The saddest and scariest cartoons for Soviet children from "Soyuzmultfilm"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

One of the popular topics readily discussed on the Internet today is Soviet cartoons. Positivity, well-defined moral emphases and high professionalism of the “old school” are still the model. However, evaluating children's experiences from the point of view of an adult, many users recall frankly scary and sad works that were supposed to awaken kindness and compassion in kids, but judging by the reaction of grown-up children, sometimes they only caused horror and tears. True, such "hard lessons from Soyuzmultfilm" were remembered for the rest of my life. This review contains a selection of cartoons that are leaders in such discussions.

Sad penguins

Very often, as an example of a cartoon over which they cried in childhood, users call the Russian-Japanese tape "The Adventures of Lolo the Penguin", which, by the way, after the adoption of the "Law on Information" received a rating of "6+" in our country. This is rather strange, since in addition to the dangerous adventures in which two brave penguins fall, their father dies near the end when attacked by poachers. It is interesting that in America, which is usually accused of producing violent content, this work of our animators was seriously "cut off". The censorship completely removed the footage showing blood (in the scene of the death of penguins from the shots of poachers) and everything related to the death of the character. After reworking the phrases behind the scenes, a positive version of the ending of this story turned out, which does not make the little spectators sob.

The 1968 animated film "The Penguins" looks like a real tragedy today. Even retelling the plot sounds very difficult. This is a story about a penguin, whose egg was replaced with a stone, but he still tried to hatch it and even drowned in the sea, trying to save his child, who would never have been born. This is really capable of unbalancing even not very sensitive children (and not only children, by the way). Although, perhaps, it all depends on the perception. Someone remembers "Penguins" as a sad, but very bright cartoon.

Dogs - loyal and abandoned

The topic of pets is always very touching. The cartoon "Bring Rex", created at the Soyuzmultfilm studio in 1975, is remembered by many as the most beloved, although they admit that it made people cry. The death of a faithful dog who saved the boy in cold water, but did not survive himself - this is only the beginning of the story. Then an almost detective intrigue unfolds with the search for a new friend. The puppy was named Rex in memory, he, too, like the former dog, learns to play hockey with a small owner, so the end is generally well received. Evaluating the cartoon from the perspective of adults, users agree that it teaches us to let go of those who leave us.

"Goodbye, ravine!" This puppet adaptation of the story of the same name by Konstantin Sergienko came out, undoubtedly, very gloomy. The darkish color scheme is quite consistent with the nature of the story. A flock of homeless mongrels in a ravine, their sad stories, a camper van and dog catchers - all the trappings of films about abandoned friends are here. The fact that at the end of the little doggie Baby is still saved from a terrible fate and taken to a new house no longer adds optimism to the cartoon. As Soviet critics wrote in a rather positive review, this. Probably, such stories are needed, but it is this one that is remembered by most people today as too hopeless.

The silent puppet cartoon "Mitten" is remembered by almost everyone who grew up in the USSR. The tape was filmed a very long time ago - in 1967 by director Roman Kochanov. This venerable luminary of our animation created, by the way, "Cheburashka" and "The Secret of the Third Planet". The story of a girl who wants to have a dog so badly that she plays with a mitten in the yard is actually incredibly touching. Probably with only one "but": it is much more useful for parents who sometimes cannot hear their children. It is possible that, having perceived this message at a tender age, the generation that grew up on such cartoons makes fewer mistakes today when communicating with their children. Many people remember "Mitten" as one of the saddest moments of their childhood.

Mammoths and dinosaurs

Or rather, of course, mammoths. Only very callous children did not cry to the song "On the blue sea, to the green land …", but today everyone has almost forgotten another tape on the topic of extinct animals. The users did not even include the famous "Mom for a Mammoth" in 1981 in the list of sad cartoons, because everything ended well there (although I want to cry, when you remember). But the 1983 puppet tape "About the Mammoth" is much less positive. In it, the baby, trying to save the flower, loses its mother and freezes. The only way out of the terrifying emotional impasse is to explain to yourself and the children that this is the backstory of the famous and beloved masterpiece, where everything will end well. Both cartoons were shot in honor of a fossil calf found in the Magadan region, which was given the name Dima. If you are not sad yet, you can add that the Mammoth song is currently an unofficial anthem of institutions for orphans and children left without parental care.

Everyone who watched the animated cartoon "Dinosaur Mountain" as a child has very hard memories. The death of small dinosaurs that cannot hatch from eggs, since the shell suddenly became too thick, of course, can be perceived as a version of the reason for the disappearance of dinosaurs, but the tragedy of the scene overshadows the popular scientific background:

A frightening classic

Of course, among the literary works for children there are many sad and sometimes too moralizing. You can recall here "The Lion and the Dog" by Leo Tolstoy and Andersen's fairy tales, but the film adaptations were not always able to cause many hours of sobs of young viewers. But some, it would seem, and not the most terrible, sometimes brought to real hysterics. Discussion of childhood memories online makes it clear that some cartoons did cause similar reactions in many.

The ballad by Robert Louis Stevenson "Heather Honey" is a classic of world literature and is studied at school. But, we must pay tribute to the Soviet animators, in 1974 they managed to create a really special film that is still remembered and loved. His special gloomy atmosphere in childhood was perceived incredibly sharply and sank into the soul for a long time.

Wilhelm Hauff's tale "The Caliph the Stork", written almost 200 years ago, is also quite gloomy. However, the cartoon, based on her in 1981, still breaks records for childhood fears. Many people admit that the word "mutabor" even today, even in adults and balanced people, causes inexplicable horror.

The story of a girl freezing in the street is one of Andersen's most tragic stories. The work of Belarusian animators was able to fully convey the mood of the classic storyteller, who was very stingy with good ends and sometimes, it seems, simply hated his characters (judging by what he did with them). The cartoon, which appeared in the late 90s, is remembered today by many.

The great Danish storyteller was afraid of women and had many other phobias. Researchers today are looking for an answer to the question why Andersen's fairy tales are so sad