The very first cartoon in the world. The first Soviet cartoon. History of Soviet animation

Traditionally, on Saturdays, we publish for you the answers to the quiz in the “Question - Answer” format. We have a variety of questions, both simple and quite complex. The quiz is very interesting and quite popular, we are simply helping you test your knowledge and make sure that you have chosen the correct answer out of the four proposed. And we have another question in the quiz - Based on which Krylov fable, Vladislav Starevich made one of the first domestic cartoons in 1913.

• A. “Quartet”
• B. “The Crow and the Fox”
• C. “The Cat and the Cook”
• D. “Dragonfly and Ant”

The correct answer is D. Dragonfly and ant

Yes, yes, don't be surprised! It was in 1913 that “ Joint-Stock Company Khanzhonkov” made a cartoon based on Krylov’s immortal creation, duplicated it on different languages and was successfully shown throughout Europe))) Everything is as it should be: a silent black and white film, the music of a pianist behind the scenes...

“Did you know that this fable actually refers to an ant and a grasshopper? Yes, yes, a grasshopper, or as it is also called, a filly. The point is that in spoken language XVIII - early XIX centuries, the word dragonfly served as a general name for different insects: that was the name of both the grasshopper and the dragonfly... It’s interesting that in ancient illustrations for this fable you can find images of a grasshopper.”

Animator Vladislav Starevich

Vladislav Starevich was born in 1882 in the city of Vilna (modern Vilnius) into a family of Lithuanian Poles.
Since childhood, Vladislav has been interested in studying insects and photography.
After graduating from high school, he served as an official.
In 1910, Starevich decided to film documentary about horned stag beetles and their battles for the mate. However, with the lighting required for filming, the males, alas, stopped fighting. Then Starevich made dummies from the shells of the stags and filmed the scenes frame by frame. As a result, the world's first puppet animation film was created, entitled “The Beautiful Lucanida, or the Fight of the Horned Horned Beetles” (“Lucanus Cervus” - translated from Latin as “Stag Beetle”). The film had a pseudo-romantic plot about the love of a longhorn beetle for the queen of horned beetles, the beautiful Lyukanida, and the jealousy of her stupid and rude husband, the king. The libretto for this supposedly romantic plot, voiced over the video by the distributors, was done with great humor.
Khanzhonkov recalled:
“His first production, made according to his own script, was a 230-meter-long picture called “Beautiful Lucanida” or “War of the Horned Men with the Barbels,” released in March (in the new style in April) 1912.

The picture made everyone who saw it not only admire it, but also think about the ways it was staged, since all the roles in it were played by beetles. This was the first example of volumetric animation, which was then unknown either here in Russia or abroad. It was not drawings that were taken, but miniature figures - artificial beetles, made with delightful verisimilitude. For each frame, the beetles had to be given a special position, and sometimes even an expression.”
The film enjoyed great success among Russian and foreign viewers until the mid-20s. The stop-motion technique of puppet animation was completely unknown at that time, so many reviews expressed amazement at how such incredible things could be achieved by training insects.

Thus, the London newspaper Evening News wrote about the film: “How was all this done? No one who saw the picture could explain it. If the beetles are trained, then their trainer must have been a man of magical imagination and patience. That the characters are beetles is clearly visible upon careful examination of their appearance. Be that as it may, we stand face to face with an amazing phenomenon of our century ... "

Not only for little ones, but also for adult viewers. Drawn fairy-tale heroes come to life on the screens, luring you into a world of exciting adventures. In life, moving things do not occur. But animations allow you to turn a set of static pictures into a moving image.

The art of cartoonists gives the viewer the opportunity to temporarily forget that he is not dealing with reality, but with a fairy tale.

Since ancient times, animators have used a variety of images to obtain the desired effects, with the help of which puppet or painted images came to life. Technology is definitely important. But the artist’s intention, script and idea have much more to do with it. A character in an animated film is finally born when the animators endow it with individuality and character. These principles, which originated at the dawn of hand-drawn cinema, are also characteristic of modern animation.

Animation masters see their task as conveying to the audience eternal concepts that, unlike technologies, do not change over time. Heroes whose behavior is driven by the desire for justice and goodness still look at the viewer from television screens. Evil must be defeated, and love and friendship will surely triumph.

