Slavic

The Mitten (Рукавичка) is a 1996 short animated film. It was produced in Ukraine but is almost wordless—though there is nice music!. It’s about eight minutes long. (It should not be confused with the 1967 Soviet puppet film Варежка, which also has the English title The Mitten. That one is about a girl who wants a puppy so […]

Treasure Island (Остров сокровищ in Russian; Острів скарбів in Ukrainian) is, among many other things, a 1988 Russian/Ukrainian/Soviet animated full-length film. Though it was produced by the Ukrainian animated film studio Kyivnaukfilm (Київнаукфільм), it’s entirely in Russian, as was common for the Soviet Union. It actually consists of two parts, “Captain Flint’s Map (“Карта капитана […]

Language Anew (Мова Нанова) is a Belarusian TV show, one of the very, very few that are actually in Belarusian. Because of Belarus’s history of very close ties with Russia, Belarusian is very rarely spoken in most areas of Belarus (somewhat similar to in Ukraine, but more pronounced), and most Belarusian media is in Russian. The […]

Nesterka (Нестерка) is a series of Belarusian short animated films. There are eight in total, each a few minutes long, produced by National Film Studio “Belarusfilm” (Национальная киностудия “Беларусьфильм”). The first episode/film was released in 2004, the last in 2012. According to Belarusfilm, Nesterka is one of Belarus’s most treasured folk heroes. Nesterka is often […]

Kruglyachok (Круглячок; sometimes also spelled Кругляшок in Russian) is a Ukrainian short animated film. Ukrainian and Russian versions were created in 1992 and 2002, respectively. The film is under 10 minutes long and was produced by Ukranimafilm (Укранімафільм), the studio that replaced the Soviet-era Ukrainian animation studio Kyivnaukfilm (Київнаукфільм). Kruglyachok is based on an old Ukrainian fairy […]

This Is Ours and This Is Yours (Це – наше і це – твоє) is a contemporary Ukrainian cartoon series. It airs on PlusPlus (ПлюсПлюс), a children’s TV channel in Ukraine that also airs other cartoons such as Helpful Hints (Корисні підказки). The episodes are about a minute long. The show aims to imbue children with national […]

As Petrik Pyatochkin Counted Elephants (Як Петрик П’яточкін слоників рахував) is a short animated film in Ukrainian. It was created in 1984 and runs about 10 minutes. It’s one of the few films that Kyivnaukfilm (Київнаукфільм), the Ukrainian/Soviet animation studio, produced in Ukrainian rather than Russian. Petrik is one of the most beloved of Ukrainian cartoons. […]

There Once Was a Dog (Жив-був пес in Ukrainian; Жил-был пёс in Russian) is a Ukrainian/Russian short animated film from the Soviet era. It was created in 1982 and spans about 10 minutes. The original version had dialogue in Russian and songs in Ukrainian; in 2012 the film was given a Ukrainian-language voiceover. The story is based […]