lexis nekres escribió:Hola:
Os dejo un poco de información sobre estos 4 DVD que he ido recopilando durante los últimos tiempos. Hay datos repetidos aquí y allá, pero... ¡al final están los enlaces!
Jove, Soyuzmultfilm; distributed by Kino
1924 - 1984 / B&W + Color / 1:37 flat full frame / 6 hours. / Street Date March 20, 2007 / 89.95
Disc artwork and design by Yelena Burnett
Translator Julian Lowenfeld
Executive Producer Oleg Vidov
Director, Writer Producer Joan Borsten
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson.
Say the word "Propaganda" and you'll get a number of different reactions. Any movie with a point of view will be called propaganda by someone strongly opposed to that point of view, so there's little to be gained by labeling one film 'evil brainwashing garbage' and another film 'a helpful advocacy documentary.' The newspapers are presently debating whether the feature film 300 is pro-war pro-brutality, or anti-war and pro-insurgency. Box Office and Brutality seem to be winning.
When the WW2 Why We Fight series of morale boosting 'informational films' was shown on TV in the 1980s, Frank Capra appeared in person to defend the charge that his pictures were, in terms of pure facts, just as distorted and dishonest as the hateful Nazi films of Leni Riefenstahl and others. Capra insisted that Why We Fight was planned as a weapon of war, not as the entire truth. The fact that he was using his filmic talent on the side of freedom and justice is what made the difference.
Americans label as nonsense the idea that a filmmaker can show them a picture and influence what they think, but Madison Avenue advertisers have had success operating on that principle for a full century now. The word propaganda in Spanish means an advertisement, after all. And the idea of mind control doesn't stop with non-fiction. Whenever a critic feels that a film is pulling them in an unwanted emotional or intellectual direction, the director is charged with being 'manipulative.' What the mass public finds acceptable to view has a definite effect on how we think.
Children of the Cold War heard many stories about nasty Soviet propaganda but were rarely if ever shown any. We were instead brought up on oddball bits of American anti-Soviet propaganda, which filtered down into television shows and genre films. We were told that the Soviet Union was evil and wanted to take over the world. The worst examples of Hollywood's anti-Commie films -- The Red Menace, Red Planet Mars, Big Jim McClain and Invasion U.S.A. -- were enough to make one give special preference to what the other side had to say. According to our propaganda, the Russians were spewing out a constant flow of lies. The crazy humor of Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three is actually not so crazy ... most of its satirical jabs at both the West and the Soviets have a basis in truth.
The new disc set Animated Soviet Propaganda: From the October Revolution to Perestroika serves up six hours of original, uncut animations designed to mold public opinion within the Soviet Union. All are from Moscow's Soyuzmultfilm Studios, which apparently specialized in animation. The contents will have an instant appeal to animation fans curious to see techniques from behind the Iron Curtain. Moscow animators copied Disney and Fleischer trends just as did everyone else. Historians will look for parallels between what was happening in the Kremlin and what showed up in the films. Lenin proclaimed film as the best medium to 'inform' the masses of the glorious collectivist future, and the collection allows us to see cinema theories put to the test. Interestingly, the less experimental films in the collection tend to communicate better.
Most importantly, the collection demonstrates that American anti-Communists were justified in considering the Soviets a serious threat. Soviets always presented their expansionist policy after WW2 as a process of freeing the workers of other countries from colonial rule. Faced with an all-powerful America with nuclear weapons, the USSR rationalized their oppressive domestic policies by emphasizing the presence of their enemies.
Frank Capra's Why We Fight justified Total War on the simplistic choice between A Free World and a Slave World, graphically presented on screen as light and dark parallel globes. Animated Soviet Propaganda -- aimed at Russian citizens -- makes the dramatic case that complete Utopia will only be possible when the Fascists and Capitalists have been defeated. The 'perfect' Communist state is the center of all human progress, but it is under constant threat by terrible villains and monsters.
The discs include extras coordinated by Professor of Film Sociology Igor Kokarev. In an insert booklet, Kokarev presents a basic primer of life under the Communist Party leaders. News, discussion and even mail from outside the nation was prohibited and Western publications held by libraries were viewable only for specific studies. Radio and television were controlled and filtered by the Party. The society was ruled by fear, secrecy and censorship. Citizens censored their own thoughts before speaking. Public conversation adhered to slogans and acceptable discourse, and private political thoughts could be expressed only in hushed tones.
The animated film was another weapon in the Totalitarian war of ideas. In a Soviet Union where over a hundred languages were spoken, moving pictures communicated ideas better than words. Animated cartoons were also ideal to teach small children. The influential power of film is undisputed, even here. Only a few years ago, Americans still subscribed to the idea that if something was on TV, it had to be true. Responsible people were in charge, right?
