There is probably ONE thing Soviet Russia did right and ARGUABLY BETTER than anyone else in the entire world in the past 100 years of human history: ANIMATION.
And this is something that unfortunately is literally a case of “dumping the baby with water”. The art, the vision, the designs, the storytelling and the approach to olden tales, fairytale, folk tales, children’s books and poems etc, is beyond FAR BEYOND than you may imagine.
Some notable moments of Soviet Russian Animation include (not in any particular order but my own brains spitting images):
The Hedgehof In The Fog (1975)
Which is considered revolutionary and is still a staple of Russian speaking cultures and is regarded as an important piece of Animation in freaking Japan (aka the nation of Animation). If you want to deep dive into the unique stop motion art and the importance of this piece, Google away.
Another animation I love is “Fedora’s Grief” (1974).
A short animation about how objects left unattended and uncared for will not serve you, the human. It’s such an essential part of the Soviet Experience of the common person, which is hard to describe to people who were born to abundance.
I would also love to cite The Cat Leopold (1975-1987), which, for me, forever describes the naiveté of the simple, common soviet person, as we today love citing, “People Are Not Their Governments”.
This one is the antithesis to Tom & Jerry, for all it’s worth: there are tow mice forever taunting the cat, and in each episode the cat asks them, “let’s live in friendship”.
YouTube had a whole archive of the old Soviet animations. If you are looking for beauty and design, and art - these were all state sponsored, and thus - had funds for their visions. No, not all of soviet animation and film was any kind of USSR propoganda (looking at you, US cinema, 30s Batman in black and white), and to some very confusing extent, you see many animations honoring source material or being innovative in their own right, regardless of authority.
Some beautiful animations I would love people to know about:
This series, named “Kitten Named Gav” (1976-1982)
“Gav” is literally “how” as in barking sound. So it’s about a Kitten named “bark” and his little cat adventures with his friend, a puppy.
Sleeping Beauty (and 7 princes) (1951)
The Cat, That Wanders By Itself (1964)
[Yes, cats feature often, and in positive context]
“The Flower with Seven Colours” (1948)
And you know what, this one, is just. It’s about a polar bear cub, ok? Looking for his polar bear mother.
All in all. Yes, the Soviet Animation, in context of today, is the baby thrown out of the window of history with the muddy water, and I, for one, will not stand for it.
I wish more people knew about those beautiful artworks.
I wish people knew that techniques that were tried out and pioneered in those animations way back in the 40s inspired Walt Disney works. I wish people made more art and less war.