Features of modern animation

Today, almost every creation in the world of animation is the result of the use of computer technology. Very rarely are characters now sculpted from or drawn on transparent film. The use of computer animation allows us to create characters with extremely high image clarity. Such heroes are able to move like a person. Plastic movements and special effects bring animated films closer to reality.

One of the strongest trends in animated films is the desire for extreme naturalization. But some animation masters believe that the desire to give the film the utmost verisimilitude is a dead end, because the viewer perceives not so much the realism of the details of the picture, but artistic image, created on the screen. It is the fairy-tale, unreal world that attracts the attention of young viewers.

Over the past two decades, three-dimensional animation has emerged and developed. The use of 3D technologies in the production of cartoons became possible only after computer technology reached a new level.

Images that create the illusion of a three-dimensional world allow you to create complete image, which strives for extreme realism.

And yet, today's animation masters very often strive to deliberately stylize 3D graphics as hand-drawn. This can be explained by the confrontation of two trends, one of which represents the old school of animation, and the second expresses

Well, who doesn't like cartoons? Now the industry has developed to such an extent that cartoons have such special effects and graphics that it is sometimes difficult to remember old “flat” films with poor quality drawing, without all kinds of effects, such as 3D. Modern children will never understand what a cartoon with plasticine characters about a crow with cheese means, what simple short cartoons with faded colors and slightly muffled voices of the characters mean, and there’s nothing to say about filmstrips!

The history of animation is another stage in the development of cinema, because from the very beginning, cartoons were considered a separate film genre. This happened despite the fact that cartoons have less in common with cinema than with painting.

We owe our cartoons to Joseph Plato

Like any other history, the history of animation and animation has had its ups and downs, shifts and long stagnations. However, what makes it interesting is that the production of cartoons has developed almost constantly and continues to do so to this day. The history of the origin of animation is connected with the estate of the Belgian scientist Joseph Plateau. He is famous for creating a toy called the strobe light in 1832. It is unlikely that our children would play with such a toy. modern world, but the children of the 19th century liked such entertainment. A drawing was applied to a flat disk, for example, a running horse (as was the case with Plateau), and the next one was slightly different from the previous one, that is, the drawings depicted the sequence of actions of the animal during a gallop. When the disk spun, it gave the impression of a moving picture.

First cartoonist

But no matter how hard Joseph Plato tried to improve his setup, he failed to create a full-fledged cartoon. He gave way to the Frenchman Emile Reynaud, who created a similar device called a praxinoscope, which consisted of a cylinder with the same step by step drawings like in a strobe light.

This is how the history of animation began. Already at the end of the 17th century, the Frenchman founded a small optical theater, where he showed comic performances 15 minutes long to everyone. Over time, the installation changed, a system of mirrors and lighting were added, which, naturally, brought the world closer to such a magical action as a cartoon.

Animation continued to develop in France for the first decades of its life, along with theater and cinema. Emil Kohl was famous for his excellent acting performances, but still animation captivated him more, and in 1908 he “drew” his first cartoon. To achieve realism, Kohl used photographs and sketched objects from life, but still his brainchild looked more like a comic book in motion than a film.

Theater choreographer - founder of animation in Russia

Concerning Russian figures in the field of animation, they took cartoons to a new level, now there were dolls in the role of heroes. Thus, in 1906, the first domestic cartoon was created, with which the history of animation in Russia began. choreographer Mariinsky Theater, edited a cartoon, actors which became 12 dancing dolls.

The short film, recorded on 1.5 cm wide film, turned out to be too labor-intensive. For three months, Alexander ran from the camera to the production itself so often that he even rubbed a hole in the floor. Shiryaev’s dolls don’t just move above the surface like ghosts, they jump, spin in the air, and perform incredible movements, as if they were alive. Famous historians and animators still cannot unravel the secret of such activity of the characters. Whatever you say, the history of Russian animation is a complex and serious matter, so even the most advanced specialists do not always manage to fully understand the principles of operation of a particular device.