The films are divided by disc into four basic groupings. This list follows the actual contents of the discs, not the incorrect order given in the insert booklet. A straight chronological order may have been more desirable but this arrangement works well enough.
Each disc comes with an 'overview' documentary that presents a few interviews with helpful comment on some of the titles. Dr. Kokurev dominates, but we also hear from Soyuzmultfilm directors, writers and the granddaughter of the writer of "Mister Twister," the story about American racism. But the bulk of these edited pieces are simply repeats of sections of the films. In a generous move by the disc producers, the entire first Overview chapter is viewable in preview form on the Russian Propaganda website.
Kino's release of Jove and Soyuzmultfilm's disc set of Animated Soviet Propaganda: From the October Revolution to Perestroika is a classy presentation that will appeal to a wide group of consumers; it's an ideal resource for educators looking for prime-source material. I only hope that that teachers balance these films with some of our less generous filmic attacks on the Soviet Union. The messages are actually little different than what we hear in America today: America represents Freedom, we are the center of the universe and all problems are due to foreign troublemakers.
Film students, art students and animation fans will be fascinated. Few of the films approach the graphic clarity of those striking Soviet posters, but a number do use interesting animation ideas, mostly following western trends but sometimes ahead of them in both style and design.
The transfers are all better than acceptable, with only a few titles printed from degraded transfer elements. A couple of the silent pictures barely hold together, and the occasional murky scene pops up. Excellent English subtitles translate dialogue and narration, but also the frequent on-screen text, so that we can follow the films' often-confusing context.
The design of the disc set is stunning. A full field of red with a Soviet star and sickle dominate one fold of the disc holder. The panels are covered with grinning skull-faced Uncle Sams and pig-faced Nazis. An image of decadent Capitalist showgirls is clearly lifted from Liza Minnelli in Cabaret. Dominating all is the stalwart Soviet worker with his all-powerful hammer.
The set ultimately has some good lessons for liberals. Criterion just released a multi disc box about actor-singer Paul Robeson, victim of the HUAAC blacklists. Our State Department ruined Robeson's career by blacklisting him from performing in the United States, and revoking his passport so he couldn't travel, but the Criterion disc only talks about Robeson's criticism of the U.S. while abroad. Over the end titles of the first "Overview" in this Russian Propaganda Set, we hear Robeson singing an ode to the mighty and just Soviet Union ("the world's hope for freedom"). It's from the late 1940s.
It's one thing to be told that Robeson was vocal in his politics; everybody should have that right. But it's something else entirely to hear him singing an ode to Stalin's totalitarian dictatorship. Justly or not, it takes Robeson down a couple of notches.
On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Animated Soviet Propaganda rates:
Movies: Excellent
Video: Very Good
Sound: Very Good
Supplements: 4 30-minute featurettes discussing and synopsizing various animated films.
Packaging: Four discs in plastic and card folder in card sleeve
Reviewed: March 18, 2007
Backstory: From the earliest days of the Soviet state, Lenin recognized the power of cinema\rquote s images to polemicize for a populace comprised largely of peasants and the functionally illiterate. This far-reaching collection spans the earliest days of the state in the 1920s until the beginning of the end in the early 80s.
Feature: Separated into four discs with appropriately exclamatory titles -American Imperialists, Fascist Barbarians, Capitalist Sharks and Onward to the Shining Future: Communism- the collection features the widest possible range of styles to express the narrowest of ideas. Least interesting is perhaps Barbarians, confining itself largely to the struggle against the Nazi invasion, and as such features the dozens of metaphorical ways to skin a cat (the cat being in this case of course Hitler). The depth of the indictment against American decadence is far more impressive (and let\rquote s face it, convincing.) Its j'accuse covers segregation, economic disparity and American imperalist aggression in Vietnam, the latter rendered with savage poetry. Shooting Range (1978) is a psychedelic masterpiece. The other discs are mostly predictable odes to Mother Russia, which remain stilted politically, but achieve a sublime beauty artistically.
Extras: Brief overview doc and contextualizing booklet. [cada DVD lleva un documental de comentario general (además de las películas incluidas), que es lo que hay en eMule. "He visto algunos de estos títulos, los que están colgados en stage6, y se trata de unos documentales introductorios de unos veintitantos minutos de duración con fragmentos comentados de los dibujos animados objeto de la compilación. "]
Eighty-nine years after the Bolshevik October Revolution (and 16 years after its collapse), Films by Jove is releasing a 4-DVD set called Animated Soviet Propaganda. The set is based on 4 dozen rarely seen shorts produced by Soviet government agency Soyuzdetmultfilm from 1924 to 1984. Films by Jove acquired the rights to these shorts in 1992 and has since then digitally restored approximately 50 hours of film.
