Soviet animation of the 20th century to check out (and some additional Eastern European toons)

A few months ago Jordan Mechner, whom you love and admire for game classics like Karateka, Prince of Persia and The Last Express, tweeted about watching the soviet Winnie-the-Pooh animation and loving it. In response, I promised to make a post about soviet animation I grew up with and could recommend for watching. With me being lazy this took a few months longer than I planned, but a promise is a promise. And I ended up adding animation from countries who were in one way or the other (as usual against their will) part of the soviet bloc and translated into Russian for soviet citizen consumption. Here’s a list of stuff you should consider watching.

The list will be mostly chronological according to the date of release, so anyone interested will be able to see how the animation changed and(/or -_-) improved with time. Also, even if there is a full English or other language dub of the animation, I would advise watching it with original voice acting and subtitles. I will post Wikipedia and YouTube links if there are available, although some might not have English page and subtitles. “(?)” After English title means that I haven’t found any “official” translation.

1947 (remade by the same people in 1975) – Конёк-Горбунок. The Humpbacked Horse. Wikipedia.

Good example of a Slavic fairy tale adaptation. Touches some grim topics, but maintains the lighthearted adventure spirit.

1950 – Когда зажигаются ёлки. When the new Year trees light up (?). Wikipedia.

Cute New Year-themed animation. Worth noting that New Year is a much more important holiday than Christmas for a lot of Eastern Europe.

1952 – Аленький цветочек. The Scarlet Flower. Wikipedia.

Russian variation on the Beauty and the Beast tale. Another example of a more “realistic” approach of that era.

1954 – Золотая антилопа. Golden antelope (?).  Wikipedia.

An adaptation of an Indian fairy tale.

1955 – Необыкновенный матч. Incredible match (?). Wikipedia.

Animation about two teams of toys, the stereotypical “good boys” and stereotypical “hooligans” having a football (or soccer, if you prefer) match. Had a sequel about water polo called Старые знакомые. Old Acquaintances (?).

1955 – Снеговик-почтовик. Snowman-mailman (?). Wikipedia.

Another New Year-themed animation. Kids write a letter to Ded Moroz (Father Frost, the Slavic Santa Claus) and make a snowman, who, they hope, will deliver the letter. And he does:).

1956 – Двенадцать месяцев. The Twelve Months. Wikipedia.

Another New Year animation, an adaptation of the Samuil Marshak fairy-tale.

1959 – Приключения Буратино. The Adventures of Buratino. Wikipedia.

An adaptation of The Golden Key, or Adventures of Buratino, Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy written variation on the Pinocchio tale.

1961 – Чиполлино. Cipollino. Wikipedia.

Adventures of the onion boy. A very famous character in these parts and a fun animation.

1964 – Дюймовочка. Thumbelina. Wikipedia.

Soviet adaptation of Thumbelina. Not one of my favourites, but several elements and lines from it has became classic.

1965 – Каникулы Бонифация. Bonifaciy holidays (?). Wikipedia.

Circus lion decides to get a holiday in Africa. Probably might get billed as “racist” today for a more stereotypical portrayal of Africans, but in USSR this was considered okay.

1965 – Вовка в Тридевятом царстве. Vovka in a kingdom far away (?).Wikipedia.

A tale about a lazy boy who wants everything getting done when he just wishes for it in a fairy tale land. One of the best known and loved soviet animated cartoons.

1965 – Рикки-Тикки-Тави. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Wikipedia.

A very nicely done adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling’s short story. Unlike the original story, the human family is native Indians, not British.

1965 – Заколдованный мальчик. The Enchanted Boy. Wikipedia.

An adaptation of The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by the Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf. A tale about a naughty boy who was hurting the farm animals and got cursed by a gnome-like creature for it. He becomes very small and goes on the adventure, which changes his perception of a lot of things in life.

1967 – Варежка. The Mitten. Wikipedia.

A rare example of a very nice looking soviet puppet animated feature. A short tale about the girl who really wants to have a dog, but her mother doesn’t let her. So she imagines her mitten to turn into a knitted dog and plays with it. Has no dialogue, so no problem with translation here.

1967 – Маугли. Adventures of Mowgli. Wikipedia.

Soviet adaptation of Kipling’s The Jungle Book, much closer to the original book, than the Disney version. Originally made as 5 animated shorts, later merged into a single animated feature (with some cuts made). Has a very distinct visual style. And I love it:).

