This is a wonderful film that was directed by Leonid Nosyrev (also known for "Laughter and Grief by the White Sea" and earlier films such as "Two Merry Ganders") in 1981. It takes place near the river of Ussuri, which is near Korea in the far east of Russia, making part of the border between Russia and China ( Read more... )

Phew! While I've been busy during the past few weeks, several new translations of Russian animation have been finished. I'll start by listing the ones by julia2night"How Hedgehog Changed His Coat" was directed in 1970 by Leonid Zarubin at Kievnauchfilm studio in what is now Ukraine. julia2night says "It's for very small children, I suppose ( Read more... )

Four years after her poetic film about ancient family grief, director Galina Barinova moved into the science fiction genre with this strange, engaging, nearly wordless film.

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The animation in Galina Barina's films is awe-inspiring. In this particular film, the methodical, smooth slowness of the movements, coupled with the innovative art direction ( Read more... )

"Bobik Visits Barbos" (1977, directed by Vladimir Popov):

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#5 and #6 from the "Nu, pogodi" series (1972, 1973, directed by Vladislav Kotyonochkin):

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Two films from the famous Russian online animation series, Masyanya (2000s):

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Continuing the theme of "Old Russia"...
"When the Sand Will Rise" is a film based on an ancient Russian ballad which opens a veil onto the world of old Slavic mythology and its heavenly gods. It is a traditional story of the struggle of good and evil, personified in images of the family and its destroyer, the werewolf. The art direction (by Galina ( Read more... )

Here's another excellent film that is newly-translated into English.

"About Crayfish" was directed by Valentin Olshvang in A-Film Studio in 2003. It is his third film (second if we don't count the short segment for "Optimus Mundus"). Previously, Olshvang had worked as art director for Yuriy Norshteyn in 2000, on the "Goodnight Children" film. He ( Read more... )

This Japanese-styled film (animator.ru profile) is the debut of Mariya Kuznetsova, made in 2007 at SHAR School-studio. Subtitles by me.

I don't know too much about either the director or the production of the film, but I like its music, story and about half of the art direction.

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Kolobok is a traditional Russian fairy-tale that is very similar to "The Gingerbread Man" (it existed earlier, though). "Kolobok" means "dough ball".

This 2006 film by Vladlen Barbè (animator.ru profile) shows that even the simplest of fairy tales can have a core of something very serious behind them. As such, although there is nothing "age- ( Read more... )

I subtitled this film (animator.ru profile) a long time ago, but only uploaded it online in May of this year. This is an adaptation of a story written by Ivan Turgenev in 1854 that is very well-known in Russia. The film was directed in 1987 by Valentin Karavayev (best known for the films starring Kesha the Parrot), using the cut-out animation ( Read more... )

I meant to make this post in June. Better late than never, I guess.

Here are some Soyuzmultfilm films from the 1940s that I subtitled. The first is "Elephant and Pug" (or "Elephant and Moska the Dog"), which was made in 1941. Directed by Lamis Bredis and Pantaleymon Sazonov, and based on Ivan Krylov's children's poem of the same name. It's about a ( Read more... )