Since these animated movies were intended to win the hearts and minds of the Russian people, all of them have a strong anti-American, anti-German, anti-British, anti-Japanese, anti-Capitalist, anti-Imperialist, and pro-Communist slant. Many of them also feature anti-Semitic and other racist images. There is approximately two hours of documentary and six hours of animated films.
Films by Jove in association with SoyuzmultFilm Studios presents
ANIMATED SOVIET PROPAGANDA
FROM THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION To PERESTROIKA
A landmark four disc Box Set
Unearthed from Moscow's legendary Soyuzmultfilm Studios (est. 1935), the 41 films in ANIMATED SOVIET PROPAGANDA span sixty years of Soviet history (1924-1984), and have never been available before in the U.S. The set is divided thematically into four discs, all dealing with different subjects of the Soviet propaganda machine.
The Series Includes: American Imperialists: Soviet Animation vs. the United States | Fascist Barbarians: Soviet Animation vs. Nazi Tyranny | Capitalist Sharks: Soviet Animation vs. Greed and Ambition | Onward to the Shining Future: Animation and the Big Soviet Lie
Containing 6 hours of rare material in all, this four-disc DVD set offers a fascinating look at the history of Soviet propaganda. It is an invaluable resource that displays how one of the greatest and most reclusive powers wanted their people to envision the rest of the world, as well as being an idiosyncratic tour through Russia's rich and varied history of animated art.
1924 - 1984 Russia B&W and Color
360min Full Screen (1.33:1) Two hours of documentary and six hours of animated films.
In Russian with English subtitles
CONTENIDO
AMERICAN IMPERIALISTS (disc 1) contains seven films (plus documentary overview), almost all of which are drawn from the Cold War era. The recurring image is of the money hungry industrialist self-destructing because of his greed. This rare collection of animated shorts, overflowing with bold, elegant, unique in style images were a shameless tactic designed to shape the hearts and minds of Russian society.
Racism, unemployment, aggression, excess - the USSR's animation studios frequently took aim at these aspects of American culture. Representing five decades of animated Soviet propaganda, this program features short films that blast the United States and its perceived evils. Black and White and Mister Twister extol the absence of bigotry in Soviet society, while Someone Else's Voice portrays jazz as an enemy of the people. Ave Maria condemns America's presence in Vietnam and the influence of the Catholic church, and The Shooting Range underscores the violence behind economic and class divisions. Seven films total, plus commentary from Russian State Film School professor Igor Kokarev, director/artist Vladimir Tarasov, and Dr. Sonia Marshak, great-granddaughter of the acclaimed Soviet poet. (106 minutes) Portions are in Russian with English subtitles.
Animated Soviet Propaganda DVD 1 Overview:
Duración: 27:20
Part 1 of 4 of the Documentary "Animated Soviet Propaganda". From 1924 to perestroika the USSR produced more than 4 dozen animated propaganda films. They weren't for export. Their target was the new nation and their goal was to win over the hearts and minds of the Soviet people. Anti-American, Anti-British, Anti-German, Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Fascist, some of these films are as artistically beautiful as the great political posters made after the 1917 revolution which inspired Soviet animation. A unique series. With a unique perspective. Includes interviews with the directors of the animated films which are still alive and commentary by a leading Soviet film scholar.
OVERVIEW COMMENTATORS:
Igor Kokarev, Professor of Film Sociology, Russian State Film School
Vladimir Tarasov, director/ artist "Shooting Gallery"
Dr. Sofia Marshak, PhD, great-granddaughter of children's poet Samuel Marshak Amalrik. Mezrabpomfilm.
