Feb 12·edited Feb 12Liked by Animation Obsessive Staff
Fair article. Soviet (and soviet-adjacent) animation is bound to these contradictions that in a way defined its greatness by pushing the limits of the animators within a (somewhat) safe framework. Although Russian animators emigrating to other parts of the world is increasingly more common, their native country has gifted them a massive pool of references to develop their own style and an interest in the artform in the first place, whatever the conundrums said legacy was created under were.
A country that seemed to thrive somewhat after the dissolution of the USSR is Belarus. Some beautiful, quaint films were made there during the 90s, such as the work of Vladimir and Yelena Petkevich or Yuletide Stories by Irina Kodyukova, in my opinion the most aesthetically beautiful cutout film since Norstein's.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Carlos. We definitely weren't trying to retrospectively pick sides in the Cold War with this piece -- more just exploring what it really meant for communism to give way to capitalism in the post-Soviet countries. Many don't know what challenges animators faced in the USSR or especially afterward, and it seemed worthwhile to focus an article on that. It's a really messy situation.
And we appreciate the recommendations -- we'll have to check those out!
For sure, I think you were very neutral and balanced here. Another director who begs mentioning when discussing this topic is Garri Bardin, you wrote a piece on his claymation masterpiece The Grey Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood in the early days of the newsletter but it'd be interesting to see a follow-up on The Coiling Prankster.
We've got huge respect for Bardin's work. Thanks for the suggestion -- we'll add him to the list, and maybe also find a way of doing an updated piece on Grey Wolf that goes deeper into its creation than we could back then.
Fair article. Soviet (and soviet-adjacent) animation is bound to these contradictions that in a way defined its greatness by pushing the limits of the animators within a (somewhat) safe framework. Although Russian animators emigrating to other parts of the world is increasingly more common, their native country has gifted them a massive pool of references to develop their own style and an interest in the artform in the first place, whatever the conundrums said legacy was created under were.
A country that seemed to thrive somewhat after the dissolution of the USSR is Belarus. Some beautiful, quaint films were made there during the 90s, such as the work of Vladimir and Yelena Petkevich or Yuletide Stories by Irina Kodyukova, in my opinion the most aesthetically beautiful cutout film since Norstein's.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Carlos. We definitely weren't trying to retrospectively pick sides in the Cold War with this piece -- more just exploring what it really meant for communism to give way to capitalism in the post-Soviet countries. Many don't know what challenges animators faced in the USSR or especially afterward, and it seemed worthwhile to focus an article on that. It's a really messy situation.
And we appreciate the recommendations -- we'll have to check those out!
For sure, I think you were very neutral and balanced here. Another director who begs mentioning when discussing this topic is Garri Bardin, you wrote a piece on his claymation masterpiece The Grey Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood in the early days of the newsletter but it'd be interesting to see a follow-up on The Coiling Prankster.
We've got huge respect for Bardin's work. Thanks for the suggestion -- we'll add him to the list, and maybe also find a way of doing an updated piece on Grey Wolf that goes deeper into its creation than we could back then.
Looking forward to it!