Thursday, November 3, 8:00 pm
ABOUT THE MUSIC 

The Source
The great Russian animation studio Soyuzmultfilm, from whom we licensed most of the cartoons you will see in our November 3rd Brighton Beach event, was founded in 1936 and grew quickly to become the Soviet Union’s premier animation studio. During the Soviet era, the studio employed a over 700 artists and released an average of 20 films each year. Many of these films became an integral part of Soviet culture: The Silly Little Mouse, Winnie Pooh Goes Visiting, Boy is a Boy, The Bremen Musicians, and so on.

Ironically, Soyuzmultfilm’s creativity was fueled in part by the unique conditions of the Soviet Union which made it possible for the studio to disregard the commercial appeal of its films. Because animators were paid by the Academy of Film regardless of how well or how poorly their products appealed to the general public, they were free to pursue their artistic vision without giving a thought to finances. And thus, the variety of animation styles and the unprecedented degree of artistic freedom given to its many animators made Soyuzmultfilm one of the world’s most diverse major animation studios.

The Critiques
Of course, Russian cartoons were not released without some criticism. Some people, for example, believed subversive subtexts could be read into many old Russian cartoons, particularly those created during the Soviet era — messages such as “don’t hurt the little guy or you will yourself get into a foolish situation,” always a popular motif when thinking of governments. Certain state sponsored critics called out completely different subtexts: for example claiming that some of the cartoons supported socially undesirable themes, much in the same way enforcers of the Hays Code in the United States tried to lay similar claims against US television shows like Batman and Robin in the 1960s. Still others claimed Russian cartoons provoked a struggle between the so-called intelligentsia and the working class.

What remains fascinating to us today is that due to the unique particulars of Russian society and history, the cartoons on display this November 3rd for the first time in Brooklyn’s largely Russian neighborhood of Brighton Beach make their social commentary with unusual subtlety and artistry, without resorting to simply lampooning the ideas or people they might hope to oppose or influence as so many other political cartoons around the world do today. The music of such composers as Shostakovich, Schnittke and Gubaidulina, among others highlight the artists’ determination not to dilute their idiom for any reason whatsoever. Like Russian society itself, these cartoons and the music that blends with them skillfully combine the old with the new, the poignant with the humorous, and simple with the complex.

The November 3rd event at Millennium Theater represents a world premier by performing over 70 years original cartoons and their music live with full orchestra to celebrate a rare and an extensive treasure trove of Russian animation heritage.