More Information at:
http://www.russiananimation.com
Chyornoe i beloe (Ivan Ivanov-Vano and L. Amalrik, 1933) (Black and white)
Duration 00:02:41
Produced By Mezhrabpomfilm / Межрабпомфильм
Category Cartoons
Based on “Black and White,” a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky. Mayakovsky is often called the loudspeaker of the Bolshevik Revolution. Yet he was also a most talented poet, whose works are widely quoted even today. The animation in “Black and White” is based on his drawings. In 1922, Mayakovsky received special permission to travel to America. En route he stopped in Cuba where Americans controlled the sugar and tobacco industries. “Black and White” tells the story of Willie, the shoe shine boy, who makes the fatal mistake of asking the White Sugar King Mister Bragg, “Why should white sugar be made by a black man?” Only fragments of the film were found, without restorable sound. It was decided to underscore the fragments with excerpts from “Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child,” recorded by Paul Robeson in 1949 at the Tchaikovsky Theatre in Moscow. The son of an American slave, Robeson was an athlete, actor, singer, cultural scholar, author, and political activist. He spoke fluent Russian. In 1952 Robeson was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize. He translated the Soviet national anthem into English. Oleg Vidov( actor/producer):“The Soviet propaganda machine glorified Robeson almost as an achievement of the International Revolution. But for the Soviet people who attended his concerts or heard him on radio, he was a good friend from America, the country which helped us to defeat the Nazis. During a time of oppression and Stalin terror, here came this good-spirited, free person from the United States. Unlike us, he could travel freely and bring us songs in English. He also taught us to sing ‘Ole Man River’ in Russian.
Whenever the collection criticizes American racism, its credibility goes way up. We start with this shocking, graphic exaggeration (?) of America as a land where slavery still rules.
Mister Twister (Anatoly Karanovich, 1963) (МИСТЕР ТВИСТЕР)
Duration 00:15:39
Produced By Soyuzmultfilm / Союзмультфильм
Director Anatoly Karanovich / Анатолий Каранович
Script writer: Samuel Marshak. / Самуил Маршак
Category Cartoons
The film is put on S.Marshak's poem. The American millionaire Twister goes as a tourist to Leningrad, but he refuses to stay in the hotel where Negroes live. Door-keepers of the Leningrad hotels arrange to teach this chauvinist a good lesson.
After S.Marshak's poem about a milliarder who was a racist, once he came to Leningrad and could not find a hotel for "white people only" and had to make it up with living in neighbourhood with people of different races.
This poem-based tale uses cute animation to tell the story of a racist American who rejects a St. Petersburg hotel room because a black man is in the next room. This is a fine film, except for the fact that racism can be found in any country. I don't see why Russia should call herself an exception.
Chuzhoy Golos (Ivan Ivanov-Vano, 1949) (Someone else's voice, 1949)
Duration 00:09:56
Produced By Soyuzmultfilm / Союзмультфильм
Director Ivan Ivanov-Vano / Иван Иванов-Вано
Category Cartoons
Written by Sergei Mihalkov, a popular children’s poet who also wrote the lyrics to the Soviet National Anthem. Jazz was an early victim of the Cold War, condemned as “an enemy of the people.” In this film for children, a Soviet bird returns home from abroad and gives a concert. When she sings jazz, a new kind of music she learned on her travels, the Soviet birds boo and hiss and drive her from the forest.
Loving, Bambi-like animation becomes a hideous endorsement of intolerance and conformism. A bird 'back from abroad' is publicly thrashed by an angry mob for singing decadent jazz instead of traditional songs. Just the sort of oppressive horror we expect from the late Stalinist period.
Ave Maria (Ivan Ivanov-Vano, 1972)
Duration 00:09:42
Produced By Soyuzmultfilm / Союзмультфильм
Category Cartoons
Also known as “Against American Aggression in Vietnam,” this film is as anti-war as anti-American and portrays the Church as an actively malignant social influence. Underscored by Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” Ivanov-Vano, who worked as an animator on some of the animation films made in the 20s such as “China in Flames,” went on to become the USSR’s foremost director of animated films for children. Vladimir Paperny (writer and cultural historian): I think that propaganda goals of the 70s and the 30s and the 40s were quite different. In the 40s and the 30s, and even before, the idea was to project the Soviet Union as a very powerful, very invincible warrior, something that doesn’t compromise and just fights to the very end, something very menacing, aggressive and something that everybody should fear. In the 70s, the Soviet Union was presented as the defender of humanitarian values, as a fortress of the fight against barbarism. You can see it in “Ave Maria.” The sound track is Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” a religious song, and the imagery is icons, paintings of the Madonna with a child. The official Soviet ideology was atheism and despite this, those religious images were supposed to present the Soviet Union as the new defender of humanity and humanitarian bounds.
This anti-Vietnam piece cheats by contrasting beautiful music and religious images with American horrors. Yankee fat cats celebrate Christmas while their evil Air Force bombs helpless civilians. Faceless soldiers gun down Vietnamese tots holding baby dolls. Propaganda doesn't get any more savage than this -- the film was clearly designed to be shown to Russian children.
Mister Wolf (Victor Gromov, 1949) (Мистер Уолк)
Союзмультфильм (Soyuzmultfilm studio), 1949 г.
Frightened by the nuclear hysteria american buisnessman Mr. Wolk likvidates his business and travels with his family to the alone island - Isle of Peace.
