Watch on Netflix: Animated Soviet Propaganda
I’m sure we’ve all discovered Netflix by now, but are you using it to practice your Russian? It’s one of the easiest and cheapest ways to catch up on all the Russian movies!!
Recently I tried something a little different: Animated Soviet Propaganda. There are four discs in all: 1. American Imperialists 2. Fascist Barbarians 3. Capitalist Sharks and 4. Onward to the Shining Future: Communism. Each disc has 10 or so animated shorts, followed by a “making of” documentary. So far I’m halfway through the series. (I’m on the cheap Netflix plan; two movies per month.)
I watched “American Imperialists” a while ago and really enjoyed it. It’s interesting to see what the stereotypes of your own culture are – or were – even if it was just propaganda. If you’re not a Netflix subscriber, you can find a lot of the shorts online. Here is one of my favorites from that disc:
Part 2 can be viewed here.
Two more of my favorites from disc 1 were Someone Else’s Voice and Mister Twister.
The other night, I finally got around to watching the second disc in the series, “Fascist Barbarians”. I’m sorry to say, I just didn’t enjoy this disc as much as the first one. There was one short, however, that is a must watch if you are interested in Russian culture and history. It’s called “To You Moscow” and was made to commemorate the 800th anniversary of Moscow. It depicts the history of Moscow up to that point. Here is part 1:
Link here for Part 2.
I am going to take a break from animated propaganda for now, but I’ll check in when I’ve watched the rest of the series. Has anyone seen any of these films? What did you think?
January 21, 2010 at 9:46 am
This is pretty cool, and I remember seeing this animated series. I don’t remember most of them from my childhood, but I do remember Mister Twister, which was a beloved rhyme (obviously we didn’t think into the propaganda part of it.) i would also, as you said, recommend Youtube, especially sometimes they have whole Russian movies with subtitles there. The one I’m thinking of in particular is Master and Margarita, the latest 2003 version.
January 21, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Yes – Meeester Tveeester!
My husband likes this one, too. (He doesn’t speak Russian.) I will check out Master and Margarita – I haven’t seen it yet! Thanks!
January 20, 2010 at 4:14 pm
I had nextflix for 6months & never thougt about using it towards my russian desires lol…but yeah, I’m def gonna watch these! I always enjoy things of this nature such as WWII nazi/british prop reels. Thx for the post,yet again, awesome!!!
January 20, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Thanks for the positive feedback!
When I was checking these out on YouTube, I noticed there is a LOT on there – I could get sucked in for hours!