Vladislav Starevich - a bright “character” of Russian animation

The history of the creation of animation is associated with the names of French scientists and directors. Vladislav Starevich was definitely " White crow"among these foreigners, because in 1912 he came up with a real 3D cartoon! No, the history of Russian animation has not yet reached the point where people thought of wearing special glasses, this man created a long-lasting puppet cartoon. It was black and white, strange and even scary, because you can make beautiful characters with my own hands it was a little difficult.

This cartoon was called “Beautiful Lyukanida, or the War of Horns and Longhorns.” The most interesting thing is that Vladislav Starevich used insects in his work, which was not accidental, because he loved these creatures very much. It was with this person that meaningful cartoons began, because Starevich believed that a film should not only entertain, but also have some kind of subtext. And in general, his films were conceived as some kind of teaching aids on biology about insects; the animator himself did not imagine that he would create a real work of art.

Starevich did not stop at “Lyukanid” alone; later he created cartoons based on fables, now they began to resemble some kind of fairy tales.

The history of Soviet animation began in 1924, when at the currently unpopular Kultkino studio, a few artists produced a huge number of hand-drawn cartoons. Among them were “German affairs and affairs”, “ Soviet toys", "An Incident in Tokyo" and others. The speed of creating one cartoon has increased significantly; if previously animators spent months working on one project, now the period has been reduced to 3 weeks (in rare cases more). This was done thanks to a breakthrough in technology. Artists already had flat templates that saved time and made the process of creating a cartoon less labor-intensive. The animation of that time gave the world a huge number of cartoons that are of great importance not only in Russia, but throughout the world.

Alexander Ptushko

This person also contributed to the development of our animation. He is an architect by training and also worked in the field of mechanical engineering. But when he got to Mosfilm, he realized that creating puppet cartoons was his calling. There he was able to bring his architectural skills to life, and also helped create a good technical base at the most famous film studio in Russia.

He became especially famous after creating the cartoon "The New Gulliver" in 1935. No, this is not a superposition of text on the plot, this is some kind of reshaping of “Gulliver’s Travels” in the style of the USSR. And what is most important and new in Ptushko’s activities is that he was able to combine two completely different directions in the film industry: cartoons and acting. Now the emotions of dolls, mass participation, activity appear in cartoons, and the work done by the master becomes obvious. The history of animation for children with kind and beautiful characters begins with Ptushko.

Soon he becomes the director of the new cartoon studio “Soyuzdetmultfilm”, but for some reason he leaves his post after some time, and all that is known about his cartoon activity is that it ended. Alexander decided to devote himself to films. But in his further film works he used the “tricks” of animation.

Walt Disney and his "donation"

It turns out that the history of animation in Russia was built and pieced together not only by Russian researchers, scientists and just cartoon lovers; Walt Disney himself gave the Moscow Film Festival a whole reel of high-quality film with everyone’s favorite cartoon about good old Mickey Mouse. Our domestic director was so impressed by the smooth and imperceptible change of frames and the quality of the drawing that he realized that we wanted the same! However, in Russia so far there have been only puppet shows with, to put it mildly, unpresentable toys. In connection with the desire for improvement, a studio was created, known to all Soviet and post-Soviet children - Soyuzmultfilm.

"Soyuzmultfilm" - nostalgia corporation

In 1935, our animators realized that it was time to change something in the life of hand-drawn pictures, it was time to throw out these old dolls and start doing serious things. The unification of several small studios scattered throughout the country began to create larger-scale works; many critics argue that the history of animation begins from this moment in our country. The studio's first works were rather boring, as they were devoted to the development of progress in Europe, but by 1940 specialists from Leningrad had moved to the Moscow Union. However, even after this, nothing good happened, since the war began, all organizations had a clear goal - to raise the patriotic spirit of the people.

The post-war period saw a sharp rise in the level of cartoon production. The viewer saw not the usual change of pictures and not the usual dolls, but realistic characters and interesting plots. All this was achieved through the use of new equipment, already tested by American comrade Walt Disney and his studio. For example, in 1952, engineers created exactly the same camera as at the Disney studio. New methods of shooting were created (the effect of three-dimensional images) and the old ones were brought to automaticity. At this moment, cartoons take on their new shell; instead of meaningless children's “movies,” educational works with some kind of subtext appear. In addition to short films, full-length cartoons are produced, such as “ The Snow Queen" In general, the history of animation in Russia begins with the creation of Soyuzmultfilm. For children in those days, even small changes were noticeable and even the shortest films were appreciated.

