which I posted in the previous Weird Soviet Cartoons episode, but still quite weird—in the best way possible. It’s one of so called “adult cartoons”, which didn’t mean sex cartoons back in the day, but just a cartoon that wasn’t made for little kids.
This one is truly iconic. It illustrates the process of creating a movie, from writing a screenplay to having it approved to design to filming to premiere. A true masterpiece in my opinion, and definitely a personal favourite of mine.
Next installment of Weird Soviet Cartoons brings us Investigation Held by Kolobki (1986). The title of this cartoon is an allusion to Investigation Held by Znatoki, a popular Soviet crime series.
This one is actually dubbed in English - enjoy. :)
I (finally) listed both Soviet Animation Artists books! I have two of these, one with the original dust jacket that folds out into poster, and the other without.
These books cover Soviet cartoons from 1925 to mid-70s. They include all of our favourites (Hedgehog in the Fog, Cheburashka, Winnie the Pooh, Nu Pogodi) and many, many more.
They’re listed in my Etsy shop: |
Soviet cartoons. Thumbelina, dir. Leonid Amalrik (1964)
10 June, 1936 is the day when the first and biggest Soviet animation studio, Soyuzmultfilm, was created! Basically all of Soviet cartoons were made under its wing.
There are so so so many amazing old cartoons, some are funny, some sad, some educational, some plain weird. I should post some of the more weird ones, oh you’ll see.
As always, all I want to do at New Year’s is watch old movies and cartoons. I have the impression that half of the country wants to do the same. 8)
Луч солнца золотого (Ray of the Golden Sun) from “On the Trail of the Bremen Town Musicians”, Soviet 1973 cartoon. Performed by Muslim Magomayev.
For context, I want to say that to this day, this song is a favourite among Russian ladies. It’s a personal favourite of mine, too. My ex sang it really well and I used to ask him to sing it like twice a week. %)
Illustration by Kirill Ovchinnikov