1967 – Козаки. Cossacks. Wikipedia. Youtube.

A series of animated shorts about three Ukrainian cossacks who go on unlikely adventures. Animation style slightly changed with the second short and stayed pretty much the same since. Extremely popular and beloved in Ukraine.

1968 – Фильм, фильм, фильм. Film, Film, Film. Wikipedia.

Another almost completely dialogue-less animation, which can be safely watched without much need of translation. A funny animated cartoon satirising the filmmaking process in the USSR.

1968 – Малыш и Карлсон. Karlsson-on-the-Roof cartoons (?). Wikipedia.

While in most of the world Astrid Lindgren’s most famous work would probably be Pippi Longstocking, it’s the Karlsson-on-the-Roof, who got most love and attention in the Soviet Union (although, Pippi was pretty popular as well). Both the book and the cartoons were and still are hugely popular. Very good cartoons with stellar voice acting.

1969 – Крокодил Гена. Gena the Crocodile. Wikipedia.

I don’t know a lot of people who liked the Gena the Crocodile cartoons, however I also don’t know a single person who hasn’t heard about him and doesn’t know the songs used the cartoons. Gena the Crocodile and his friend Cheburashka were more popular as characters, which is why there is a new craze over them in Japan right now, with Japanese studios remaking the origin story and making new series with the characters.

1969 – Бременские музыканты. The Bremen Town Musicians. Wikipedia.

Hugely popular adaptation of Grimm’s fairy tale, Town Musicians of Bremen. Made on the rise of Rock music in Soviet Union (which was forbidden for a long time before), features the eponymous Town Musicians as a band of good-natured adventurers, who pose as rock stars. Had a sequel (and another recent one nobody cared about).

1969 – Ну, погоди!. Nu, pogodi!. Wikipedia.

Also usually known as “Soviet Tom and Jerry series”. Cartoons about The Wolf constantly trying to get The Hare for various reasons. Usually contain no dialogue, apart from the titular “Nu pogodi!” (“Well, just you wait!”) adressed to The Hare every time The Hare gets away (usually because The Wolf does something stupid). Tend to be less about cartoony violence humor, than Tom and Jerry.

1969 – Весёлая карусель. Fun carousel (?). Wikipedia.

A semi-regular (it was annual at the beginning) series. Each episode contained several short animated cartoons from different people. It’s too varied to pinpoint the best episodes, but the series are still known and loved throughout the former Soviet Union.

1969 – Умка. Umka. Wikipedia.

A very cute story about a little polar bear, who learns about the world around him and becomes friends with a human kid. Had a sequel with a slightly different tone and style.

1970 – Катерок. Little craft (?). Wikipedia.

Another cartoon which might get labelled as racist for a rather stereotypical portrayal of “natives”, even though it was, allegedly, criticized by the Soviet government for showing “how great it is to live in some far away land”. Mostly known for the song of those natives, singing about fun living on the island of “Chunga-Changa”.

1972 – Приключения Незнайки и его друзей. Dunno (?). Wikipedia.

Even though there were several animated cartoons (and a stop-motion animation) about the adventures of Dunno and his friends, I think it’s better to say that the character, the world and the books about the character were much much more popular. “Fun” fact – the series were originally considered to be written in Ukrainian, but due to heavy censorship on everything not Russian, it remained Russian apart from the very first book that had a Ukrainian version.

1973 – Щелкунчик. The Nutcracker. Wikipedia.

An adaptation of Hoffmann’s novelette The Nutcracker and the Mouse King and the Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, which was inspired by the story. Original version contains no dialogue.

1973 – Приключения Мюнхаузена. Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Wikipedia.

Very popular and funny adaptation of Baron Munchausen adventures in 5 animated shorts.

1974 – Крошка Енот. Little raccoon (?). Wikipedia.

An animated short about a little raccoon getting scared by his own reflection in the pond and learning that if you’re nice to somebody, they will be more inclined to be nice to you in return. Mostly remembered by the song about smiling.

1974 – Волшебник Изумрудного города. The Wizard of the Emerald City. Wikipedia.

Not very popular, as it was stop-motion animation (and yes, if you hadn’t noticed, Soviet stop-motion animation wasn’t particularly liked), but might be the easiest way to see how exactly does The Wizard of the Emerald City differ from the Wizard of Oz. As The Wizard of the Emerald City was originally a loose translation of  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Alexander Volkov, however later turned into something very different.

1975 – Кот Леопольд. Leopold the Cat. Wikipedia.

