“We don’t have more than one Friday at a time,” she said.
“What a squalor!” the Black Queen snorted. “We have six, even seven Fridays a week!”
“Alice Through the Looking-Glass” (USSR, 1982)
This blog is about old postcards, book illustration, history and culture of Russia and the Soviet Union. I'm a long time collector, and this blog is 10 years old.
More you might like
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.
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. :)
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.
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: |
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.
The Mystery of the Third Planet is too good and makes too much sense to make it into #WeirdSovietCartoons; but believe me, a lot of weird stuff goes on during this 50 minute animation.
Screenplay by Kir Bulychov, directed by Roman Kachanov, score by Alexander Zatsepin (USSR, 1981)
Watch with English subtitles:
Soviet cartoons. Thumbelina, dir. Leonid Amalrik (1964)
I want to start this installment of #WeirdSovietCartoons with this earworm of a song performed by a sexy fish with Angelina Jolie lips.
“In The Blue Sea, In The White Foam” is weird in the best sense. There are walking fish, all sorts of crazy underwater creatures, and complete disregard for the laws of physics.
Armenfilm 1984, dir. Robert Sahakyants
Watch with English subtitles:
The Trusting Dragon (1988)
“Winter in Prostokvashino”, dir. Vladimir Popov (1984)