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The world of animation is much bigger than it might appear to us at first glance. We are all familiar with the films we grew up with, but Hollywood wasn’t the only place that produced great cartoons… Poland, Japan, Russia, China and Europe all have their own traditions and a rich history of animated film making. Animation Resources’ archive contains many foreign films that are rarely seen in the United States. We feature a sampling of interesting animation from around the world in each Reference Pack.
HD VIDEO:
Adventures of Mowgli ep05: Return To Mankind
Roman Davydov / Soyuzmultfilm, Russia / 1971
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In this Reference Pack, we’re concluding Roman Davydov’s series of films based on Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. The story was broken into five short films, which were produced by Soyuzmultfilm between 1967 and 1971. In 1973, the five films were trimmed and merged into a single feature film, and in 1998 it was released in America in a dubbed version narrated by Charleton Heston. Over the next several Reference Packs, we will continue to share the five shorts with their original soundtracks. Although the dialogue is in Russian, if you are familiar with the books or the Disney version, you’ll have no trouble following along.
Davydov’s first film was produced independently of Disney’s Jungle Book and was released the very same year. They make an interesting subject for comparison and contrast. Disney’s version relies heavily on the personalties of the voice actors, rather than the characters in the story itself. It’s funnier, tending towards being goofy at times, and takes a relatively light-hearted pass at the story. Davydov’s version couldn’t be more different. It follows the book more closely, seriously addressing the themes of death, duty and the meaning of being a human being.
This time we are presenting the fifth episode, titled "Return To Mankind". Here is Wikipedia’s synopsis of the action:
Mowgli is now the head of the wolf pack. He spies women from the village gathering some water, and is confused about why he feels differently about them than he does the jungle folk. The time has come for Mowgli to repay his arch-enemy, the tiger Shere Khan, for breaking the peace truce during the drought. To slay him, Mowgli devises a plan to trap him and his bumbling majordomo Tabaqui in the ravine using the buffalo herds. The plan fails when Shere Khan leaps to a high place, but Mowgli is hot on his tail. After a short brawl, Mowgli is able to finally put Shere Khan’s law-breaking habits to an end by dislocating his skull. Peace returns to the jungle, and the time comes for the flowering of love. Mowgli bids farewell to all his animal friends. It is time for him to leave the pack and go back to the man village where he belongs.
We hope you have found this five part feature film useful in your work. We will begin serializing another Russian feature in our next Reference Pack.
MP4 Video File / HD / 19:58 / 985 MB Download
SD VIDEO:
Mr. Wolf
Viktor Gromov / Soyuzmultfilm, Russia / 1949
Victor Gromov was an actor and animation director who served as assistant director on The Humpbacked Horse (1947) [see Reference Pack 041 August / September, 2021]. After World War II ended, Russia began isolating itself from the West, and this film, titled "Mr. Wolf" is a product that reflects the political spirit of the time. It is based on a satirical play by Evgeny Petrov called "The Island of Peace".
Mr. Wolf is an American war profiteer. After making a fortune supplying the military during wartime, he becomes disenchanted with war and becomes a pacifist. The wars and rumors of wars offend his sensibilities, so he packs up his fortune, purchases an isolated island, and declares it "the island of peace". Mr. Wolf’s family is weak and don’t share his altruism nor his enthusiasm for his island home. A pair of newspaper reporters who are spying on Mr Wolf find oil on the island, and report back. Soon capitalists from all over Europe are rushing to the island to claim the oil as their own. Mr. Wolf discovers the oil and he and his family rush to stake their claim. But a group of robber barons has beat them to the punch, holding them at gunpoint. Mr. Wolf is unarmed and ill prepared to defend his oil well. His family chastises him for his pacifism and weakness. But Mr. Wolf has secretly stashed away an arsenal in a safe, and he arms his whole family. A radio message seeking help goes out and is answered by the Russian Navy. Mr. Wolf sees the error of his ways and declares that from then on, the island of peace will instead be used as a Soviet army and air force base.
Stylistically, this film is very interesting. It resembles post-War Columbia cartoons very closely. But there is no way that Soviet animators would have access to American cartoons during this period. The move toward graphic simplification must have been happening concurrently in Hollywood and at Soyuzmultfilm. This transfer is very rough, and the frames aren’t cleanly separated, but I think you’ll still be able to get inspiration from the way the characters move and act in this film.
MP4 Video File / SD / 10:06 / 166 MB Download
SD VIDEO:
Peter And Little Red Riding Hood
Evgeniy Raykovskiy & Boris Stepantsev / Soyuzmultfilm, Russia / 1958
"Peter And Little Red Riding Hood" is an unique take on the classic fairy tale, incorporating reflexive gags that gently make fun of fairy tale cartoons.