Famous series about the pacifistic cat and his constant troubles with two mischievous mice. Unlike Gena the Crocodile, the cartoons were as good as the characters themselves. Series changed voice actors and animation styles several times.

1975 – Ёжик и Медвежонок. Hedgehog and the bear toons (?). Author’s wikipedia entry.

Stories about the Hedgehog and his friend Bear by Sergei Kozlov has been animated in several completely different styles. The most famous and popular is, without a doubt amazing Hedgehog in the Fog. However, there were several others which are worth seeing. Tryam! Hello! is a more colourful toon with a popular song about clouds which inspired several others in the same style. And my personal favourite was When the stars fall, where Hedgehog and Bear clean stars from dust. It is also worth noting, that Sergei Kozlov was the writer for a very popular animated short Turtle and Lion sing a song.

1976 – Просто так. For no particular reason (?). Wikipedia. Youtube.

A very sweet cartoon about being good to each other and making gifts for no particular reason.

1976 – Котёнок по имени Гав. Cat by the name of Gav (?). Wikipedia.

A story in five episodes about a little siam kitten with an unusual name Gav (literally “Bark!”) and his puppy friend.

1976 – 38 попугаев. 38 Parrots. Wikipedia.

Ten cartoons about several animal friends from the jungle  thinking up some strange activities. The first cartoon, which gives the name to the series, is about counting the boa’s length in elephants, monkeys and parrots.

1976 – Осьминожки. Little octopi (?). Wikipedia.

A short comical story about two octopus-fathers mixing their hyperactive children.

1977 – Бобик в гостях у Барбоса. Bobik visits Barbos (?). Wikipedia.

When left alone at home with his owner going for work, Barbos decides to invite his friend, a stray dog Bobik, to his apartment and acts like he is the owner of the place, and his owner serves him.

1977 – Полигон. Polygon. Wikipedia. Youtube.

A dark in tone anti-war short which is less interesting in itself as it is for the animation technique used.

1978 – Трое из Простоквашино. Three from Prostokvashino. Wikipedia.

Highly popular series of cartoons based on the books of Eduard Uspensky. Adventures of a boy, a cat and a dog in the small village of Prostokvashino, where they find a vacant house to live in. Funny, great voice acting and wonderful writing.

1978 – Контакт. Contact. Wikipedia.

Probably one of the best examples of a more psychedelic animation from Soviet Union. A painter encounters a shapeshifting alien while taking a walk along the countryside. Has no dialogue and uses Speak Softly Love (Love Theme from The Godfather) (the Paul Mauriat arrangement, he was famous at the time for making music for Soviet TV), while the Godfather itself was banned in Soviet Union.

1979 – Летучий корабль. Flying ship (?). Wikipedia.

An adaptation of a Slavic fairy tale in a tone closer to The Bremen Town Musicians, that is – it works almost like a short rock opera. Mostly remembered and liked for the songs.

1979 – Кикос и другие мультфильмы Саакянца. Kikos and other cartoons by Sahakyants. Author’s wikipedia entry.

Robert Sahakyants was an Armenian animator with his animated shorts being famous for a very surreal stories, shapeshifting animation and clever puns. Kikos is the first prominent animation. However Who is going to tell a cock-and-bull story is a better example of his style, which made him famous. His later Wow, a talking fish! and Under the blue sea, under the white foam… are his most famous and loved animations. Although I also love his return to the Kikos-like storytelling in Fancy that, Maslenitsa!,which was his last light-hearted animation during the Soviet period.

1979 – Приключения капитана Врунгеля. Adventures of Captain Vrungel. Wikipedia.

Ukrainian made musical animated feature loosely based on the novel with the same name by Andrey Nekrasov about the misadventures of Captain Vrungel (first part of his last name “vrun” translates as “liar”, his character was probably influenced by Baron Münchhausen) and his crew during the international regatta. Very distinct animation style, quirky humour and a lot of memorable lines.

1980 – Пиф-паф, ой-ой-ой!. Pow-pow, ow ow ow! (?). Wikipedia.

An animated cartoon satirizing the theatrical production. Uses the simple counting rhyme and five distinct kinds of theatrical production to “adapt” it. Contains references to several famous theatrical productions, including the theme of Jesus Christ Superstar.

1980 – Капітошка. Kapitoshka. Wikipedia. Youtube.

