Season 4

ONWARD TO THE SHINING FUTURE: COMMUNISM contains 11 works, most of which mythologize the state and and promise a utopian future of universal well-being. Dziga Vertov's SOVIET TOYS (1924), however, offers criticism of the state. Generally agreed to be the first Russian animated film, it satirizes the communist members who cashed in on Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP), which introduced a limited form of capitalist enterprise.

Soviet animation from Vladimir Tarasov.

The first animated movie made in the Soviet Union, it portrays a bloated caricature of a Capitalist devouring a massive heap of food and drink.

Adventures of a Nenets boy, who returns to his homeland from Moscow an educated young man.

Visionary satire by Nikolai Khodataev.

Simple animation urges strength through solidarity: little farmers unite to compete with the big outfits. Also criticizes profiteering "company private shops."

Soviet propaganda film celebrating Stalin's five-year plans.

Animated Soviet Propaganda. The story of the invasion of Russia, during the revolution, by foreign troops from the United States, Canada, the U.K., Japan, Czechoslavakia and Poland.

A boy finds a magic stone that will allow people to live their lives over again. His bearded, noble Grandfather prefers his life of hardship, revolution and Communist victory to remain just as it is.

An abstract color celebration of Soviet perseverance under fire (the literal firepower of foreign and capitalist warmongers), this lyrical animated short aims to capture Mother Russia's essence like lightning in a bottle. There's a spaghetti western vibe at times to the striking silhouette imagery here. Florid patriotic folk songs on the soundtrack are often depicted line-for-line in the gorgeous animation.

"Plus Electrification" triumphs the USSR's drive to bring electricity to every town and village. It was a tenet of Vladimir Lenin that electrification plus Soviet power [vlast] would lead to Communism. Electricity is shown dramatically uniting the economies of USSR and the Eastern bloc countries through production of consumer goods like Czech crystal and Hungarian buses.