Elephant 38 parrots. Secrets of the cartoon “38 Parrots”: How Lenin became the prototype for one of the characters

"38 parrots" - the most popular children's series that has raised more than one generation of Soviet and Russian children. Includes ten funny stories about the funny adventures of four friends - the chatty Monkey, the shy Elephant, the intelligent Parrot and the thoughtful Boa.

Director: Ivan Ufimtsev. The roles were voiced by: Nadezhda Rumyantseva, Mikhail Kozakov, Vasily Livanov, Vsevolod Larionov, Raisa Mukhametshina.

Characters:

The monkey is the main character of the cartoon - mischievous, resourceful and resilient.
Baby Elephant is an African elephant that wears glasses. Almost all sentences use the word “Sorry!”
The parrot is an eccentric cockatoo who stutters when he says the letter "r".
Boa Constrictor is the main thinker of the series.

INTERESTING FACTS:

A total of 10 episodes were released.
The series was created by director Ivan Ufimtsev and artist Leonid Shvartsman based on a script by the famous children's writer Grigory Oster.
The name "38 Parrots" comes from the first series, where the length of the Boa was measured in elephants, monkeys and parrots.
In most episodes, the animals solve some funny paradox involving different meanings of concepts or wordplay: they physically “say hi”, “make a closure”, and the like.
The characters were voiced by popular actors - Nadezhda Rumyantseva (Monkey), Mikhail Kozakov (Child Elephant), Vasily Livanov (Boa Constrictor), Vsevolod Larionov (Parrot) and Boris Vladimirov (Grandma Boa Constrictor).
The cartoons feature songs by Vladimir Shainsky, Gennady Gladkov and Alexey Shelygin with lyrics by Yuri Entin.
In the episode "The Great Shutdown", the parrot danced the "cha-cha-cha" after the phrase "The Great Shutdown, sorry!"
In the episode “The Great Closure,” Raisa Mukhametshina voiced Monkey instead of Nadezhda Rumyantseva. During the dubbing of the cartoon, Rumyantseva lived abroad with her husband, diplomat Willy Khshtoyan.
Animator Irina Sobinova-Kassil, granddaughter of opera singer Leonid Sobinov and daughter of Soviet writer Lev Kassil, took part in the creation of the cartoon.
Boas and pythons differ in that pythons have a brow ridge above their eyes. The doll in the cartoon has such an arc and it means that he is a python. Although he is called a boa constrictor in the cartoon.
Yuri Norshtein worked as one of the animators on the first episodes. It was he who suggested making Boa “a kind of thinker” who puts his head on the tip of his tail. He removed the tail from the parrot so that it would be more nimble and energetic, added oratorical gestures to it - he turned out to be the spitting image of Ilyich (Vladimir Lenin), the artist Leonid Shvartsman later recalled.
For a ten-minute series, several copies of each doll were made - one doll would not withstand 150-200 thousand touches.
The boa constrictor is much shorter than 38 parrots, otherwise it would not fit in the frame.
At first, the Boa was supposed to be made realistic, but then the animators decided that children would be afraid of the snake in the frame, and the Boa had cute daisies on its scales.

Awards and prizes at festivals:

“38 Parrots” - 1st prize “Crystal Cup” at the IFF in Zagreb (1975), diploma at the Χ All-Russian Film Festival in Riga (1977).
“Grandma Boa Constrictor” - 1st prize at the IFF in Portugal (1977).
“What if it works out” - 2nd prize and diploma at the ΧΙΙ All-Union Film Festival in Ashgabat (1979).

List of episodes:

"38 Parrots", 1976. Animals measure the height of a Boa constrictor.
“Grandma Boa Constrictor,” 1977. Grandmother came to see Boa Constrictor.
“How to Treat a Boa Constrictor,” 1977. The boa constrictor got sick. Everyone wants to cure him. But they misunderstood him...
“Where the Baby Elephant Goes,” 1977. The Baby Elephant goes “for example.”
“What if it works out!”, 1978. How animals taught the Parrot to fly.
“Hello Monkey”, 1978. Boa Constrictor is in a great mood. He wants to share it with Monkey...
"Tail Exercise", 1979. The monkey decides to become strong in order to get the coconut.
“Tomorrow will be tomorrow,” 1979. Everyone is trying to figure out what is today and what is tomorrow.
"The Great Closing", 1985. Animals are trying to close the law of "throw something up and it will fall down, right on you."
“Beloved Aid”, 1991. Animals begin to “act”: add, subtract, multiply, divide.

