Soviet Winnie the Pooh cartoon
Wlahti sez, "Finnish public television channel one(YLE1) broadcast a couple of Soviet Era Russian animations of Winnie the Pooh last night. I watched both episodes that they broadcast, delighted to have found a bright spot after a completely rainy Midsummers vacation." Link (Thanks, Wlahti!)
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Heh I grew up on these.
Here is an "interesting" russian (with english subtitles) cartoon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkdklcGbojc
And yes,they actually showed this to little kids!
He's so verbose for a Bear of Very Little Brain!
Oh, that is so utterly charming. Eastern Europe had fantastic children's animation. (The Czech stuff in particular is absolutely wonderful.)
Ahhh ostalgie in full flow.
If you like this you have to check out "Nu Pogodi!". It is the Soviet version of Itchy & Scratchy (or looney tunes, anyway).
Youtube link
Incidentally, the Russian Winnie the Pooh is called Vinnie Pookh in Russian. He's more of a tragic character/sad-sack in the Soviet version ... makes the American Winnie look like an idiot patsy (think Forest Gump vs. Camus' stanger). The voice was done by the great actor Genia Leonov.
Oh wow, those backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous. Shows what you can do with some crayons, vs. millions in computer-generated animations...
We had new hardwood floor installed by a couple whose last name is Vinnikhan (they're Russian, but of Tatar extraction, I believe.)
Every time I talk with them, I have the hardest time remembering NOT to call them "Vinnipukh"...
Huh. In Soviet Russia, Christopher Robin is Piglet.
In general, it seems to me that Soviet-era cartoons were much more... I think "charming" is the right word... than their American equivalents. Sweet without (usually) being cloying. Violence is rare to non-existent; children who go off alone in the world invariably meet with helpful, friendly strangers. There are unfriendly postmen (Pervoklashina) and frustrated witches/maiden aunts (Cheburashka), but they are either frustrated in their scheming or converted into friends.
I love the Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry of my childhood - but all of my Russian friends have a nostalgia for the cartoons of their childhood that's almost painful. I'm a little jealous sometimes.
This is wonderful.
However, I really can't resist:
"Christopher has a secret, one that he mustn't tell
He's drawn up a contract with the devil in hell
Christopher was greedy, Christopher was bad
He sold his soul to satan, boy will he be sad
Christopher Robin has a familiar
Chrisopher had a vision, into the abyss he saw
Christopher Robin never wanted to die
The devil promised him sweeties, but the devil lied
Christopher Robin, his face wet with tears
I'm praying to Jesus, I hope that he hears
Christopher Robin, he does what he's told
Christopher's a darling, his heart glistens like gold
Christopher Robin, his soul is confused
Good and evil start to struggle and virtue loses
Christopher Robin, face to face with foe
All over the world he sees evil win and so
Christopher's on a journey, he shall not return
In life he liked praying, now he's gonna burn
Christopher Robin, he falls down the stairs
His nightshirt ripped open, his flesh torn and bear
Christopher Robin, he's confined in his bed
Locked up in the darkness, alone til he's dead
Satan is patient, he's always got time
Now Christopher's a patient, as he in hospital lies"
Christopher Robin, by Current 93 (Lyrics Download)
#8: thanks for reminding me. I'd forgotten that it was C.R. who went "Tut, tut, it looks like rain" rather than Piglet.
(Now if only I could figure out how to transcribe that so I can use it if I ever go to Russia and need to comment on the weather...)
These are brilliant!
#1 beat me to it. Hedgehog in the Fog is one of my all-time favorite animations. The director, Yuriy Norshteyn, brought to life an amazing tale of exploration and discovery, showing how our fears of the unknown and the excitement of discovery shape our childhood experiences.
It's such a pretty film. For those who'd like to know more, Wikipedia has a nice entry on it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog_in_the_Fog
Hedgehog in the Fog is AMAZING! (I always thought it was Czech, so thanks for the info)
Seriously, I studied animation, and some of the techniques in HitF still stump me, I don't know how they did it. It's beautiful and ingenious.
The animation in the OP is great too, but it doesn't have the gravitas of HitF IMO. I liked the animation and singing though :)
Hah! wikipedia just told me exactly how they did it :)
Wow oh wow... I'm still able to read most of the Cyrillic characters, and my interpretations and pronunciations are coming out pretty accurate. The "Vinnie Poogah" is fairly close to "Vinnie Pookh," which may be more accruate. But I'm happy I got that far. 8-)
Ya ne zanayo.........
...Holy frack! Pooh looks like Poo! ;-)
#8, thanks for the reminder. I didn't even realize when I was watching this last night. I guess I was focusing too much on the Finnish subtitles during the YLE broadcast and not giving enough attention to the storyline.
These are wonderful, and so are most of the comments here. I had no idea most of these existed! Mt. Head's comment, in particular, makes me want to hunt these up.
Hedgehog in the Fog! I gotta see it....
Ah! Here it is, I think:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkdklcGbojc
There were these children's movies produced in Russia by this director, Aleksandr Ptushko. His movie Sampo, a (not-cartoon) film adaptation from the Kalevala, was brought to the U.S., in chopped-up form, by Roger Corman as "The Day the Earth Froze" even though it had absolutely nothing to do with science fiction. It was probably one of the best movies ever shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000, goofy yes, but brilliant and imaginative. MST3K's Kevin Murphy has expressed his admiration of Ptushko's films. Unfortunately, it seems Sampo isn't available at all in the U.S. except in cut-up form.
I am somewhat surprised that after so many people mentioned Norshteyn's Hedgehog in the Fog, nobody mentioned his Tale of Tales
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tale_of_Tales
here are youtube links (three parts)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4U_xk6CKI0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNlzODWD5tw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ruqPZ66cnQ
(it doesn't have subtitles, but then again, I don't think it has any actual dialogue)
We watched these in my high school Russian language course. Seeing these videos now makes me sprout fresh acne with nostalgia.
The bear's little rhythmic chant is something that still crops up in my head if I'm spacing out in just the right way.
@ everybody:
U liked it? No wonder - it WAS NOT mass production.
My favorite Russian cartoon is an adaptation of the Musicians of Bremen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYkRUvh_rik
The music is great.
when i was in eighth grade russian class, we watched a few of these and thought they were hilarious. brings back memorieeeeeeeees