1980-1990s

After experiencing a change in direction in animation soviet cartoons starting to get better from the end of 1970. It was in that decade that such a thing appeared famous cartoon, like “Hedgehog in the Fog,” which was probably watched by all children born before the 2000s. However, a special rise in the activity of animators was observed in the 80s of the last century. At that time, the famous hand-drawn film by Roman Kachanov “The Secret of the Third Planet” was released. This happened in 1981.

This picture won the hearts of many children of that time, and adults did not hesitate to watch it, to be honest. In the same year, the famous “Plasticine Crow” was released, marking the arrival of a new animator, Alexander Tatarsky, at the Ekran studio. A few years later, the same specialist creates a cartoon “ back side Moon,” the name of which tempts you to find out what is there on the other side of the Moon?

But plasticine is just “flowers”, since in Sverdlovsk, which actively took part in the country’s animation activities, hand-drawn films were created using glass. That’s when the glass artist became famous. Among such glass drawings is “The Tale of a Little Boat,” released in 1985.

The end of the 1980s is marked by sharp and rough strokes in drawing, poor image quality and general blurriness, this is easy to notice in the example of “Koloboks are conducting the investigation.” This fashion was like a disease that spread throughout the world of Russian animation; only a few artists got rid of the habit of sloppy drawing, although it can be called a separate style, as in painting.

In the 90s, Russia began to cooperate with foreign studios, artists signed contracts and, together with foreign specialists, created full-length cartoons. But still, the most patriotic artists remain in their homeland, and with their help the history of animation in our country continues.

Animation today

After the collapse Soviet Union Not only was a crisis blossoming in the life of the country, but also in the life of animation. It seemed that the history of animation for children, as well as for adults, was over. The studios existed only through advertising and rare orders. But still, at this time there were works that received awards (“The Old Man and the Sea” and “ Winter's Tale"). Soyuzmultfilm was also destroyed; the management sold all rights to the cartoons and completely destroyed the studio.

But already in 2002, Russia used a computer for the first time to create animation, and even despite the “troubled” time in the history of animation, the work of Russian animators was occupied places of honor at world competitions.

In 2006, the production of cartoons resumed in Russia, “Prince Vladimir” and “Dwarf Nose” were released. New studios are appearing: “Melnitsa” and “Sunny House”.

But it turned out that it was too early to rejoice, since 3 years after the release of the last famous films, a dark period of crisis began. Many studios closed, and the state stopped promoting the development of Russian animation.

Now many domestic studios produce beloved cartoons, sometimes the stories do not fit into an hour-long film, so you have to draw 2-3 or even more parts. So far, no failures are expected in the history of animation in Russia.

Whatever you say, even adults love to watch cartoons and sometimes do it more attentively than their young children, and all because modern cartoons are bright, interesting and funny. Now they cannot be compared with puppet shows, where cockroaches and other insects participated. Nevertheless, any level to which the history of Russian animation has “climbed” is important, because each of them led to perfection.

Soviet animation is exactly that part popular culture, which the USSR could rightfully be proud of.

The history of domestic animation began in St. Petersburg, at the beginning of the 20th century, when in 1908 the first “experience” was obtained by the choreographer of the Mariinsky Theater, Mr. Shiryaev. His puppet cartoons are still a mystery to art critics; the figures against the background of motionless scenery not only move, but also jump.

Pioneer of Russian animation for a long time was considered the world-famous biologist Viktor Starevich. In 1912-1913, he made a series of puppet cartoons “featuring” insects. His most famous cartoon is “Beautiful Lyukanida, or the War of the Barbels with the Horned Horns.” After the revolution, Starevich left the country, and animation in the USSR found its use only in the early 20s in propaganda cartoon videos.

The first hand-drawn Soviet animation appeared in the mid-20s. And by the end of the 20s - early 30s, graphic artists at the Kultkino studio were producing the most memorable Soviet animated films of that period. The works of animators Ivanov-Vano “Rink” (1927) and Khodateev “Organchik” (1933) are the first serious sources of Soviet animation.