A boy named Peter is looking for something to do. He sees a poster for a film screening, and realizing it is about to start, he decides to go to the theater. When he gets there, the show is sold out, but he finds a way in through the back door and sees that a film based on Little Red Riding Hood is being shown. He bumps into the screen and enters the film, much like Buster Keaton in Sherlock Jr. (1924). The narrator of the film notices his intrusion and tells him to get lost, so he can tell the story of Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. Peter hides in the bushes, where he spies Red Riding Hood meeting the wolf. Angered, Peter decides to help Red Riding Hood. He warns her of her danger, and sends Red Riding Hood to fetch the hunters, while Peter tails the wolf.
Peter catches up with the wolf and tells him that he has read this story before, and it isn’t going to end well for him. The wolf is alarmed and runs off in the other direction while Peter goes to Grandmother’s house to warn her. When she hears that the wolf is nearby, Grandmother hides in a closet, and Peter puts a dummy of her in the bed. The wolf is too tempted to pass up the opportunity to eat Grandmother and Red Riding Hood, so he enters the house and eats the dummy in one gulp, not noticing that it isn’t Grandmother.
The Wolf disguises himself as Grandmother and Peter disguises himself as Red Riding Hood. They play out the "Oh Grandmother! What big eyes you have!" routine, but Peter keeps messing up his lines. Meanwhile, Red Riding Hood is leading the huntsmen to Grandmother’s house. The wolf grows impatient with Peter, who is stalling to give the hunters time to arrive. He lunges at Peter and a chase ensues. Peter runs so fast, he runs right off the screen and into the darkened theater. He jumps back into the film just as the huntsmen arrive and take the wolf away at gunpoint.
Red Riding Hood cries because she thinks Grandmother has been eaten, but Peter reveals that she is safe, hiding in the cupboard the whole time. Red Riding Hood thanks Peter for his help and a "The End" card appears behind Peter on the screen. The film is over, so Peter shrugs, steps off the screen and walks away.
At the time "Peter And Little Red Riding Hood" was being made, Soyuzmultfilm had reached a peak with its hand drawn and puppet animation. This film exhibits tremendous style and draftsmanship. Pay particular attention to the animation of Peter. His personality shines through well observed gestures and specific types of walks. Milt Kahl couldn’t have done better.
MP4 Video File / SD / 18:24 / 337 MB Download
SD VIDEO:
Goal! Goal!
Boris Dyozhkin / Soyuzmultfilm, Russia / 1964
At Souyuzmultfilm in the late 1940s and 1950s, there was a stark division between animators and directors. Animators only animated. They had no say in the rest of the process. But in the 60s, largely due to the urging of Fyodor Khitruk, a new working method was introduced which involved the animators’ input from the very start. This led to what was called the "aesthetic switch"— films became more of a team effort and the designs became streamlined and more animatable.
Boris Dyozhkin had a three decade long career as a director and animator at Soyuzmultfilm. In his first couple of decades, he was an exception to the rule at Soyuzmultfilm. He animated extensively on his own shorts. This made for a total integration of staging, posing and action, as well as allowing for split second timing. "Goal! Goal!" was a great success for Dyozhkin, leading to a sequel called "A Match Revenge" in 1968, and a series of shorts dealing with soccer, track and field, and figure skating.
This film has no dialogue and the action speaks for itself, so I won’t provide a detailed synopsis. The basic concept is that there are two opposing hockey teams: The Meteors and The Pennants. The Meteors are the defending champions who are aggressive, rude and arrogant. The Pennants are a young team, who although they are newcomers to the sport, have a lot on the ball… or rather on the puck. All looks lost for the Pennants until the rookie takes the ice…
We think you are really going to find a lot to like this film. Like John Sibley’s animation in Disney’s Goofy sports cartoons, the action can be very extreme and still maintain perfect clarity.
MP4 Video File / SD / 21:00 / 787 MB Download
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Koziolek Matolek ep03: Under The Pyramids
Ryszard Slapczynski / Studio Miniatur Filmowych, Poland / 1969
Now we shift from Russia to Poland. Studio Miniatur Filmowych in Krakow was established in 1958, and since then it has produced nearly 1,500 animated films. This series, titled The Strange Adventures of Koziolek Matolek was produced between 1969 and 1971 and 26 episodes were made. The current episode is titled "Under The Pyramids". We will be sharing more of these in upcoming Reference Packs.
Koziolek Matolek was created in 1933 as a character in Polish comic books. The idea behind the character is a bit surreal, and might seem odd to us in America… Koziolek Matolek is a goat who undertakes a quest to find Pacanow, a town where he has heard that they make shoes for goats. His travels take him to the ends of the Earth and throughout time from the jungles of Africa to medieval Europe to the Wild West. Although the character’s adventures have been well known for generations in Poland and are a staple of children’s literature there, I don’t believe any of the stories, comics or cartoons have ever been translated and distributed outside of that country.
The cartoons were directed by a variety of animators, and the character looks a bit different in each of the individual director’s episodes. The focus is on funny movement and expressions, all while maintaining an admirable level of clarity and economy. This series is a model of what web cartoons could be.
MP4 Video File / SD / 08:41 / 174 MB Download
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