Galileo (Галилео) is a Russian popular science/talk show. It’s been around in various formats since 2007; new episodes have not aired since 2015, but supposedly the show has not actually been canceled. Episodes in the first five seasons were a half hour; episodes in the next nine were 45 minutes. The show is based on […]
KVN (КВН; Клуб весёлых и находчивых, or “Club of funny and inventive people”) is a famous Russian sketch-comedy show and game show. It’s been running on and off (mostly on) since 1961—it barely even skipped a beat during the fall of the Soviet Union. For its humor, mentality, popularity, and long-running-ness (and its three-letter title), […]
Hedgehog in the Fog (Ёжик в тумане) is a 1975 Soviet short animated film. It’s rather dark and philosophical, and not exactly meant for children; but even if you can’t understand every word, it’s beautiful and fascinating enough to be worth a watch. The film was directed by Yuriy Norshtein (Юрий Норштейн), a very well-known […]
The Strange World of Filemon the Cat (Dziwny świat kota Filemona) and The Adventures of Filemon the Cat (Przygody kota Filemona) are two connected Polish cartoon series from the 1970s and ’80s. The Strange World aired from 1972 to 1974, encompassing 13 nine-minute episodes. It was then followed by The Adventures, from 1977 to 1981, which included 26 […]
Mordziaki is a Polish children’s series. It is part animated, part puppet, and part live action, depending on which characters are being depicted. It aired from 1993 all the way to 2000, yet there are only nine episodes, each about 25 minutes. The show was produced by Polish studio Se-ma-for, which is responsible for many Polish animated […]
King Matt the First (Król Maciuś Pierwszy) is a Polish–French–German animated children’s series, with dubbed versions in each language. It’s based on the children’s book of the same name, by the Polish writer Janusz Korczak, first published in 1922. The series aired in Poland from 2002 to 2006; 52 11-minute episodes were created in total. The King […]
Fantazy the Bear (Miś Fantazy) is a Polish children’s cartoon series. It was quite long-running, from 2008 to 2015, but there are still somehow only 13 episodes and one season. Each episode is about 13 minutes. The show has a distinguished pedigree: it is based on two novels by Polish writer Ewa Karwan-Jastrzębska, Fantazy the […]
Mami Fatale is a Polish children’s series that aired from 2013 to 2014. It consists of two seasons, each with 13 10-minute episodes. It was produced by Studio Miniatur Filmowych—the classic Polish animation studio that formed in 1957 and has been producing hits, including the recent Hip-Hip and Hurra, ever since—and Grupa Smacznego, a newer, […]
Parauszek and Friends (Parauszek i przyjaciele—though “Parauzek” is translated as “Flapper” in the show’s English-language teaser) is a Polish children’s puppet show that aired in 2013 and 2014. There are two seasons and 26 episodes, each about 10 minutes. The show is produced by Se-Ma-For, the seminal Polish animation studio that has been around since […]
Cheburashka (Чебурашка) is one of the great classics of Russian culture (one could say). The cartoons, which basically all Russians and Russian language students know and love, aired between 1969 and 1974. The Cheburashka episodes are actually a series of short films—“Crocodile Gena and His Friends” (“Крокодил Гена и его друзья), “Cheburashka” (“Чебурашка”), “Shapoklyak” (“Шапокляк”), and “Cheburashka Goes […]
Hip-Hip and Hurra (Hip-Hip i Hurra) is a Polish children’s cartoon series. It’s your standard comedic/educational program, with talking animals for main characters and various life lessons at the end of every episode. It also features some humor that adults may actually enjoy. The show aired from 2011 to 2014, consisting of two seasons and 26 episodes […]
Włatcy móch (The Lord of the Flies—though the Polish original is intentionally misspelled) is a Polish cartoon series meant for adults. Much like the American South Park, it features four young boys and their very unchildlike adventures. The show ran for four years from 2006 to 2010, and consisted of 10 seasons—more than 100 episodes, plus […]