Ukrainian animated short about a young wolf, who wants to learn how to be scary and strong like a “real wolf”, but suddenly meets a playful animated raindrop Kapitoshka (looking at Thumbelina name, this should probably be like Raindropila, but it sounds stupid -_-) who teaches him to be true to himself and understand fun. Originally made and voiced in Ukrainian, but was also translated into Russian for the soviet needs.

1981 – Великолепный Гоша. Incredible Gosha (?). Wikipedia.

A series of animated shorts about a very unlucky guy named Gosha, who constantly gets into all kinds of comical situations.

1981 – Пёс в сапогах. Dog in Boots. Wikipedia.

Animated musical adaptation of The Three Musketeers and a parody of the very popular earlier soviet film adaptation of the book. Coincidentally released the same year Japanese-Spanish animated series Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds, with the similar premise, started, although the series got to Soviet Union several years later.

1981 – Шиворот-навыворот. Upside-down (?). Wikipedia.

An animated short about a very sentimental and kind little devil in the land of devils. Had a sequel.

1981 – Раз ковбой, два ковбой… One cowboy, two cowboys… (?). Wikipedia.

Short and funny parody on the western genre (as in “wild west”). Has no intelligible speech, however all the babbling is based on English (and it is possible to hear real English words and sentences from time to time), to sound like a proper western.

1981 – Мама для мамонтёнка. Mother for the little mammoth (?). Wikipedia.

A very sweet cartoon about a little mammoth who got frozen during the ice age and survived. He wakes up during the modern age and everyone tries to help him find his mother. They think he is an elephant, so he decides to swim to Africa on an ice float. Song from this cartoon is often viewed as an unofficial hymn for orphan charities.

1981 – Ивашка из Дворца пионеров. Ivashka from the pioneers palace (?). Wikipedia.

A short about a very intelligent and witty pioneer Ivashka, who gets kidnapped by Baba Yaga into the world of folklore characters. However, he outwits them all.

1981 – Пластилиновая ворона. Plasticine Crow. Wikipedia.

One of the most beloved animated cartoons of the later Soviet period, with the last part But maybe, but maybe… being, probably, the second most loved claymation features. Three shorts with three distinct styles combined into one short feature. Composer Grigory Gladkov was the most popular children songs composer of the USSR.

1981 – Тайна третьей планеты. The Mystery of the Third Planet. Wikipedia.

Despite Kir Bulychev’s Alisa Selezneva being one of the, if not the most, popular kid/teen character of the USSR, The Mystery of the Third Planet was one of only two animated adaptations of her adventures. Personally, I never particularly loved this adaptation, preferring the books, but it was and still is very popular.

1982 – Жил-был пёс. Once Upon a Dog. Wikipedia. Youtube.

Very popular short based on an Ukrainian folklore. Dog gets kicked out of the house, deemed to old and useless to be a guard dog. He meets his old enemy Wolf, who makes a deal with him – he will help the Dog to get back, but the Dog will repay him later. Great animation and unforgettable voice acting.

1982 – Живая игрушка. Live toy (?). Wikipedia.

Little disobedient hare runs away from his family and gets caught by a little girl, who thinks of him as of a doll. Cartoon is clearly aimed at preschoolers and teaches them to listen to their parents and be careful with animals, but i always found the animation in it very cute.

1983 – Путешествие муравья. Ant adventure (?). Wikipedia.

Another highly praised and beloved animated short from Eduard Nazarov. Curious ant gets blown away from his ant hill home on a leaf and he tries to get home before it closes for night, while helping some other insects along the way and getting help in return.

1983 – Обезьянки. Little monkeys (?). Wikipedia.

A series of animated shorts about a monkey family of mother and her hyperactive monkey kids living in the Zoo, who constantly get into some kind of trouble.

1983 – Падал прошлогодний снег. Last Year’s Snow Was Falling. Wikipedia.

The most popular and beloved soviet claymation feature. Comical absurdist story about a Guy, who gets sent by his wife to get a New year tree. A spiritual successor to Plasticine Crow.

1983 – Замок лгунов. Liars’ castle (?). Wikipedia.

One boy lied all the time. Once he met a strange gentleman, who took him to the Liars’ castle, where everyone lied.

1984 – Домовёнок Кузя. Little domovoi Kuzya (?). Wikipedia.

Series of short stop-motion animations about a little mischievous domovoi by the name of Kuzya. As with most Soviet stop-motion animated features, it doesn’t look pretty, but is still popular and loved by many.

