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Private Notes
An introduction to the films of the first season dealing with American Imperialism. Almost exclusively drawn from the Cold War era, the recurring image is of the money hungry industrialist self-destructing because of his greed.
Based on “Black and White,” a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky. Mayakovsky is often called the loudspeaker of the Bolshevik Revolution. Yet he was also a most talented poet, whose works are widely quoted even today. As a graphic artist, he was one of the founders of the Okna Rosta (Rosta Windows) a massive media publicity blitz which used posters to spread word of the Revolution via the Russian telegraphic agency. The animation in “Black and White” is based on his drawings.
In 1922, Mayakovsky received special permission to travel to America. En route he stopped in Cuba where Americans controlled the sugar and tobacco industries. “Black and White” tells the story of Willie, the shoe shine boy, who makes the fatal mistake of asking the White Sugar King Mister Bragg, “Why should white sugar be made by a black man?”
Only fragments of the film were found, without restorable sound. It was decided to underscore the fragments with excerpts from “Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child,” recorded by Paul Robeson in 1949 at the Tchaikovsky Theatre in Moscow. The son of an American slave, Robeson was an athlete, actor, singer, cultural scholar, author, and political activist. He spoke fluent Russian. Although he never officially joined the Communist party, he supported the USSR politically which brought him to the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee, and ultimately probably cost him his American career.
In 1952 Robeson was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize. He translated the Soviet national anthem into English. His rendition, also recorded in Moscow in 1949, underscores the end credits of this episode.
Based on the popular children’s poem written in 1933 by Samuel Marshak who is also credited with writing the script, “Mister Twister” tells the story of a wealthy American who travels with his family to Leningrad for a vacation. When he learns there are “guests of color” at the Angleterre hotel, he cancels his reservation. The concierge calls ahead to all other hotels in Leningrad and advises them not to give the American racist and his family a room. Mr. Twister returns to the Angleterre, and after spending the night in the lobby decides he has overcomes his prejudices. During the USSR school children regularly memorized the Marshak poem.
Written by Sergei Mihalkov, a popular children’s poet who also wrote the lyrics to the Soviet National Anthem. Jazz was an early victim of the Cold War, condemned as “an enemy of the people.” In this film for children, a Soviet bird returns home from abroad and gives a concert. When she sings jazz, a new kind of music she learned on her travels, the Soviet birds boo and hiss and drive her from the forest.
Note: Whatever the official policy, jazz was popular in the USSR and was used in the score of many later films in this series.
Also known as “Against American Aggression in Vietnam,” his film is as anti-war as anti-American and portrays the Church as an actively malignant social influence. Underscored by Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” Ivanov-Vano, who worked as an animator on some of the animation films made in the 20s
such as “China in Flames,” went on to become the USSR’s foremost director of animated films for children.
Also based on a poem for children by Sergei Mihalkov. A rich American woman leaves a million dollars to her beloved bulldog. The theme is that in America, money can buy anything; the bulldog becomes rich and powerful and eventually a member of the U.S. Congress.
Based on a play by V. Slatkin. An unemployed American gets a job in a shooting gallery as a live target; the greedy capitalist owner charges patrons double for the chance to shoot at a human being. Tarasov, a fan of J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” modeled the film’s hero on Holden
Caulfield. An artist as well as an animation director, Tarasov combed through back issues of “America,” a magazine published by the U.S. government during the Cold War, and American comic books, to lovingly create the film’s fabulous New York City back drop. The attention to detail
is amazing (and sometimes off base), from the graffiti on the buildings to the brand name on the back of the hero’s tennis shoes.
Based on the drawings of renowned political caricaturist Boris Yefimov who is interviewed in Part 4 of this series. A wealthy American retires with his family to the “Island of Peace.” All is well until oil is discovered and greed trumps Mr. Wolf’s peaceful attitudes. In the end the U.S. military arrives to
protect Mr. Wolf’s private island and his oil.
