Search - Masters Of Russian Animation - Volume 2 on DVD

"Hedgehog" will incite your IMAGINATION

BlaskoFilms | Coon Rapids, MN United States | 12/13/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you have any love of animation at all - the artistry, the depth, the impact - the Masters of Russian Animation volumes are a MUST OWN. In this edition, Norstein's "Hedgehog in the Fog" will tickle and please your visual imagination like NOTHING else! I presented this short film to an American suburban community center audience and they were SPELLBOUND! I've owned a lot of films on DVD (and sold a lot - crazy recession), but I'll never relinquish any of the four volumes in this series. NEVER! Enjoy, with my regards."

Worth gold just for the films of Ivanov-Vano

Amadeus 888 | London | 06/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD is worth gold just for the "Seasons" and the "Battle of Kerzhenets". The Seasons is one of the most exquisitely beautiful films I've ever seen by one of the greatest animators of the previous century, the Russian Ivanov-Vano. It is made on a multiplane (I think), using traditional russian lace designs and russian toys. The music is the "Seasons" (naturally) by Tchaikovsky. It's stunning and whenever I get a chance to watch it, I always get a sense of beauty and peace. Sometimes, I just wish I could live in that magical, fairytale world that Ivanov-Vano created.

The "Battle of Kerzhenets" is another film by Ivanov-Vano based on Russian Orthodox icons. A feast for the eyes, beautiful and original in all respects. The score is Rimsky-Korsakov.


Higly, highly recommended.
"

Hedgehog Superstar

J. Perry | San Francisco, Ca United States | 07/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes my Amazon name is a nod, if not an outright ripoff, from the Y. Norstein short included here. This disc is awesome! Norstein, the Miyazaki of Russia, is featured in this disc with four of his films represented here. I gain so much joy from watching these shorts. Just when we built up the notion of the evil red empire, our preseption will be forever changeed when we see these gems from our former enemy. The true masters of world animation are included here!"

Trippy

Miguel Lescano Cornejo | Guayaquil, Ecuador | 10/01/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Geez, I did not know that Russian animators used to smoke the same stuff The Beatles did! I've just finished this collection, and although almost all are enjoyable in some way, I especially liked three: "Ballerina on a boat", which resembles the UPA cartoons of the same era in its minimalism, "Butterfly", which resembles Yellow Submarine's trippiest parts, and "Crane Feathers", which is curious because it is a Japanese folk story told by Russian animators. The last one, "Contact", is also very, very "Pepperland" (The town in "Yellow Submarine"). I have a couple of gripes with this collection:

1) Although "Seasons" and "Battle" are widescreen, they are presented within a 4:3 frame.

2) English subtitles are hard-coded in the four shorts that have dialogue: Fox, Heron, Hedgehog and Firing Range.

3) Two of the shorts, "Battle at Kerzhenets" and "Crane Feathers", should have more detailed explanation in the booklet. The first one depicts historic Russian events and the second one, a Japanese folk tale.

All in all, I liked this DVD and I think it is a fine addition to my collection of mainstream and not-so-mainstream animation. Even my mother liked some of the shorts and started to found morals in some of them.

Note to parents (warning: spoiler): All these shorts are family-friendly. Most of them were made for children. The only short that would deserve a PG is "Firing Range" for stylized violence (people dying in explosions, but we see no blood or gore).

I'll add a still image extracted from each short so you can see for yourself the quality of these works. I hope this helps you to make up your mind and buy it."