Summaries of We Can Do It, Vasilyok, Tale of a Toy, The Adventures of the Young Pioneers, To You Moscow and Fascist Jackboots Shall Not Trample Our Motherland as presented in the Soyuzmultfilm Studios collection "Animated Soviet Propaganda".Eto v nashih silah (We Can Do It)
Lev Atamanov, 1970
People the world over are terrorized by a colossal black bird borne of fascism and capitalism. Common acts of love and art (including formerly outlawed jazz music) create doves of peace vastly more powerful than the monster's evil and all is once again well. The message, apart from the barefaced, is seemingly to perseverance in peace (and, but not necessarily, Communism) is to bestow auspice worldwide. By the way, that typewriter shot? Stephen J. Cannell, anyone? Watch We Can Do It.
Vasilyok
Stella Aristakesova, 1973
Vasilyok is a boy growing up in an idyllically Monet/Seurat-like agrarian village sprung from the ruins of war. His grandfather never returned from WWII, but a premature comprehension of death leads the boy on a journey to find his lost relative. He discovers a battleship bearing his grandfather's name - an exhortation that service to the Soviet Union rewards virtual immortality - and captains it home to his grieving grandmother. Part bright and cutesy commemoration, part emboldening recruitment tool. Watch Vasilyok.
Istoriya odnoĭ kukly (Tale of a Toy)
Boris Ablynin, 1984
In this blend of animation and live action, a Don Quixote puppet it constructed and brought to battle Quixote's infamous windmill, here with sails in the shape of a swastika. The puppet's maker is executed by an S.S. officer, but the puppet lives on to conquer the windmill. You can kill the flesh, but you cannot kill the idea. Watch Tale of a Toy.
Priklyucheniya yunyh pionerov (The Adventures of the Young Pioneers)
Vladimir Pekar, 1971
Resourceful Pioneers (essentially Red Boy Scouts) resist occupation from dim Nazis intent on burning books and lining their own pockets. It is difficult to gauge this one's significance in its time, considering its debatable applicability to revanchism paranoia. If anything, this Tom & Jerry-esque escapade states to children that citizens upholding the valor of the Soviet Union, even if only in spirit, will be met with equal return. Watch The Adventures of the Young Pioneers.
Chtoby tebe Moskvu (To You Moscow)
Grigory Lomidze, 1947
As any country is portrayed in its own history books, here Russia is gloriously painted against all comers with the then-800-year-old Moscow, "The Great City of Lenin", as its beating heart. Notable leaders are traditionally honored while commonfolk and enemies are suggested through animals - dutiful horses in old wartime, meek puppies beneath the Provisional Government, and suffocative ravens at the dawn of WWII. A love letter to the capital, To You Moscow also functions as a quickie review of Russian history. Watch To You Moscow.
Ne molmam Fashistskie sapogi Nasha Rodina
(Fascist Jackboots Shall Not Trample Our Motherland)
Alexander Ivanov & Ivan Ivanov-Vano, 1941
The use of the song "Our Armor is Strong and Our Tanks are Fast" (performed by the Alexandrov Ensemble) elevates this otherwise basic morale-boosting "poster" of a literally hoggish Hitler clomping across Europe and leaving fire in his treads before falling victim to the USSR. Watch Fascist Jackboots Shall Not Trample Our Motherland.
Resourceful Pioneers (essentially Red Boy Scouts) resist occupation from dim Nazis intent on burning books and lining their own pockets. It is difficult to gauge this one's significance in its time, considering its debatable applicability to revanchism paranoia. If anything, this Tom & Jerry-esque escapade states to children that citizens upholding the valor of the Soviet Union, even if only in spirit, will be met with equal return. Watch The Adventures of the Young Pioneers.
Chtoby tebe Moskvu (To You Moscow)
Grigory Lomidze, 1947
As any country is portrayed in its own history books, here Russia is gloriously painted against all comers with the then-800-year-old Moscow, "The Great City of Lenin", as its beating heart. Notable leaders are traditionally honored while commonfolk and enemies are suggested through animals - dutiful horses in old wartime, meek puppies beneath the Provisional Government, and suffocative ravens at the dawn of WWII. A love letter to the capital, To You Moscow also functions as a quickie review of Russian history. Watch To You Moscow.
Ne molmam Fashistskie sapogi Nasha Rodina
(Fascist Jackboots Shall Not Trample Our Motherland)
Alexander Ivanov & Ivan Ivanov-Vano, 1941
The use of the song "Our Armor is Strong and Our Tanks are Fast" (performed by the Alexandrov Ensemble) elevates this otherwise basic morale-boosting "poster" of a literally hoggish Hitler clomping across Europe and leaving fire in his treads before falling victim to the USSR. Watch Fascist Jackboots Shall Not Trample Our Motherland.
