Russia's Cartoons are Literally the greatest

I chose to compare Russian animated films, some that were from the 1990's onward, and others that were older. (1940's-1980's). The movies I watched were Tale of Tales, Hedgehog in the Fog, The Old Man and the Sea, and two excerpts from Little Long Nose, and Mowgli.

One of the similarities I saw comparing Tale of Tales and The Old Man and the Sea, was the use of animals. They seemed to use the animals as innocence. In Tale of Tales the animals get mad or sad when war rips their human friends away. They don't understand why. In The Old Man and the Sea, the old man catches a giant swordfish which he calls his brother. He says several times that he wishes he could be the fish in the water instead of up here. I think it also seems to be a part of Russian folk culture to use animals. In everything I watched there were animals.

I feel like the youth culture was very sad. In Tale of Tales, a boy is eating a green apple which symbolized life, hope, and potential, (according to the filmmakers)  and is dragged away dropping his apple to become a mini soldier. His mother seemed resigned, almost hopeless. Meanwhile, the youth culture in The Old Man and the Sea made the Youth Culture more independent. The young boy fed the old man, and wanted to spend time with him learning from his wisdom.

I loved how the animation in most of the films seemed like a painting come to life. Sometimes like in The Old Man and the Sea, the characters were a part of the moving painting. While in other times like in Vinni Pukh the characters seem to walk along the art while they themselves look different.

In Hedgehog in the Fog and Tale of Tales, both made during the Soviet Union, I feel like there was more music then action. In Tale of Tales, there were no words, and Hedgehog in the Fog had very little. Both seemed very dark and sad.

In Tale of Tales everyone just seems so depressed from the dancing couples whose husbands get taken away for war, to the letters they grab. The couples meet up again, when the husbands die from war, and the wives died from bombing. The war was very hard on Russia, they lost a lot of people.

Little Long Nose made in Russia in 2003, was so westernized it wasn't funny. It looked like it was made in America by Netflix. Also it didn't really have any big dramatic mood music. It was a fun fairy tale film. The earlier films were more about art and color, their animation styles changed dramatically.



The Old Man and the Sea. (1999)


Don't you hate it when you grab a golden map, and it turns out to be a baby? The worst. Tale of Tales or The Little Grey Wolf will Come. (1979) Under Soviet Union



Hedgehog in the Fog. Must I say more? (1975) Under Soviet Union



Vinni-Pukh is is the Russian version of Winnie the Pooh. This guy is so cute.