page_title: History of Russian animation
section_title: Soyuzmultfilm, 1964–1991
hierarchical_section_title: History of Russian animation / Soyuzmultfilm, 1964–1991
caption_attribution_description: English: A scene from a Soviet Animation film w:Adventures of Mowgli on a Russian postal stamp, 2012
context_page_description: The history of Russian animation is the film art produced by Russian animation makers. As most of Russia's production of animation for cinema and television were created during Soviet times, it may also be referred to some extent as the history of Soviet animation. It remains a nearly unexplored field in film theory and history outside Russia.
context_section_description: In the following years many animators turned away from the conveyor method of production and developed their own distinctive styles and approaches. The number of titles rose through the mid-1960 into the 1970s and 1980s, up to fifty per year. Mini-series and anthologies became common, while the amount of feature films decreased dramatically.
  Director Boris Stepantsev was known for experimenting a lot. Among his films was another postmodern comedy Vovka in the Far Far Away Kingdom (1965), the paint-on-glass animation Song of a Falcon (1967), the highly popular Karlsson-on-the-Roof dilogy (1968–1970) that made use of xerography and The Nutcracker adaptation (1973) that presented a familiar story without a single spoken word.
  Some patriarchs also joined the new wave. Ivanov-Vano was appointed an artistic director of the puppet division where he made a number of stop motion/cutout films inspired by Russian folk art, like Lefty (1964) that addressed lubok, Go There, Don't Know Where (1966) that used elements of rayok and skomorokh theatre, The Seasons (1969) based around Tchaikovsky's two character pieces, presented as a combination of Dymkovo toys and lace, and the award-winning The Battle of Kerzhenets (1971) where frescos and icons came to life.
  Another well-respected old-timer Boris Dyozhkin launched a popular series of short comedy films about two teams that competed in various sport disciplines such as football, hockey, skiing, boxing and so on. It ran from 1963 to 1981 and was notable for fast-paced slapstick synchronized with music.
  Among the most political animators were Fyodor Khitruk whose satire The Man in the Frame (1966) was cut by censors and Andrei Khrzhanovsky whose surrealist film The Glass Harmonica (1968) was shelved for many years. On the other hand, Khitruk's Boniface's Holidays (1965), Film, Film, Film (1968) and the Winnie-the-Pooh trilogy in particular became an instant success among both kids and adults.
  Roman Kachanov made numerous films for children. He started with puppet animation such as A Little Frog Is looking for His Father, The Mitten and, most famously, the Cheburashka series that turned Cheburashka into one of the iconic characters of Soyuzmultfilm. In his late years he switched to traditional animation with the feature science fiction film The Mystery of the Third Planet (1981).
  Adventures of Mowgli mini-series by Roman Davydov was released from 1967 to 1971. Just like Winnie-the-Pooh, it was not conceived as a reaction to the Disney's The Jungle Book (even the first episode was developed simultaneously) and followed the original plot closely, appearing more adult and spiritually closer to the book. In 1973 the shorts were combined into a 96-minute feature.
  The rising popularity of the industry started drawing people from other areas. Vasily Livanov, originally an actor, finished animation courses and directed several experimental pictures. Yet his biggest success was The Bremen Town Musicians (1969), an animated musical film heavily influenced by rock and roll and hippie cultures. The first part was directed by Inessa Kovalevskaya who also abandoned her position at Goskino to work on animated musicals. After she left the project, Livanov directed the sequel by himself. The three main characters were voiced by the leading Soviet pop singer Muslim Magomayev.
  1969 saw the birth of Russia's most popular animation series Well, Just You Wait! directed by Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin. These seemingly simple miniatures about a wolf chasing a hare through Soviet-style cartoon worlds owe a great deal of their popularity to the quality animation, varied soundtrack and cunning subtexts built into their parts. The original series ran from 1969 to 1993. During the mid-2000s an unsuccessful attempt to reboot the series was made.
  Also in 1969 a long-running animated anthology series Happy Merry-Go-Round was founded by Anatoly Petrov and Galina Barinova. Each episode combined several short experimental films by the beginning directors like Leonid Nosyrev, Valery Ugarov, Eduard Nazarov, Gennady Sokolsky, Garri
caption: Adventures of Mowgli on a Russian stamp
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