Duration 00:10:06
Produced By Soyuzmultfilm / Союзмультфильм
Director Victor Gromov / Виктор Громов
Category Cartoons
Based on the drawings of renowned political caricaturist Boris Yefimov who is interviewed in Part 4 of this series. A wealthy American retires with his family to the "Island of Peace". All is well until oil is discovered and greed trumps Mr. Wolf's peaceful attitudes. In the end the U.S. military arrives to protect Mr. Wolf's private island and his oil.
An odd, not entirely mean-spirited story animated in a style reminiscent of a Fleischer Superman cartoon. A frightened millionaire and his family escape to an "Island of Peace." But the American forgets his commitment to pacifism as soon as his fortune is threatened.
Millioner (V. Bordzilovsky and Y. Prytkov, 1963) (The millionaire)
Duration 00:10:19
Produced By Soyuzmultfilm / Союзмультфильм
Director V. Bordzilovsky and Y. Prytkov / Витольд Бордзиловский, Юрий Прытков
Category Cartoons
Also based on a poem for children by Sergei Mihalkov. A rich American woman leaves a million dollars to her beloved bulldog. The theme is that in America, money can buy anything; the bulldog becomes rich and powerful and eventually a member of the U.S. Congress.
This nasty satire has a bulldog inherit his master's fortune. He soon behaves like the rest of the Capitalist creeps, barking at peaceniks with the rest of his Wall Street cronies, etc. Because he's rich, the dog can urinate on a cop and receive a smile in return. He ultimately finds the perfect location to practice his corruption, the U.S. Congress.
The shooting range (V. Tarasov, 1977) (Tir)
Duration 00:19:17
Produced By Soyuzmul'tfilm / Союзмультфильм
Director V. Tarasov / В. Тарасов
Category Cartoons
Based on a play by V. Slatkin. An unemployed American gets a job in a shooting gallery as a live target; the greedy capitalist owner charges patrons double for the chance to shoot at a human being. Tarasov, a fan of J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” modeled the film’s hero on Holden Caulfield. An artist as well as an animation director, Tarasov combed through back issues of “America,” a magazine published by the U.S. government during the Cold War, and American comic books, to lovingly create the film’s fabulous New York City back drop. The attention to detail is amazing (and sometimes off base), from the graffiti on the buildings to the brand name on the back of the hero’s tennis shoes.
This truly hateful show uses Zap Comics- style imagery to present a fable of an unemployed young American (with an English sports car!) who finds a job in a Times Square shooting gallery -- as a target. The evil Capitalist eventually gets the idea of letting the boy build a family, and employing them all as targets to be shot at.
FASCIST BARBARIANS (disc 2) is a 12 film (+ documentary overview) reaction to the Nazi invasion of 1941. While Americans were mocked relentlessly, at least they remained human. After breaking the non-aggression pact and declaring war, the Nazis became animals in the propaganda films, turning into snarling warthogs and depraved vultures. Part 2 of a rare collection of Russian animated shorts is overflowing with bold yet elegant images, designed as a shameless tactic to shape the hearts and minds of their society.
Hitler's invasion of Russia and Germany's post-WWII partition inspired a great deal of animated Soviet propaganda. This program presents short films that disparage fascist aggression and America's supposed continuation of it. Fascist Boots and Cinema Circus vilify Hitler and the Nazi invaders; A Lesson Not Learned plays on Russian fears of a reunited, vengeful, and American-supported Germany; and Vasilok, The Adventures of the Young Pioneers, and Pioneer's Violin are stories about brave and loyal Soviet children encountering and standing up to fascism. Twelve films total, plus commentary from Russian State Film School professor Igor Kokarev, writer and cultural historian Vladimir Paperny, and actor/producer Oleg Vidov. (140 minutes) Portions are in Russian with English subtitles.
Animated Soviet Propaganda DVD 2 Overview:
28:49
Part 2 of 4 of the Documentary "Animated Soviet Propaganda". OVERVIEW INCLUDES THE CLIPS FROM: The Soldier and The Garden, 1980, directed by S. Sokolov, coproduction between Soyuzmultfilm and DEFA Studio (East Germany).
We're Drawing October, 1977, directed by Y. Gamburg and O. Zaher. Co-production between Soyuzmultfilm and Dresden Trickfilm Studio (E. Germany).
OVERVIEW COMMENTARY: Igor Kokarev, Professor of Film Sociology, Russian State Film School; Vladimir Paperny, writer and cultural historian; Oleg Vidov, Actor/producer
Kino chirk (L. Amalrik and O. Khodataeva, 1942) (Kino-Circus)
3:37; Soyuzmultfilm.
