Russia

Soyuzmultfilm Celebrates 85 Years

The legendary Russian Studio, SMF Studio (Soyuzmultfilm), looks at its rich history and past successes with a mindset decidedly in the future. New productions, a constant vision and a multimedia attraction are just a few of the ways the Studio is becoming a global player...

SMF Studio (Soyuzmultfilm) is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year! Several generations have grown up on the cartoons, stories, and characters of the legendary animation studio. The number of cartoons—short, fulllength, multi-series—which were created within the walls of the most famous cartoon factory in the RF is near to 2,000, and new fairy-tale worlds and animated universes are being created even now, as you read this article.

A bit of history

SMF Studio is a truly unique phenomenon not only in Russia, but in worldwide animation. Over the past decades, since its foundation in 1936, the animation studio has been through several significant stages of development. In the early years the authors learned from the experience of the world’s animators and adopted their techniques, tailoring them to the ethnic aesthetics. Pilot projects, created by SMF, were very similar to Disney’s animation, but in the ‘40s and ‘50s the artists and directors turned their focus towards fairy tales, thus creating many memorable full-length and short films on their basis. Having gained experience, the authors began to create original works, applying different techniques and genres. During this period, many cartoons and characters appeared that defined the face of Russian animation as a whole: a series of cartoons about Cheburashka and Gena the Crocodile, the Bremen Town Musicians, Umka the bear, the comedy series I’ll get you!, the almanac Merry-go-round, and many others. A distinctive feature of animation of the Soviet period was that it existed outside of commercial conditions, which allowed the studio to develop a huge authors’ school and creative potential. The films that were created in those years won prestigious awards around the world. Many significant figures in the history of animation, including, for example, the legendary Japanese director - Hayao Miyazaki, admitted that Soviet animation inspired them to create their own works. Political changes in the late ‘80s led to the fact that the legendary SMF Studio almost ceased to produce cartoons. However, since the beginning of the 2000s, commercial studios began to appear in Russia. The studios have started to create projects, focusing on the modern context and global trends. The artists managed to attract the attention of the state to the resurgent animation industry, and, having received the necessary support, SMF opened a new chapter in its history.

New era — new animation

In 2017, having assembled a new team, the studio moved to a modern, technologically equipped building and launched production in several directions at once: animated series for different age groups, full-length and auteur short films. In just three years, the new team has managed almost the impossible: today, the studio’s animated series are among the top leaders of children’s viewing according to the research company Mediascope and gather an audience of millions on the network. The range of these IPs is very wide, and each viewer can choose their “favorite.” For the youngest audience, SMF Studio has created a cheerful family of orange cows from the animated series Orange Moo-Cow, and amazing Claymotions that easily take a variety of forms and tell kids how this world works, teach them to count and sing notes. Elder preschoolers can sing funny songs with Rockoons. Memorable musical compositions have always been part of the films of the SMF’s “Golden Collection,” and now the studio is reviving this tradition. A lot of the songs can also be found in the studio’s Squared Zebra. This unusual animated series, as well as Orange Moo-cow have already attracted the attention of foreign partners — together with the European producer and distributor of animated projects Cyber Group Studios, the studio is preparing their international versions. The series The Secrets of Honey Hills also has a great potential for the Russian and international market. This is a truly innovative animated series: the first kid’s animated detective on the domestic screens, with scripts from the famous Russian writer Daria Dontsova. The new vision is the principle that SMF Studio also applies when updating classic franchises. The perception of modern children requires a different picture and plot tempo; the studio, however, strives to preserve the spirit of popular cartoons of the Soviet era. The first such example was the animated series Mr Theo, Cat and Dog, which has been successfully running on screens for three years and has found its audience. This year, two more long-awaited premieres will also appear on the screens — the relaunch of the legendary animated series I’ll get you! and a series inspired by Inessa Kovalevskaya’s cartoon ScarecrowMeowow, called Meow Magic. To address the legendary Wolf-Hare chase years later is a very ambitious task, which the creative team has approached with great responsibility. Made in the 3D technique, the animated series will present new characters and modern locations. The musical

accompaniment of the show was created by the popular artist Ivan Dorn, and the main characters are voiced by famous showmen Garik Kharlamov and Dmitry Khrustalev. At the same time, the cartoon will remain the same gag non-dialogue comedy as the classic version. The new show Meow Magic is going to be fun too. The story of a girl and an unusual kitten will evolve: the main character will gain the magical ability to fulfill wishes. For this animated series, a stylish visual solution in 2D graphics has been developed, which will be loved by the preschool audience. Modern SMF, in its best traditions, is not afraid to experiment, creating content for older viewers. So, for more than a year, the animated series The Adventures of Peter & Wolf, has been gaining popularity on the web. This unusual cartoon ironically combines the realities of modern times and fairy-tale folklore from all over the world. At the same time, the studio is also working with historical material: this year, a full-length film Suvorov, which will tell a story from the biography of the famous commander in an exciting adventure film for family viewing, will appear in cinemas. In addition to the fascinating plot in Suvorov, there is a place for battle scenes, a romantic storyline, and music. The film gathered a truly all-star cast and features the voices of Konstantin Khabensky, Philip Kirkorov, Anton Makarsky, Yulia Rutberg, Anna Ardova. In total, SMF Studio has 43 projects at various stages of production and development; so, in the coming years, many more premieres are expected for viewers of all ages.

And not just cartoons!

At the same time, SMF Studio today is not only the production of animated content: the company holds offline events throughout the country—film screenings, exhibitions, workshops, and city holidays. The studio team has developed two unique projects that are implemented as franchises—the entertainment and educational children’s center - Soyuzmultclub and the multimedia attraction Soyuzmultpark. Due to the latest VR and AR technologies, visitors get enter the world of both classic and new cartoons of the studio, can interact with their favorite characters and play educational games. This is a multi-functional space that has the ability to dynamically change to different formats of entertainment and educational events. The first such pavilion was opened in Moscow at VDNH, and another one is being designed in Perm. The large-scale work that has been done in recent years by the team of the studio and a large number of new IPs have attracted and continue to attract partners from various fields to cooperate with SMF Studio. Thus, more than 100 agreements have already been signed with about 70 companies in the licensing area alone, such as Danone, Rosneft, Russian Post, and Rosa Khutor who have become partners of the studio on individual projects. In 2020, SMF Studio signed a strategic agreement with SBER, according to which, in the coming years, the studio will eventually become one of the largest plaers not only nationally but also in the global market. Creating content for international audience is one of the main goals, and the studio is actively gaining the necessary experience, working in co-production with Cyber Group Studios and Toonz Media Group. At the same time, more than 50 countries have already purchased SMS’s content for international distribution, and this list is constantly growing. Today, SMF is a company with a rich historical tradition and a huge creative talent, that regularly receives state support, and was able to win the trust of investors in a short time. The main mission of the company is to unite different generations that have grown up and are growing up on the animation movies of the SMF Studio, various techniques and technologies for creating animation, commercial companies and government agencies, andcountries of the world. That is why the company is developing in so many directions at once and is open to cooperation. The SMF team is confident that the studio has all the opportunities to become a legend in the 21st century too.