Here’s a 1950s Soviet animated version of the classic fairy tale ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ Parts 1 – 2 after the jump…

Have you ever watched Andrei Tarkovsky’s brilliant 1972 Russian science fiction film, Solaris? Well, you should. It’s long and it moves at its own leisure, but you’ll be richly rewarded with an unforgettable cinematic experience. When I was a kid I was a huge fan of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. So when I went [...]

Russian animator Yura Boguslavsky made this film with children and adults in his animation workshop. It’s a lunatic and irrational story about a king with a wild beard and some very strange fish people who live in Cardboardia.

Excerpt 1 – First Men in Space: The film is in Russian but you absolutely do not need to know Russian to enjoy it!  Unfortunately, I can’t find the entire film, only these three excerpts. Pavel Klushantsev’s 1957 film, Road to the Stars, features astoundingly realistic special effects that were an inspiration and obvious blueprint [...]

Paul Gallagher at Dangerous Minds posted this 1924 Russian propaganda masterpiece. It’s a wild, science fiction, abstract work of art that just keeps pumping out wondrous images, one after the other. I love the ragged edges and mix of photographs, hand-drawn animation and cutouts.

A 1913 stop-motion film produced by the Russian Khanzhonkov Company and directed by Vladislav Starevich. Gorgeous. Look at how expressive Father Christmas is. He begins the tale as an ornament on a tree. He climbs down and makes his way into the forest.

A Russian stop-motion animation from 1912. Directed by Ladislaw Starewicz. Angry, jealous, cheating beetles! Here’s some more information about the filmmaker at Dangerous Minds.

Here’s a 1945 Russian animated feature about a Cossack who is traveling to deliver a letter to the Tsarina in St. Petersburg. The letter is stolen by a devil and the Cossack goes into hell to retrieve it. It’s a dark and beautiful film with a good sense of humor and wonderful character animation. The [...]

From Russian animation studio Toonbox comes this marvelous animation based on a poem by Sasha Svirsky. I don’t understand a word of it but I love the sound of it. I really must find the woman who does the voice-over.  She is just magnificent and totally fearless.  The drawings are fascinating.  The rhythm is catchy.  [...]

Courtesy of Cold Hard Flash comes yet another wonderful cartoon from Russia’s Toonbox Animation Studio. It’s part of a new web animation series called Shaman’s Quest.