One of a handful of animated short political posters that survived World War II, this one ridicules Hitler and his cronies. The master of ceremonies is a caricature of the USSRs most famous clown, Karandash, whose name means pencil in Russian.
Hitler is caricatured and lampooned in three blackout skits. The Russian stage emcee looks like Charlie Chaplin, but we're told he's a caricature of the famous Russian clown Karandash.
Fascist (jack)boots shall not trample our Motherland (A. Ivanov and I. Vano, 1941)
2:44; Soyuzmultfilm.
A political film-poster made in the first months after the Nazi invasion of the USSR. Sound track is from the popular march Our Armor Is Strong and Our Tanks Are Fast. Vocals by the Alexandrov Ensemble.
Horrible, inhuman Nazi invaders are eventually repelled by noble Soviet planes. Standard stuff not that much different than our own wartime cartoons; all that's lacking is a sense of humor.
The vultures (P. Sasonov, 1941)
2:12; Soyuzmultfilm.
Fascist invaders portrayed as vultures. Original sound was not found.
More of the same. Nazis are pigs and carrion birds.
Newsreels 1-4 (I. Ivanov-Vano; O. Khodataeva; V. and Z. Brumberg; A. Ivanov; 1941)
8:13; Soyuzmultfilm.
"What Hitler Wants" ( I. Ivanov-Vano)
"Beat Fascist Pirates" (O. Khodataeva)
"Strike the Enemy on the Front Lines and at Home" (V. and Z. Brumberg)
"A Mighty Handshake" (A. Ivanov)
Four animated shorts from World War II. A Mighty Handshake is the only animated propaganda film in this series which shows a capitalist country in a positive light in this case British and Soviet soldiers cooperate in the war against the Nazis.
FOUR ANTI-HITLER NEWSREELS (POLITICAL SATIRE) Quick animated lessons, showing the need to crush the Germans and defeat their treacherous spies. A positive episode lauds cooperation with the English "Tommy" ally. It's the only time in any of the shows that a country other than the USSR is praised.
A lesson not learned (V. Karavaev, 1971)
5:15
This film was made in reaction to revanchism fear that Germany would reunite and seek revenge on Europe and the USSR for World War II. A disguised Nazi slips into the US zone of divided Germany. The Americans nurse him back to health as he plots how to reunite the Fatherland. His plans are ruined when he runs headlong into the Berlin Wall, erected by the USSR between East and West Berlin in 1961.
Creative techniques elevate this story of a Nazi war criminal protected by the Allies and encouraged to run for public office in West Germany. The 'angel' of Hitler follows him everywhere. Since history bears out parts of this show, it's more effective than many of the others.
To you, Moscow (Grigory Lomidze, 1947)
17:31
A color ode to the 800th anniversary of the founding of Moscow, celebrating its defeat of invaders through history and the miracle that it still stands.
The adventures of the young pioneers (V. Pekar, 1971)
17:37;
Young Pioneers are essentially Red Boy Scouts. Three enterprising Russian kids (one is a girl) withstand the Nazi invaders, hoisting a Red Flag over the German headquarters. They're saved from a firing squad by a noble Soviet tank commander. Character-building "fun" for small kids.
The pioneer's violin (B. Stepantsev, 1971)
07:46;
Small kids also need a good dose of bittersweet Russian misery, it seems. Beautiful, frightening animation shows the only survivor of a Nazi attack to be a child. Ordered to play his violin, the Young Pioneer refuses, and then decides to play a rebellious tune that infuriates his captors. Strong enough to mark a sensitive child for life.
Vasilyok (S. Aristakesova, 1973)
09:42
More interesting animation highlights this odd tale of a boy searching for his grandfather, lost in the war. The old man returns, in spirit, in the form of a warship bearing his name. What ordinary grand-dad can compete?
Attention! Wolves! (Yefim Gamburg, 1970) (Внимание! Волки!)
16:56
People, stop! Open your eyes and ears! Can you hear? Can you hear? The wolves are howling! It's growing! Can you hear it? The beast is crouching to spring! People! Stop this beast!
Союзмультфильм (Soyuzmultfilm), 1970 г.
People, stop! Open your eyes and ears! Can you hear? Can you hear? The wolves are howling! It's growing! Can you hear it? The beast is crouching to spring! People! Stop this beast!
After L.Lagin"s pamphlet.
Режиссер: Ефим Гамбург.
A scary, semi-abstract story of the West encouraging the raising of 'Wolves' -- feral children representing the threat of Neo-Nazism, come back as strong as ever. Ends with a genuinely frightening montage of war atrocities.
