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I couldn't even begin to guess what thread this might go in, but I found a really good resource for Soviet Stop-Motion films with links to various films contained within. I don't know if it will generate any interest, but some of these are pretty interesting. Apparently, some argue the Soviets really excelled in this field. I guess I could posit the guess that this might have been because of the prohibitive costs of animation, but that guess obviously isn't worth much. I hope some of you find this useful. And again, my apologies if this didn't warrant its own thread.

I guess there's this thread
Starevich left Russia in 1917 so I doubt he should be among the soviets animators. He deserves discussion though, Le Roman de Renard being one of my favorite films.

Cheburashka is of course the star of Soviet Stop-Motion (And I'm only learning right now that a feature film was released last year! And Made in Japan!?), but his creator Roman Kachanov also made some other shorts, among them I think Mitten(1967) is one the cutest thing ever made. And I don't even like dogs.

Aleksandr Tatarskiy is mostly famous for animating clay in 2D, but I guess it's still stop-motion. There's a great exemple with English subs here, with some amazing multiplane camera work. There's Ideya Garanina I know, This short's look is amazing. But other than that, right now, outside of the few mentioned in the link you provided (like Garri Bardine) I can only think of a few shorts that happen to be in stop-motion... I think I've seen much more soviet paper cut animation than soviet stop-motion, obviously because of the amazing Yuri Norstein, but quite a few animators made paper cut animation... Actually quite a few animators used to change mediums, Tatarskiy who I mentioned earlier made a few traditional, drawn on paper shorts too. They also switched between serious art films and kids stuff, though it may have been at government's request.


So I think the soviets didn't excelled in stop-motion but in every field of animation back then, in my opinion. Every year I discover something new. Of course, no Disney-like stuff (some of the old stuff tries to look very fluid and realistic, but while it's still beautiful, the animation is a bit weird), but a great range of styles and ideas. I wish I could link to more stuff, but it seems my personal favorites disappeared from Youtube.

My girlfriend got a stuffed Cheburashka for her birthday, and apparently (according to the old Russian ladies who sold the toy) he is 'Most beloved of Russian children. Most beloved.' The shorts are certainly a lot of fun, sort of a Rankin Bass charm with an interestingly different underlying viewpoint to put forward.

If allowed, hopefully we can keep this a separate thread.

Saturnome wrote:Starevich left Russia in 1917 so I doubt he should be among the soviets animators. He deserves discussion though, Le Roman de Renard being one of my favorite films.

Yes, while the Poles, the Russians and the French have all understandably tried to claim him as one of theirs, it's historical nonsense to call him a Soviet animator - since he left Russia shortly after the October Revolution as he was identified with the Whites and feared for both his career and his life under the Bolsheviks.