To get a sense of people's reactions to this music video, I recommend this forum thread. People generally say that Rasteryayev captures the spirit of those years very well, though some had a guitar instead of an accordion, or bicycles instead of motorcycles, or had to walk, or had no river. Someone points out that this song is really about teenage years rather than "childhood".

It was a distinguishing trait of Russians that they preferred to gather in the woods rather than in bars, as was more common in the West.

In a 2018 interview, Rasteryayev writes that he decided to use animation, despite its difficulty, because he saw no other choice:
"Nowadays you can't make a video about that time. That era is gone; it seems to be nearby, but its attributes are gone. For example, in Rakovka there is no longer a single "Minsk" or "Voskhod" motorcycle, which they used to race on. [...] That is, it is impossible to recreate this world that seemed to exist only yesterday."

I think this is the best of Rasteryayev's three (or so) animated music videos because it's the most "true to life", and based on his actual personal experience.