Of course, director Alexander Ptushko is considered a recognized master artist standing at the origins of Soviet animation. World famous he received in 1935 after filming the first full-length cartoon in the USSR, “The New Gulliver,” which successfully combined animation and feature films. Soon Ptushko headed the first Soviet animation studio, Soyuzdetmultfilm. Even when he devoted himself entirely to cinematography, he used animation in films for special effects.

In the 40s and 50s, during the heyday of socialist realism in the USSR, truly masterpieces of hand-drawn animation were produced at Soviet studios. All the cartoons were so realistic that little viewers perceived them as “children's movies.” Soviet animation of that time is not just beautiful, it is highly moral and carries enormous educational power. "Cat house", " ugly duck", "Kashtanka", "Naughty kitten", "Moidodyr", " The Scarlet Flower", "The Snow Queen" - all new generations of children enjoy watching these cartoons, which are in no way inferior to the products of the Disney film studio.

During the thaw period from the mid-50s, Soviet animators devoted themselves to experiments in full. There is a lot of avant-garde, symbolic secular animation coming out. The most famous cartoon made in a similar manner is “Cloud in Love” (1959), animators Karanovic and Kachanov.

At that time, hand-drawn animation was mixed with cut-out animation in combination with puppet animation. And I must say that this range of technology is somewhat difficult for children to perceive.

In the 60s, the famous Soviet cartoon “Mitten” by Roman Kachanov was released. A puppet cartoon in which a knitted mitten turns into a real puppy, thanks to the love of a little girl, could not leave either children or adults indifferent.

And in 1967, Kachanov made a puppet cartoon about Gena the Crocodile, which literally “exploded” with popularity among the Soviet children’s audience and continues its victorious march to this day. Children of our time love Crocodile Gena and Cheburashka just as much as they did almost 50 years ago.

One of the most outstanding animators Soviet period Fyodor Khitruk is recognized. He worked in different genres and styles, produced cartoons for children and adults and gave many generations of children the inimitable Winnie the Pooh, whose image eclipsed all foreign analogues with its character.

In Soviet animation, the most significant figure is still the artist Yuri Norshtein. His cartoons “Hedgehog in the Fog” (1975) and “The Overcoat” (1981 to this day) are the gold fund of world animation.

And, of course, to this day in domestic animation, having eclipsed all records of popularity in terms of views and circulation, the first place is occupied by the animated series “Well, wait a minute!” (60s-80s), the result of the creative union of animator V. Kotenochkin and screenwriters A. Khait and A. Kurlyandsky.

A huge part of the success of Soviet animation is the merit of famous Soviet actors. In the voices of Yanina Zheimo, Andrey Mironov, Anatoly Papanov, Vasily Livanov, Oleg Tabakov, Evgeny Leonov, Alisa Freindlich, Oleg Anofriev, Alexander Kalyagin, Vladimir Vysotsky, Gennady Khazanov, Klara Rumyanova, Olga Arosyeva, Mikhail Kazakov, Vyacheslav Nevinny, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan and others meters of Russian cinema, the most notable characters of Soviet animation are voiced.

Victoria Maltseva

On June 10, 1936, the largest studio in the USSR was created animated films"Soyuzmultfilm". Then it was called “Soyuzdetmultfilm”, and it was renamed “Soyuzmultfilm” in August 1937.

Whatever one may say, the best cartoons of Soviet childhood can be safely called the work of the Soyuzmultfilm studio. Over the years of its existence, it has released a huge number of cartoons for every taste, which we show to our children and never tire of watching ourselves. In addition, most cartoons contain many secrets and details that are noticeable only to the most attentive. Let's get to know them.

Post sponsor: Cartoons for every taste.

Winnie the Pooh

The first film adaptation of the book about Winnie the Pooh belongs to the Walt Disney Studio: in the early 60s, several episodes were released about the funny little bear and his friends. Before starting work on the domestic Winnie the Pooh, Fyodor Khitruk had not seen the Disney version.

However, he wanted to move away from the images that were depicted in the book, to create his own, new and original characters. Of course, he succeeded. Everyone who has seen both the Disney and our versions clearly speaks out in favor of the latter.

