soviet animation

a little bit of magic for your friday viewing pleasure. those soviets weren't all bad.

and you've got to see this as well (just ignore that weird anti-zionist description on youtube and enjoy the illustrations/animation):



happy weekend, one and all!

hedgehog in the fog

there are things i love about winter - candles, fragrant hyacinth, hot elderberry drinks. but what i hate is when winter doesn't really come. it's been grey, grey, grey for over a week. we've had mild temperatures, and a bit of rain, but we haven't had proper winter. we, and the trees and plants and soil, need some cold temperatures and a blanket of snow. i can handle the darkness this time of year when there's snow.  but i'll admit these unrelentingly grey days are chipping away at my will to live. or at least my will to remain awake. i'm thinking of crawling into bed and hibernating 'til spring. those hedgehogs know what they're doing.

speaking of hedgehogs, i know i've shared this before, long ago, but i give you hedgehog in the fog (Ёжик в тумане), a delightful little piece of russian animation from 1975:

i hope it lifts your spirits as it did mine.

Ёжик в тумане - Hedgehog in the Fog (1975)

a big thank you to lea for introducing me to this delightful little russian animation from 1975 by yuri norshteyn. i know a lot of the very early russian film and some from the early 90s, but i hadn't seen this one before. it's really magical and worth the ten minutes it takes to watch it. i give you hedgehog in the fog.



thank you again, lea!

and after i watched hedgehog, thanks to the great suggestions by youtube, i ran onto this earlier piece by yuri norsteyn, co-directed by ivan ivanov-vano. the seasons (1969). the imagery and motifs are fantastic. i think i feel some embroidery coming on.