The first volume in a series of new 4K restorations of classic and rare Soviet animated gems from the vaults of the legendary Soyuzmultfilm studios.  Volume 1 kicks off with two treasures of animated sci-fi from directors Roman Kachanov (1921-1993), creator of the much-loved stop motion character Cheburashka, and Vladimir Tarasov (b. 1939), famed for his surreal, psychedelic sci-fi short films.

Subsequent volumes will feature rare treasures from directors Lev Atamanov including his legendary THE SNOW QUEEN (1957); pioneering female directors Valentina and Zinaida Brumberg (The Brumberg Sisters); Ivan Ivanov-Vano; and Roman Davydov.

Treasures of Soviet Animation

Volume 1:

THE RETURN (VOZVRASHCHENIE), 1980, Soyuzmultfilm, 10 min. – In director Vladimir Tarasov’s mindbending psychedelic masterpiece, a sleeping cosmonaut hurtles unaware towards his home planet — but will he awake in time? Newly restored in 4K by Deaf Crocodile.

THE MYSTERY OF THE THIRD PLANET (TAYNA TRETEY PLANETY), 1981, Soyuzmultfilm, 48 min.  Dir. Roman Kachanov.  A trio of intrepid space explorers, Professor Seleznyov, his 9-year old daughter Alisa and the hilariously doom-and-gloom Captain Zelyonyy (“Any bad news??” is his constant query) set off on a rocket ship in the year 2181 to collect rare alien creatures for the Moscow Zoo.  They’re immediately drawn into an amazingly convoluted mystery involving a sinister doctor, a nearly-extinct Chatter-bird, and two legendary missing cosmonauts, while galaxy hopping from one wildly colorful and hallucinatory planet to the next.  A delirious cosmic treat for fans of FANTASTIC PLANET and DELTA SPACE MISSION, MYSTERY… features a gallery of psychedelic space creatures straight out of YELLOW SUBMARINE:  blue-skinned aliens with ears on the tops of their heads, a tiger-rat from the planet Penelope, a blue-and-purple flying cow with fairy’s wings.  Based on “Alisa’s Voyage” by famed Soviet sci-fi author Kir Bulychev, director Roman Kachanov’s long sought-after gem packs enough plot, surreal imagery, phantasmagorical creatures and otherworldly worlds into its 48 minutes for an entire mini-series.  In Russian with English subtitles.

THE PASS (PEREVAL), 1988, Soyuzmultfilm, 30 min.  “On this night, Oleg was on duty near the fence … He sensed the emptiness and the routine.  Three times people went to the Pass.  It was all in vain.”  So begins Russian director Vladimir Tarasov’s sublime, surreal masterpiece of animated sci-fi in which a group of terrified human survivors on an alien world try to reach their derelict spacecraft 16 years after it crashed.  On par with Tarkovsky’s SOLARIS and STALKER and Chris Marker’s LA JETÉE as one of the most hypnotic and visually stunning science-fiction stories ever filmed, THE PASS is filled with cascading, pulsating images:  night creatures that bleed in from the darkness to attack and then recede, a cat’s eyes flickering in the candlelight, frightened children reciting stories of another planet, another time.  The closest comparison may be to H.P. Lovecraft’s classic of cosmic terror At the Mountains of Madness:  both feature “tiny figures in a vast, empty and alien world,” dwarfed by gigantic Cubist distortions.  Director Vladimir Tarasov (b. 1939) is the great master of Soviet animated sci-fi, acclaimed for his brilliant short films include “Contact,” “The Return” and “Contract.”  THE PASS is the longest of his works and arguably his finest achievement, adapted from the first chapter in sci-fi author Kir Bulychev’s novel “The Settlement” (aka “Those Who Survive”) and featuring a stunning, swirling score of otherworldly chanting voices by composer Aleksandr Gradskiy.   Both films newly restored in 4K by Deaf Crocodile in collaboration with the famed Soyuzmultfilm animation studios for their first-ever U.S. Blu-ray release.  Co-presented with Seagull Films. In Russian with English subtitles.