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Soyuzmultfilm Celebrates 85 Years The legendary Russian Studio, SMF Studio (Soyuzmultfilm), looks at its rich history and past successes with a mindset decidedly in the future. New productions, a constant vision and a multimedia attraction are just a few of the ways the Studio is becoming a global player... SMF Studio (Soyuzmultfilm) is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year! Several generations have grown up on the cartoons, stories, and characters of the legendary animation studio. The number of cartoons—short, fulllength, multi-series—which were created within the walls of the most famous cartoon factory in the RF is near to 2,000, and new fairy-tale worlds and animated universes are being created even now, as you read this article. A bit of history SMF Studio is a truly unique phenomenon not only in Russia, but in worldwide animation. Over the past decades, since its foundation in 1936, the animation studio has been through several significant stages of development. In the early years the authors learned from the experience of the world’s animators and adopted their techniques, tailoring them to the ethnic aesthetics. Pilot projects, created by SMF, were very similar to Disney’s animation, but in the ‘40s and ‘50s the artists and directors turned their focus towards fairy tales, thus creating many memorable full-length and short films on their basis. Having gained experience, the authors began to create original works, applying different techniques and genres. During this period, many cartoons and characters appeared that defined the face of Russian animation as a whole: a series of cartoons about Cheburashka and Gena the Crocodile, the Bremen Town Musicians, Umka the bear, the comedy series I’ll get you!, the almanac Merry-go-round, and many others. A distinctive feature of
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animation of the Soviet period was that it existed outside of commercial conditions, which allowed the studio to develop a huge authors’ school and creative potential. The films that were created in those years won prestigious awards around the world. Many significant figures in the history of animation, including, for example, the legendary Japanese director - Hayao Miyazaki, admitted that Soviet animation inspired them to create their own works. Political changes in the late ‘80s led to the fact that the legendary SMF Studio almost ceased to produce cartoons. However, since the beginning of the 2000s, commercial studios began to appear in Russia. The studios have started to create projects, focusing on the modern context and global trends. The artists managed to attract the attention of the state to the resurgent animation industry, and, having received the necessary support, SMF opened a new chapter in its history. New era — new animation In 2017, having assembled a new team, the studio moved to a modern, technologically equipped building and launched production in several directions at once: animated series for different age groups, full-length and auteur short films. In just three years, the new team has managed almost the impossible: today, the studio’s animated series are among the top leaders of children’s viewing according to the research company Mediascope and gather an audience of millions on the network. The range of these IPs is very wide, and each viewer can choose their “favorite.” For the youngest audience, SMF Studio has created a cheerful family of orange cows from the animated series Orange Moo-Cow, and amazing Claymotions that easily take a variety of forms and tell kids how this
world works, teach them to count and sing notes. Elder preschoolers can sing funny songs with Rockoons. Memorable musical compositions have always been part of the films of the SMF’s “Golden Collection,” and now the studio is reviving this tradition. A lot of the songs can also be found in the studio’s Squared Zebra. This unusual animated series, as well as Orange Moo-cow have already attracted the attention of foreign partners — together with the European producer and distributor of animated projects Cyber Group Studios, the studio is preparing their international versions. The series The Secrets of Honey Hills also has a great potential for the Russian and international market. This is a truly innovative animated series: the first kid’s animated detective on the domestic screens, with scripts from the famous Russian writer Daria Dontsova. The new vision is the principle that SMF Studio also applies when updating classic franchises. The perception of modern children requires a different picture and plot tempo; the studio, however, strives to preserve the spirit of popular cartoons of the Soviet era. The first such example was the animated series Mr Theo, Cat and Dog, which has been successfully running on screens for three years and has found its audience. This year, two more long-awaited premieres will also appear on the screens — the relaunch of the legendary animated series I’ll get you! and a series inspired by Inessa Kovalevskaya’s cartoon ScarecrowMeowow, called Meow Magic. To address the legendary Wolf-Hare chase years later is a very ambitious task, which the creative team has approached with great responsibility. Made in the 3D technique, the animated series will present new characters and modern locations. The musical