It is curious that initially Winnie the Pooh was very shaggy, his ears looked a little “chewed”, and his eyes were different sizes. At first, artists made Piglet look like a thick, appetizing sausage. A lot of different bear cubs and piglets were drawn before the characters acquired the appearance we are familiar with.

By the way, in the second and third series, the drawings of the characters were simplified: the black “glasses” on Winnie the Pooh’s face acquired clear outlines, and Piglet’s rosy cheeks began to be indicated by a single red line. While working on the cartoon about Winnie the Pooh, Fyodor Khitruk did not know about the existence of animated films about the funny bear from the Disney studio. Later, according to Khitruk, Disney director Wolfgang Reiterman liked his version. At the same time, since Soviet cartoons were created without taking into account the exclusive film rights owned by the Disney studio, their showing abroad was impossible.

Baby and Carlson

Soviet cartoon "Kid and Carlson" directed by Boris Stepantsev, based on the story Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren, which appeared on television in 1968, was enthusiastically received by both young and adult viewers.

In total, two episodes about Carlson were released: “Kid and Carlson” (1968) and “Carlson is back” (1970). Soyuzmultfilm was going to make a third one, but this idea was never realized. The studio archives still contain film that was planned to be used for filming a cartoon based on the third part of the trilogy about the Kid and Carlson - “Carlson Plays Pranks Again.”

If you watch the cartoon about Carlson very carefully, you will notice the following detail: at the beginning of the cartoon, when the Kid is crossing the road, an Air France advertisement is visible on a bus passing by.

The detectives from the cartoon about the adventures of the pig Funtik are very similar to the underwear thieves from the cartoon about Carlson. In addition, the Soviet parents of Uncle Fyodor from Prostokvashino are very similar to the Swedish parents of the Kid.

Leopold the Cat

The Soviet animated series about Leopold the cat and the hooligan mice pestering him was filmed on Creative association"Screen" from 1975 to 1993. At the time of the creation of the animated series there was no art workshop yet. Therefore, the first two episodes (“The Revenge of Leopold the Cat” and “Leopold and gold fish") were not drawn, but were made using the transfer technique.

Small details of characters and scenery were cut out of paper and placed under glass. After each frame, the details moved a tiny distance, which created the illusion of movement. Further episodes of the cartoon were realized using hand-drawn animation.

The creators of the cartoon spent a long time racking their brains over the name of the main character. The authors really didn’t want to call him too simply - “ordinary” Barsik or Murzik. According to their plans, the name had to sound beautiful and at the same time be easy to pronounce.

There is a version according to which the good-natured and charming cat was named by the son of the scriptwriter Arkady Khait. While working on the plot of the cartoon, the boy tried to do two things at once: follow the adults and watch “The Elusive Avengers” on TV. The name of White Guard Colonel Leopold Kudasov, one of the heroes of The Elusive Ones, gave rise to the idea of ​​naming the cat the same. Hooligan mice are also not nameless, as many people think. The plump gray rodent is called Motey, and the thin white animal is called Mitya. However, in the cartoon the mice are never called by name.

Cheburashka

The Soviet cartoon about Cheburashka was filmed by director Roman Kachanov based on the book by Eduard Uspensky, or rather, according to their joint script. And although Uspensky wrote 8 stories about Crocodile Gena, Cheburashka and their friends, a total of 4 episodes were made.

The cartoon image of Cheburashka, known today - a cute creature with huge ears, large trusting eyes and soft brown fur - was invented by cartoonist Leonid Shvartsman. This is exactly how he first appeared in Roman Kachanov’s cartoon “Crocodile Gena” (1969) and won the hearts of children and adults.

According to the preface to the book by Eduard Uspensky “Crocodile Gena and His Friends,” Cheburashka was the name given to the defective toy that the author of the book had in childhood, depicting an unprecedented animal: either a bear cub or a bunny with big ears.

According to the book, the author's parents claimed that Cheburashka is an animal unknown to science that lives in the hot tropical jungle. Therefore, in the text of the book, the heroes of which, as the writer claims, are Uspensky’s own children’s toys, Cheburashka really appears to readers as an unknown tropical animal.

