Here it is, part 2 of my brief and uneducated exploration of animation from the USSR.

First up, we have Slow Bistro. The name is (I assume intentionally) ironic because the word ‘Bistro’ comes from the Russian word ‘bistra’ which means ‘quick’ …the video is amusingly abstract and it reminds me of so many Bearder family dinners. This one could quite easily be about Bicester School.

Next we have the funny and beautifully well defined Masyanya. What can I say? – I know many-many Masyanyas.

Here we have some more modern (web-type) animations called ‘Vs’ …they short, simple, stupid and have cool sound effects. You can watch loads more on youtube.

Back to the oldskool stuff, we have “Prostokvashino or Buttermilk Village which is set in a a fictional rural village in Moscow Oblast of Russia (Russian: Простоквашино, from простоквашa, prostokvasha, buttermilk). Due to immense popularity of the cartoon the geographic name came into real life, and some Russian villages and city neighborhoods got this unofficial name, sometimes reflected in the names of bus stops, stores etc.”

The cartoon also captures the Russian/Ukrainian personalities perfectly. Proof (if ever you need it) that woman rule this part of the world and will always get what they want …after a tantrum 😉
I see the cat grinning at me every morning from the label on my milk bottle.

Magic flower” (1948). The stuff that Soviet dreams are made of…

There are singing cats (and noisy people) in ‘Cat Concert’

and finally, here’s a powerfully simple look at war from a country that’s been subject to an awful lot of it.