Folklore Traditions of the Sverdlovsk Animation School

Abstract

Sverdlovsk (or, as it is more often called, Ural) school of animation has made a name for itself throughout the world and is gaining recognition at prominent film festivals. It is noted for the visual ingenuity, experimenting with production techniques and special twists in storylines. The plots are often based on folk traditions of national (including the Urals) and world literature. Even given the relevance of the unique experience of Ural author’s animation in Russian and internationally, the totality of authors and their works hasn’t been properly studied as yet. Films by the founders of the Urals animation school are the least investigated in the scientific literature. This article identifies specific features, traditions and tendencies in development of screen animation in the Urals in the 60s–80s of XX century. Examples of works made by the Urals animators are used to illustrate the distinctive features in author’s interpretations of folk traditions and motifs in animation. Films of that period targeted the young audience and were didactic and moralistic in nature. Simultaneously, these films contained theatrical elements stemming from folk carnival and funfair culture and were full of comedy and entertainment. On-screen pieces of work were based on tales of different nations of the USSR and also on works by P.P. Bazhov and D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak. These films were often characterized by eclectic elements, “style game” and a mixture of genres. Film characters frequently used songs, chastushki (humorous folk songs) and poems to express themselves. A voiceover was widely used. Puppet and cut out animation were the main animation techniques. During these years new generations of animation artists were already being trained at the Sverdlovsk Film Studio and they had a chance to internalize the experience and traditions of experts in the workplace. By the mid-1980-s “Ural animation school” emerged as a term in the professional sphere and has since been considered a holistic phenomenon which is worth special attention of modern researchers.