| Happy Merry-Go-Round | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animated cartoon Anthology series |
| Created by | Anatoly Petrov Galina Barinova |
| Starring | Various voice actors |
| Composer | Various |
| Country of origin | Soviet Union Russia |
| Original language | Russian |
| No. of episodes | 33 (91 segments) (original) 15 (56 segments) (revival) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 8–14 minutes |
| Production company | Soyuzmultfilm |
| Original release | |
| Release | 1969 (1969) – 2001 (2001) |
Happy Merry-Go-Round (Russian: Весёлая карусель, romanized: Vesyolaya karusel') is a long-running Soviet and Russian animated anthology series created by Anatoly Petrov and Galina Barinova for Soyuzmultfilm in 1969.[1] It is presented as a collection of 2–4 experimental shorts by various young directors. The original series ran from 1969 to 2001 and was released theatrically during the Soviet days and on television in the Russian Federation. 2012 saw the revival of the series.
The idea of the animated "newsreel" anthology (or a "children's animated magazine" as it was known in the Soviet Union) came to Anatoly Petrov and his wife Galina Barinova, both experienced animators at Soyuzmultfilm who hadn't been given a chance to direct their own films before. It was conceived as a proving ground for experimental animation by beginning directors based on riddles, rhymes, songs, absurd stories and so on.[2][3]
The series aired in 1969 as a collection of four short traditionally animated cartoons by a team of newcomers, originally under the "artistic guidance" by Roman Kachanov. The first episode included Distracted Giovanni by Petrov, a hand-drawn story with a cutout look about a distracted boy who literally fell apart; Mosaic directed by Galina Barinova and Leonid Nosyrev that utilized a mosaic aesthetics; Antoshka, a musical comedy also by Nosyrev, and Well, Just You Wait!byGennady Sokolsky which was soon turned into a popular series of its own.[4]
Despite heavy criticism from the head of Goskino for "using children's cinema as a proving ground for abstract art", the anthology got a lot of praise on its release, and the team continued the production, attracting new people.[5] Among those who made their directional debut in Happy Merry-Go-Round were Eduard Nazarov, Valery Ugarov, Garri Bardin, Aleksandr Davydov and others.[6] They were given a lot of artistic freedom which allowed many of them to develop distinctive styles before departing to their own projects.[3]
The first ten episodes were released theatrically from 1969 to 1978 on a yearly bases. Each episode was 9 months in production.[5] While not directly connected, the segments still tried to follow a basic "comics" pattern and were developed collectively.[3] After 1978 the original team left the project and it turned into a more traditional collection of cartoons, with each segment being developed independently from the rest.[5] Episodes started appearing randomly: sometimes 2-3 per year, sometimes with a 1-2 year interval. Several stop motion shorts were introduced during the 1980s.
It was one of the few Soyuzmultfilm's projects that survived the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the following crisis, switching to the television format. The original series ran for 33 seasons up until 2001 when the production was stopped. In 2012 the series was revived. New directors and new types of animation were introduced, such as claymation, 2D and 3D computer animation.
| No. | Segment | Original Title | Creator | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (1969) | Mosaic | Мозайка | Galina Barinova, Leonid Nosyrev | Mosaic animals transform and chase each other. |
| Antoshka | Антошка | Leonid Nosyrev | A song about a lazy boy Antoshka who refuses to dig potatoes. | |
| Distracted Giovanni | Рассеянный Джованни | Anatoly Petrov | An absent-minded Italian boy is losing his body parts. | |
| Well, Just You Wait! | Ну, погоди! | Gennady Sokolsky | Three mini-stories about a hooligan wolf trying to eat a hare. | |
| 2 (1970) | Tall Tales | Небылицы | Rasa Strautmane | A tale about a tall short man and his flying crocodile that makes no sense. |
| The Very First | Самый первый | Anatoly Petrov | Forest adventures of a lazy pioneer who hid in a backpack. | |
| Two Merry Geese | Два весёлых гуся | Leonid Nosyrev | Based on a folklore song about two merry geese. | |
| 3 (1971) | A Mess | Разгром | Valery Ugarov | Mother is guessing what happened to the flat during her absence. |
| Blue Meteorite | Голубой метеорит | Anatoly Petrov | Somewhere in space flies a blue meteorite... | |
| Red, Red, Freckled | Рыжий, рыжий, конопатый | Leonid Nosyrev | Another teasing song about Antoshka who "killed his gradpa with a shovel". | |
| 4 (1972) | About an Oddball Froglet | Про чудака лягушонка | Valery Ugarov | What if a froglet was a cow? |
| A Silent Hamster | Хомяк-молчун | Leonid Nosyrev | A rude hamster with fat cheeks doesn't greet anyone. | |
| A Merry Oldman | Весёлый старичок | Anatoly Petrov | A merry dwarf who always laugh. A poem by Daniil Kharms. | |
| 5 (1973) | Isn't This Film About You? | Не про тебя ли этот фильм? | Valery Ugarov | About a really messy and absent-minded girl. |
| Who Graze in a Field? | Кто пасётся на лугу? | Galina Barinova | Someone who starts with a "co...". A riddle song. | |
| Wonder | Чудо | Anatoly Petrov | In a futuristic city there is only one wonder left... | |
| Tall Tales in Faces | Небылицы в лицах | Gennady Sokolsky | Nikodim mocks stupid Egor. Based on Russian nursery rhymes. | |
| 6 (1974) | Healing of Vasily | Лечение Василия | Vladimir Morozov | A giant didn't take a bath for 100 years, and now it hurts. |
| Confusion | Путаница | Galina Barinova | Animals have suddenly gone mad. A poem by Korney Chukovsky. | |
| 7 (1975) | Silly Horse | Глупая лошадь | Galina Barinova | A silly horse doesn't know when to put on galoshes. |
| Little Hippo | Бегемотик | Eduard Nazarov | A little hippo is very lonely and can't find a friend. | |
| 8 (1976) | What's with the Lion's Large Mane? | Почему у льва большая грива? | Natalia Bogomolova, Olga Orlova | Once upon a time a barber tried to cut lion's hair. |
| Orange | Апельсин | Galina Barinova | A counting-out game: how to divide an orange between friends. | |
| A Tincan | Консервная банка | Garri Bardin | A cruel boy ties a tincan to a kitten and gets his revenge. | |
| 9 (1977) | For a Fillip | За щелчок | Leonid Kayukov | A bully hare offers a carrot in exchange for a fillip. |
| Clown | Клоун | Leonid Kayukov | A circus clown shows what he is capable of. | |
| A Princess and a Cannibal | Принцесса и людоед | Eduard Nazarov | Two versions of how a princess met a cannibal in the woods. | |
| 10 (1978) | Parcel | Посылка | Galina Barinova | About a hungry rat Anfisa who received a tasty parcel. |
| A Firefly | Светлячок | Anatoly Petrov | Adventures of a lonely firefly at the bottom of a river. | |
| A Butterfly and a Tiger | Бабочка и тигр | Valery Ugarov | A striped mattress wants to be a tiger and scares everyone. |