1984 – Сказка о царе Салтане. The Tale of Tsar Saltan. Wikipedia

Animated adaptation of a famous A. Pushkin poem and opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. You might know it by the famous Flight of the Bumblebee part.

1984 – Як Петрик П’яточкін слоників рахував. Petrik Pyatochkin counts elephants (?). Wikipedia. Youtube.

Ukrainian cartoon aimed at the preschoolers. Has a very peculiar animation with a lot of wide angled shots and a very memorable tune.

1984 – По дороге с облаками. Along the road with clouds (?). Wikipedia.

Another short which is probably more remembered for the song in it. However, I always found the cartoon to be very nice and liked the sequels.

1984 – Лікар Айболить. Doctor Aybolit. Wikipedia.

Probably, the funniest adaptation of children’s poems Aybolit and Barmaley by Korney Chukovsky from the same Ukrainian team, who made Adventures of Captain Vrungel. As such, it also contains some unconventional animation tricks and quirky humour.

1984 – Возвращение блудного попугая. The return of a naughty parrot (?). Wikipedia.

Series of animated shorts about a very adventurous parrot. Contains a lot of cultural references and then contemporary humour.

1985 – Про Сидорова Вову. About Vova Sidorov (?). Wikipedia.

Yet another funny short from Eduard Nazarov based on the humorous poem by Eduard Uspensky. Tells a story about a too well cared boy Vova Sidorov, who’s family follows him around to help him even when he is drafted into army.

1985 – Контракт. Contract. Wikipedia.

Short slightly psychodelic in nature anti-corporate sci-fi animation based on a short story by Robert Silverberg.

1986 – Крылья, ноги и хвосты. Wings, legs and tails. Wikipedia.

A very short satirical cartoon with a distinct animation. Very popular even with kids despite the more mature topics explored.

1986 – Приключения пингвинёнка Лоло. The Adventures of Scamper the Penguin. Wikipedia.

Animated feature about the life of penguins, co-production between Japan and Soviet Union. I personally don’t remember ever liking or even watching it in full, but it is worth noting it and also mentioning, that there was a heavily cut and censored US edit.

1986 – Следствие ведут Колобки. Investigation Held by Kolobki. Wikipedia.

Parody on the detective genre and more specifically popular soviet TV series Investigation Held by ZnaToKi.

1986 – Добро пожаловать!. Welcome. Wikipedia.

Paint-on-glass animated short loosely based on Dr. Seuss’ Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose. Animated by Aleksandr Petrov, who got famous in the late 90’s for his The Old Man and the Sea.

1987 – Ромка, Фомка и Артос. Romka, Fomka and Artos (?). Wikipedia.

Short animated series about three dog friends who go on the journey to find the owner of one of them.

1988 – Остров сокровищ. Treasure Island. Wikipedia.

Famous and beloved comical animated feature with live action elements from the same Ukrainian team, who made Doctor Aybolit and Adventures of Captain Vrungel. So even more quirky humour and unconventional animation tricks. Had a heavily cut and edited US release which should be avoided.

1986-88 – Приключения поросёнка Фунтика. Adventures of Funtik the Piglet (?). Wikipedia.

Cartoon in four episodes about the eponymous Funtik, who runs away from his cruel mistress and joins the small band of circus performers.

1989 – Большой Ух. Bigear (?). Wikipedia.

A strange creature with big ears and amazing hearing learns about the beauty of having other skills and helping each other.

As a bonus, the animation from Eastern Europe that was immensely popular in USSR:

1986 – Macskafogó. Cat city. Wikipedia.

Hungarian animated film, which was hugely popular in Soviet Union. Extremely fun mix of action and comedy, with lots of spy movie tropes. Apparently, enjoyed some success in other parts of the world too.

1957 – Krtek. Mole. Wikipedia.

Czech character who was very popular in Soviet Union. Usually has no dialogue, so it is easy to understand without any translation. Extremely adorable.

1964 – Bolek i Lolek. Bolek and Lolek. Wikipedia. Reksio. Wikipedia.

Two popular series of Polish animated shorts. Also contain no or almost no dialogue and as such don’t need translation.

1994 – Гагарин. Gagarin. Wikipedia. Youtube.

A Russian short about a caterpillar who wanted to learn how to fly. Seemingly influenced by Nazarov’s Ant adventure from earlier in this list (Nazarov was an art advisor on this short).

So here is the list. I’m sure I’ve missed some noteworthy entries, but this is mostly what I remember from my own childhood. Enjoy!