Tale of a toy (B. Ablinin, 1984)
9:14
An artsy, difficult-to-follow and disturbing blend of animation, newsreel and stop-motion collage work. Images of Spanish and German Fascism destroy the notion of Don Quixote, just for starters.
We can do it (Lev Atamanov, 1970) (Это в наших силах)
9:27
9:26:
American Generals and Capitalists hatch an evil black bird from a Nazi egg, threatening lovers and children the world over with nuclear doom. But the peace-loving pacifists of the world unite to defeat the monster. Even in "pacifist" propaganda, it's apparently important to demonize the USA. Oddly, the giant black bird bears some similarities to our old Sci Fi film The Giant Claw.
CAPITALIST SHARKS (disc 3) contains six films (+ documentary overview) that take on the bourgeoisie the world over - and sometimes beyond. In INTERPLANTERY REVOLUTION (1924), capitalists escaping to Mars discover the revolution has spread throughout the galaxy. Part 3 of a rare collection of animated shorts is overflowing with bold yet elegant images, designed as a shameless tactic to manipulate the hearts and minds of Russian society
Just as America envisioned Communist threats during much of the 20th century, the specter of capitalism loomed large in the Soviet Cold War psyche. This program surveys Soviet animated propaganda embodying that fiercely anti-capitalist spirit. Foreshadowing the space race, Interplanetary Revolution depicts a Communist triumph over free-market forces on Mars; China in Flames warns against capitalist interference in the Chinese Revolution; The Shareholder proclaims the superiority of the Soviet economic system; and Proud Little Ship takes on capitalist aggression. [...] plus commentary from Russian State Film School professor Igor Kokarev and director and animator Fyodor Khitruk. (121 minutes) Portions are in Russian with English subtitles.
Animated Soviet Propaganda DVD 3 Overview
26:49
Part 3 of 4 of the Documentary "Animated Soviet Propaganda"
OVERVIEW COMMENTATORS: Igor Kokarev, Professor of Film Sociology, Russian State Film School
Fyodor Khitruk, director/animator, Soyuzmultfilm
Images of Yuri Merkulov, drawn in approximately 1960-1965, director Y. Merkulov.
Interplanetary revolution (N. Khodataev, Z. Komisarenko, Y. Merkulov, 1924)
07:49;
Soviet political science fiction. The glorious revolution spreads conquers Mars in this odd collage of images. When Earth Capitalists finally reach the Red Planet, they find it already worshipping Lenin.
We'll keep our eyes peeled (N. Khodataev Group, 1927)
02:45;
A Government bond drive is promoted with the claim that a foreign trade embargo is responsible for Soviet economic problems.
The shareholder (Roman Davidov, 1963)
23:32;
One of the better-animated films, this one has real style even though its warped view of America is definitely filtered through alien eyes. A worker loses his job but still has one share of company stock, which becomes the center of an ironic joke.
Proud little ship (Vitold Bordzilovsky, 1966)
18:02;
Amusing but repetitive, this uses excellent animation to tell the tale of a little toy ship, Aurora, that defies entire fleets of evil Capitalist warmongers.
Prophets and lessons (Vyacheslav Kotonochkin, 1967)
09:34;
A pack of White-Russian vermin expelled to the West, goes to a Capitalist prophet (?) who inspires them to assault the Soviet Union. But their every attempt is turned back by the mighty hammer of the Red Worker. The West predicts economic doom but the unstoppable Red industrial machine prevails.
China in flames (N. Khodataev, Y. Merkulov, Z. Komisarenko, 1925)
31:50;
An early and rather lengthy example of direct political propaganda, the film shows China divided up by evil colonial powers. Communist hope Sun Yat Sen finally appears, but the film seems incomplete -- there's no last chapter with a prediction for a Communist future in China.
ONWARD TO THE SHINING FUTURE: COMMUNISM (disc 4) contains 11 works (+documentary overview), most of which mythologize the state and envision the inevitable utopias of the future. Dziga Vertov's SOVIET TOYS (1924), however, offers criticism of the state. Generally agreed to be the first Russian animated film, it satirizes the communist members who cashed in on Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP), which introduced a limited form of capitalist enterprise. Part 4 of a rare collection of animated shorts is overflowing with bold yet elegant images, designed as a shameless tactic to shape the hearts and minds of Russian society.