In one of his interviews, Eduard Uspensky said that he once came to visit a friend who had a little daughter. At the time of the writer’s visit, the girl was trying on a fur coat, which was dragging along the floor. “The girl kept falling, tripping over her fur coat. And her father, after another fall, exclaimed: “Oh, I screwed up again!” This word stuck in my memory and I asked what it meant. It turned out that “cheburahnutsya” means “to fall.” That’s how the name of my hero appeared,” the author admitted.

Three from Prostokvashino

The animated series “Three from Prostokvashino” based on the story by Eduard Uspensky “Uncle Fyodor, the Dog and the Cat” was directed by Vladimir Popov. A total of three episodes were released. Much of what is in literary source, was not included in the cartoon, but the popularity of the film adaptation was several times greater than the popularity of Uspensky’s story.

The work on creating the screen images of the cartoon “Three from Prostokvashino” was divided between production designers at the request of director Vladimir Popov. The image of Galchonok did not work out for a very long time. Therefore, everyone who entered the artist’s room at Soyuzmultfilm was asked to draw this character. The artist Leonid Shvartsman, who came up with the cartoon Cheburashka, even had a hand in its creation.

Uncle Fyodor is the only type for which the team that worked on the creation of the cartoon “Three from Prostokvashino” never came to a common decision. Therefore it screen image changes a lot from episode to episode. Such a move, which is unacceptable from the point of view of Western animation, was accepted in our country completely calmly.

By the way, Matroskin’s cat could have been named Taraskin. The fact is that when Eduard Uspensky wrote his story, he wanted to name this character by the name of Anatoly Taraskin, an employee of the film magazine “Fitil,” but he did not allow the use of his name. True, he later regretted it and admitted to the writer: “What a fool I was! I regretted giving my last name!”

Wait for it!

"Wait for it!" - this is not just an animated series, it is a real legend on which more than one generation has grown up. In 1969, “Well, wait a minute!” was a government order. Officials decided to give our answer to Disney cartoons and allocated a fairly serious budget. The customers' demands were limited to a request to do something funny.

With this request, the management of Soyuzmultfilm turned to famous comedians Alexander Kurlyandsky, Arkady Khait, Felix Kamov and Eduard Uspensky.

The creators of the cartoon had a lot of controversy about episode 12 famous cartoon, when the Wolf finds himself in the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Ramses. It was even assumed that the Egyptian government might protest in this regard. But everything worked out.

In the animated series “Well, wait a minute!” amazing music selection, which uses popular recordings from Western and Soviet stage. But they were never specified in the cartoon's imprint. It was not accepted then.

The music that plays during the credits is the title track “Well, just wait!” - called Vizisi (" Water skiing") and was published on a collection of Hungarian pop music by Melodiya in 1967. Its author is a Hungarian composer named Tomás Deák.

fell last year's snow

As composer Grigory Gladkov mentioned during his performance in the humorous program “Around Laughter,” the cartoon “Last Year’s Snow Was Falling” had the original working title “Fir-trees, sticks, thick forest,” and the main character in it was the janitor from “The Plasticine Crow.” Then the visual concept of the main character was finalized, as was the title of the film.

The role of the narrator in the cartoon “Last Year's Snow Was Falling” was originally planned to be given to Lia Akhedzhakova. She even voiced the cartoon, but director Alexander Tatarsky didn’t like it. As a result, both roles - the man and the storyteller - were given to Stanislav Sadalsky.

Sadalsky, who voiced the roles of the man and the narrator in the cartoon Last Year's Snow Was Falling, was not listed in the credits. Shortly before the release of the cartoon, the actor was detained in the restaurant of the Cosmos Hotel with a foreign citizen, after which a denunciation followed to the chairman of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company S.G. Lapin. As a punishment for communicating with foreigners, it was decided to remove the actor’s last name from the credits.

The cartoon “Last Year's Snow Was Falling” could not escape the close attention of censors. “At the delivery of “Snow,” I was in a pre-heart attack state,” recalled the cartoon director Alexander Tatarsky. “They told me that I was disrespectful to the Russian people: you have only one hero - a Russian man, and he’s an idiot!..”