The first part of a series of 10 short puppet cartoons "38 parrots" was released in 1976, more than one generation of children grew up with it, and Monkey, Parrot, Boa Constrictor and Baby Elephant still remain one of the most popular cartoon characters. When their creator was asked what the secret of such popularity was, he replied that all these heroes had features of his friends. And the most amazing thing was that one of these cute characters was a caricature of... Lenin!

One day, children's writer Grigory Oster brought to the Soyuzmultfilm studio a script about the adventures of four funny characters - Monkey, Parrot, Boa Constrictor and Baby Elephant. He himself believed that in every child there is something from each of these heroes, and the author had every reason to say so - after all, he himself was a father of many children. However, none of the directors at the studio wanted to take on this script.

Director Ivan Ufimtsev admits that the fate of the script was decided by just a couple of phrases, which at first glance were unremarkable: “ I read one phrase: “Where are you crawling?” - asked the Monkey. "Here. “I’m crawling here,” the Boa constrictor grumbled... “It would seem like nothing special, but I liked her so much!” It's just amazing! And made a film" Later, many phrases from this cartoon became catchphrases, for example: “ We won’t say who, although it was Baby Elephant».

Production designer Leonid Shvartsman worked on the creation of the cartoon characters. The little elephant seemed to him to be a smart, intelligent and absolutely positive hero, an excellent student, “the first student who diligently completes all assignments.” There were no problems with the mischievous and cheerful Monkey either, but we had to tinker with the Boa Constrictor and the Parrot. The artist said: “ Actually, I don’t like snakes - neither living nor drawn. Therefore, he fought over Boa constrictor for a terribly long time and without success. The boa constrictor turned out to be angry and unattractive. Almost every day I went to the zoo and, no matter how unpleasant it was for me, I drew, drew and drew from life. I learned a lot about snakes. Even this special snake bite - when the lower lip overlaps the upper. But the image formed only when I forgot about reality. I stretched out the boa constrictor's muzzle, made a nose, drew freckles and eyebrows like a house. And also – I painted it with flowers... That’s when this character came out, a boa constrictor-thinker, a boa constrictor-philosopher, whom I consider my great success».

All the characters in the cartoon had human traits, but if the audience could easily guess the excellent student in Elephant's Baby, it is unlikely that any of them would have thought of comparing the Parrot with... Lenin! Of course, in the 1970s. No one knew about these parallels - otherwise the censorship simply would not have released the cartoon onto the screens. But the similarity was not obvious, and neither the censor nor the audience noticed it. And only in 2015 did production designer Leonid Shvartsman admit that he conceived this character as a parody of the leader of the world proletariat and deliberately endowed him with “Leninist habits”: he is just as energetic, just as prone to demagogy, actively gesticulates and walks back - forward during a conversation, does not burr, but stutters on the letter “r”, and his colors create the illusion that he is wearing a vest.

However, the scandal surrounding Parrot did not flare up because of his resemblance to Lenin. The fact is that initially he had a long tail, which was very annoying when the character moved. The cartoon was puppet, and this created additional difficulties for the animators. Therefore, they suggested removing the tail. Leonid Shvartsman recalled: “ Since all alterations require money, a scandal broke out. And our director of the puppet association, the long-gone Joseph Yakovlevich Boyarsky, was simply hysterical, but it had to be done. As a result, the Parrot turned out to be on legs and began to walk and gesticulate very energetically. At first he reminded us of our director Joseph Boyarsky. And then we saw in the gestures of the Parrot... the energetic gestures of Lenin. And our animators began to play with him as a leader, a leader, a tribune. Hence such a complete image».