Soviet film studios worked hard to portray their government's system as idyllic and forward-looking. This program showcases animated films designed to promote that utopian vision. Soviet Toys, the earliest known example of Soviet animation, condemns Lenin's New Economic Policy; The Victorious Destination celebrates the achievements of Stalin's first five-year plan; Samoyed Boy praises the Soviet educational system and the casting-off of antiquated traditions; and Hot Stone, Music Box, and Songs of the Years of Fire rejoice over the passing of Czarist imperialism and the establishment of a new, benevolent society. Eleven films total, plus commentary from Russian State Film School professor Igor Kokarev, political cartoonist Boris Yefimov, and director/animator Fyodor Khitruk. (152 minutes) Portions are in Russian with English subtitles.
Animated Soviet Propaganda DVD 4 Overview
Part 4 of 4 of the Documentary "Animated Soviet Propaganda". OVERVIEW COMMENTATORS: Igor Kokarev, Professor of Film Sociology, Russian State Film School; Fyodor Khitruk, director and animator, Soyuzmultfilm; Vladimir Tarasov, director and animator, Soyuzmultfilm; Boris Yefimov, satirist, artist and writer
29:37;
Forward march, time! (Vladimir Tarasov, 1977)
17:50;
This one is elaborate but very confusing ... and uses rock music as well. It is "based on ideological poems written by Vladimir Mayakovsky in the 20s, as well as advertisements Mayakovsky created during the New Economic Policy with avant-garde artist Alexander Rodchenko."
Soviet toys (Dziga Vertov, 1924)
Goskino; 10:46
An early attempt to sway public opinion on a specific issue, in this case against party bosses allowed to function as old-style entrepreneurs to help the economy shift into a socialized pattern. The same old images dominate -- a fat, spoiled Capitalist eats everything he sees. The Red Army eventually forms a Christmas tree. Stubborn types (Churchmen, fat cats, bourgeois women) are executed and hang from its branches, while the workers place a Red Star on top. Ho Ho Ho.
Samoyed boy (N. & O. Khodataev, V. & Z. Brumberg, 1928)
07:05; 3rd Factory of Sovkino. Made as a silent film.
An early, weird animation that shows an Inuit Eskimo rescued from the ice and brought to study in Moscow.
The music box (N. Khodataev, 1933)
20:21;
Another weird early animation poking fun at pre-revolution Russia. A town needs a new mayor, so the royal authority sends a moron with a clockwork brain to run things.
Lenin's Kino Pravda (Truth in Cinema) (1924, presumed to be directed by Dziga Vertov).
Made as a silent film
00:55
Supposedly directed by the famous Dziga Vertov, this is a baffling parade of odd images and Communist claims. Difficult to understand.
Results of the XII Party Congress (of Cooperation) (ca.1925, director unknown) (Join the cooperative)
03:53
Simple animation urges strength through solidarity -- little farmers unite to compete with the big outfits. Also criticizes profiteering "company private shops."
Victorious destination (Leonid Amalrik, Dmitry Babichenko, Viktor Polkovnikov, 1937)
06:48;
Ugly Western Capitalists object and obstruct, but Stalin's economic miracle triumphs anyway.
War chronicles (Dmitry Babichenko, 1939)
09:00
Foreign powers dream about dividing up the new Soviet Union for their own profit, but all attempts are turned back! This one even depicts Japanese hostilities in the East. Once again, smoky factories and bold worker-soliders lead the way.
A hot stone (Perch Sarkissian, 1965)
16:40;
Excellent animation can't quite make the moral lesson of this one stick. A boy finds a magic stone that will allow people to live their lives over again. His bearded, noble Grandfather prefers his life of hardship, revolution and Communist victory to remain just as it is.
Songs of the years of fire (Inessa Kovalevskaya, 1971)
18:52;
A nostalgic, expensive-looking ode to the Red Army using bold revolutionary designs to illustrate four or five songs of the civil war years. Beautifully orchestrated music; all so we can sing along to a peppy tune about "My happy machine-gun cart."
Plus electrification (Ivan Aksenchuk, 1972)
09:00;
This looks like it was originally in 70mm and widescreen; the picture is slightly letterboxed and cropped. Lenin's idea that electricity and the new government would unite is given a Utopian workout, depicting the whole country (and the European Eastern Bloc) united by electric light. It's no more convincing than our own Disney-fied Carousel of Progress propaganda.
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Bueno, uf. Como veis, se trata de un ripeo de 4 DVD con 40 archivos de vídeo; el audio de los documentales es inglés (o ruso con subtítulos en inglés); todos los cortos están en VO (ruso) con subtítulos en inglés pegados en imagen. Están en formato avi comprimidos en dos archivos .rar (de unos 2,5 Gb cada uno) con estos enlaces:
Animated Soviet Propaganda DVD 1 & 2.rar 
Animated Soviet Propaganda DVD 3 & 4.rar
Que lo disfrutéis con paciencia.
