Merry-Go-Round
Весёлая карусель
Vesyolaya karusel (ru)
Băng chuyền vui nhộn (vi)
Carosello divertente (it)
Das lustige Karussell (de)
Lõbus karussell (et)
Veseli vrtuljak (hr)
διασκεδαστικό καρουζέλ (el)
مرح دوامة الخيل (ar)
Description:
A long-running series of one-reel (10-minute) compilations of shorter children's cartoons by promising new directors, released for several decades at Soyuzmultfilm studio.
Loosely inspired by an eponymous 1956 poetry collection by Ivan Nehoda (some images here), conceived by Galina Barinova, and pushed through by her husband Anatoliy Petrov, this almanac series was a great success and continued to be produced (at a rate of ~1 episode per year) until the year 2000, then was revived from 2012-2017. Until the end of the Soviet era, it continued to serve in its role of incubating young, promising talent, by giving them the opportunity to experiment with bold, original ideas for younger audiences.
Initially, all the stories in the almanac were worked on collectively. Each issue took nine months, and it had a clearly defined structure: a moral-instructive and cartoon part, a "comic" and an episode of "Well, Just You Wait!". Already after the first episode, the editors decided to spin out "Well, Just You Wait!" into a separate project, so the format changed. After the founders left in 1978, the almanac took the form of a more traditional collection of unrelated cartoons.
A full list of episodes can be seen at the Russian Wikipedia article.
Entries in this series:
-
Merry-Go-Round 1 ❤
Весёлая карусель 1
Vesyolaya karusel 1
1969 – 00:09:51 – Russian – Soyuzmultfilm – Nosyrev Leonid, Petrov Anatoliy, Sokolskiy Gennadiy
Comedy, Literature (non-Rus./USSR), Musical/Opera, Surrealism/dream-logic – drawn (cel)
8.04 ws – Subtitles: Arabic (unknown⭳ – by ?, Niffiwan), German (good⭳ – by Тихон, Niffiwan₂), English (ok⭳ – by Eus, Niffiwan), Estonian (unknown⭳ – by Pastella), Italian (unknown⭳ – by ?, Niffiwan), Russian (unknown⭳ – by Niffiwan)
The first entry of an acclaimed long-running series of short, artistically daring children's cartoons by promising new directors. Includes: "Mosaic" (Nosyrev, with Barinova as art director), "Antoshka" (Nosyrev), "Absent-Minded Giovanni" (Anatoliy Petrov, based on a story by Italian writer Gianni Rodari), "Well, Just You Wait!" (Sokolskiy - the "pilot episode" of the most famous Soviet cartoon series).2023-06-172022-10-04 -
Merry-Go-Round 2 ❤
Весёлая карусель 2
Vesyolaya karusel 2
1970 – 00:10:04 – Russian – Soyuzmultfilm – Nosyrev Leonid, Petrov Anatoliy, Strautmane Rasa
Comedy, Folklore & myth (Rus./East Slavic), Literature (Rus./East Slavic), Musical/Opera – drawn (cel)
4.6 ws – Subtitles: German (good⭳ – by Тихон, Eus₂, Niffiwan₂), German (ok⭳ – by Тихон), Greek (unknown⭳ – by ?), English (good⭳ – by Mr. Icon), English (good⭳ – by Mr. Icon, Niffiwan, Eus₂), Estonian (unknown⭳ – by Pastella), Croatian (unknown⭳ – by M de Vega, Niffiwan₂), Italian (unknown⭳ – by ?), Russian (unknown⭳ – by ?), Russian (unknown⭳ – by Niffiwan, Eus₂), Vietnamese (unknown⭳ – by Cynir)
Includes: "Cock-and-Bull Story" (by Strautmane, adapting a nonsense poem), "The First" (by Anatoliy Petrov, in which some scouts go on a hike) and "Two Merry Ganders" (by Nosyrev, the most famous of the shorts, featuring a song about two geese).2023-06-172022-10-04 -
Merry-Go-Round 3 ❤
Весёлая карусель 3
Vesyolaya karusel 3
1971 – 00:09:47 – Russian – Soyuzmultfilm – Nosyrev Leonid, Petrov Anatoliy, Ugarov Valeriy
Comedy, Literature (Rus./East Slavic), Musical/Opera, Sci-fi & space – drawn (cel)
10.58 ws – Subtitles: German (good⭳ – by Тихон, Eus₂, Niffiwan₂), English (ok⭳ – by Eus, Niffiwan, ?₂), Estonian (unknown⭳ – by Pastella), Russian (unknown⭳ – by Niffiwan, Eus₂, Тихон₃)
Includes: "The Devastation" (by Ugarov, adapting Eduard Uspenskiy's poem about a destroyed apartment), "The Blue Meteorite" (by Petrov, adapting a sci-fi poem by Roman Sef) and "Ginger, Ginger, Freckled Redhead" (by Nosyrev, a song in which a boy gets teased for being a ginger).2022-10-222022-10-06 -
Merry-Go-Round 4
Весёлая карусель 4
Vesyolaya karusel 4
1972 – 00:09:20 – Russian – Soyuzmultfilm – Barinova Galina, Nosyrev Leonid, Petrov Anatoliy
Comedy, Literature (Rus./East Slavic) – drawn (cel), drawn (not cel)
10.24 ws – Subtitles: English (good⭳ – by Eus, Niffiwan), Estonian (unknown⭳ – by Pastella), Russian (unknown⭳ – by Niffiwan, Eus₂)
Includes: "About a Freaky Frog" (by Barinova, adapting Tsyferov's story of a conversation between a cow and a frog), "The Silent Hamster" (by Nosyrev, adapting Eduard Shim's story of a resourceful and underestimated hamster) and "A Merry Little Old Man" (by Petrov, adapting Daniil Kharms' poem).2022-10-152022-10-15 -
Merry-Go-Round 5
Весёлая карусель 5
Vesyolaya karusel 5
1973 – 00:09:33 – Russian – Soyuzmultfilm – Barinova Galina, Petrov Anatoliy, Sokolskiy Gennadiy, Ugarov Valeriy
Domestic life, Folklore & myth (Rus./East Slavic), Literature (Rus./East Slavic), Sci-fi & space, Surrealism/dream-logic – drawn (cel), paint
13.17 ws – Subtitles: English (ok⭳ – by Eus, Niffiwan), Estonian (unknown⭳ – by Pastella), Russian (unknown⭳ – by Niffiwan, Eus₂)
Featuring: "Isn't This Movie About You?" (Ugarov) - a girl makes a mess while her mom's away, "Who Is Grazing In the Meadow" (Barinova) - a farm animal riddle, "The Miracle" (Petrov) - kids in a futuristic city find something very special, "Tall Tales Face to Face" (Gennadiy Sokolskiy) - a man from far away relates the odd customs of his home.2022-10-222022-10-21 -
Merry-Go-Round 6
Весёлая карусель 6
Vesyolaya karusel 6
1974 – 00:09:31 – Russian – Soyuzmultfilm – Barinova Galina, Morozov Vladimir
Comedy, Literature (Rus./East Slavic) – drawn (cel)
12.88 ws – Subtitles: English (good⭳ – by Eus, Niffiwan, Chapaev₂), Estonian (unknown⭳ – by Pastella), Russian (unknown⭳ – by Niffiwan)
Includes: "The Treatment of Vasiliy" (by Morozov, adapting Petrushevskaya's story of a doctor who treats a giant), "Mishmash" (by Barinova, adapting Korney Chukovskiy's absurd story of animals who decide to change roles with other animals).2023-10-242023-10-24