All the cartoon characters were voiced by famous actors: Monkey - Nadezhda Rumyantseva, Elephant - Mikhail Kozakov, Boa constrictor - Vasily Livanov, Parrot - Vsevolod Larionov. True, in the series “The Great Closure” the Monkey spoke in the voice of Raisa Mukhametshina - Nadezhda Rumyantseva at the time of dubbing the cartoon lived abroad with her diplomat husband Willy Khshtoyan.

The cartoon “38 Parrots” was such a success with viewers that it grew into a series that received many awards, including first prizes at international festivals in Croatia and Portugal. However, Leonid Shvartsman still called the very first cartoon from this series the most successful: “ For me, that film is the most interesting. The rest of the series follows suit. Alas, this is the fate of TV series. Everything that has been accumulated spills out into the first film».

Many interesting facts remain behind the scenes of the cartoon.

About the cartoon

Thirty-eight parrots

In the USSR they knew how to make children's cartoons. Almost every Soviet fairy tale taught something new and interesting. Characters who were created so masterfully that it was simply impossible not to love them helped to learn such important moral lessons.

So the characters in this cute picture look so familiar and correct that it is not possible to ignore what they can teach. A nimble and mischievous monkey, a reasonable and calm boa constrictor, an inquisitive parrot, an intelligent and not talkative baby elephant. All of them can become the child’s best friends and introduce real and useful standards.

Briefly about the cartoon

It is very hot and boring in the wild jungle, so the animals come up with their own entertainment. They decide to measure the boa constrictor, in their own interesting units of measurement: parrots, elephants, etc. They learn good manners, friendship and everything that every child simply must learn.

These are not just cartoons, these are bright stories put together that never get boring. They are interesting, instructive and woven together into a very tight ball, which the child will unwind with great pleasure. This whole cocktail is seasoned with the unique voices of Soviet meters and the brilliant work of professional animators.

Each character in this children's fairy tale has his own self, unlike anyone else. The mischievous monkey is cute and inquisitive. A sad boa constrictor, courageous and wise beyond his years. A smart elephant speaks so measuredly and reasons sensibly that any more mature speaker could envy his style of communication.

After watching this multi-masterpiece, your child will be able to learn the following important things:

- the basics of arithmetic, because, whatever one may say, measuring a boa constrictor is the basics of addition;

- the rules of good manners, but it is still better to learn this in the pleasant company of animals;

- learns in general that there are different types of animals;

— get acquainted with the variety of colors, shapes and sizes in nature;

- learn to be friends and sincerely rejoice;

— he will hear not electronic voices edited using all kinds of technology, but real, living ones, from the first sounds of which the character’s mood becomes clear.

This cartoon seems to be permeated through and through with endless kindness and some kind of selfless awe. It is not only useful, but also almost familiar to parents and will become the same for children. All you have to do is sit your baby down in front of the screen and turn it on, and tired parents are guaranteed a few quiet minutes.

Cartoon "38 parrots"- Soviet puppet children's animated series about a parrot, monkey, baby elephant and boa constrictor from 10 episodes: 38 parrots (1976), Grandma boa constrictor (1977), How to treat a boa constrictor (1977), Where is the baby elephant going? (1977), Hello monkey (1978), What if it works! (1978), Charging for the tail (1979), Tomorrow will be tomorrow (1979), The Great Closure (1985), Beloved aid(1991); Directed by Ivan Ufimtsev. Screenplay by Grigory Oster. Production designer: Leonid Shvartsman, Anatoly Kuritsyn. The roles were voiced by: Nadezhda Rumyantseva (Monkey), Raisa Mukhametshina (Monkey (The Great Closing)), Mikhail Kozakov (Baby Elephant), Vasily Livanov (Boa Constrictor), Vsevolod Larionov (Parrot), Boris Vladimirov (Boa Constrictor-Grandmother; credited as “V. Vladimirov"). Composer: Vladimir Shainsky (episodes 1-5 and 9), Gennady Gladkov (episodes 6-8), Alexey Shelygin (episode 10). Studio "Soyuzmultfilm", Association of Puppet Films, USSR, 1976-1991. Look children's cartoons, cartoons good video quality online, free and without registration.