Thank you for the good childhood Leonid Shvartsman

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Probably, there is no such person from the post-Soviet space who would not have seen the cartoon "Caution: monkeys" (the second name is "Monkeys, go!"). But even those who didn’t bother to see it, an excerpt from the song from this animated film “every little child gets out of the diaper…”, definitely heard it. Leonid Shvartsman is a brilliant creator of not only this masterpiece, but also many others cartoons that are part of the country's cartoon heritage:

• star "Crocodile Gena and Cheburashka";
• instructive "38 Parrots";
• touchingly tender "Kitten named Woof";
• gorgeous Snow Queen;
• The Scarlet Flower and dozens of others.

About the author

Shvartsman Leonid Aronovich was born in the family of a Russian accountant and a beautiful Jewish housewife, in the Belarusian city of Minsk. In the spring of 1941 he graduated from art school at the Institute of Painting, was drafted into the army. He spent the war working in the rear at a tank factory, and after the victory he went to Leningrad. He graduated from VGIK, and the cartoon "Bambi" by W alt Disney became the catalyst for choosing the course. Leonid Aronovich got a job at the country's most famous filming studiocartoons.

The master worked at the Soyuzmultfilm studio for 54 years, during which time the animator produced more than 50 animated films of various types: drawn and with the participation of puppets. At first he was a simple assistant to the artist, drawing background details in cartoons, after graduating from the institute he became a production designer, and since 1975 he has been the main director.

Storyline

At the heart of the plot "Go Monkeys!" lies the story of five reckless kids and their single mother (dad is not found in any series), who did her best to keep the kids from pranks. During the film, it is clear that a lot of chores and worries around the house take away all the strength from the monkey mother and she often falls asleep from fatigue in different places, which plays into the hands of her pranksters.

As you watch the mini-animated series, it becomes clear that the monkeys are not hooligans at all, but on the contrary, they are trying to help everyone. Only now they understand reality in their own way, therefore their help is very specific, the consequences of which their mothers have to deal with.

Series sequence

During the period from 1983 to 1997, 7 episodes of this interesting cartoon were created. We bring to your attention their sequence:

1. "Baby Garland" (1983) - monkeys' first introduction to the world outside the zoo.
2. "Beware of the Monkeys" (1984) - a walk around the city and its aftermath.
3. "Monkeys and Robbers" (1985). In thisa series of monkeys help the police to catch the robbers of the candy store.
4. "How the Monkeys Dined" (1987), where the characters help a little girl develop an appetite for food.
5. "Go Monkeys" (1993) is the busiest episode in terms of mischief.
6. "Monkeys at the Opera" (1995) - going to the opera for "Othello" and how it all ended.
7. "ER" (1997) - the illness of the youngest and a new meeting with robbers.

Each episode of the cartoon flies by in an instant, despite the fact that they do not have dialogues and any comments, only musical accompaniment. By the way, all the music and songs in the film are the work and performance of the Time Machine group.

Interesting facts about the cartoon

Creating cartoons is an exciting activity that requires a lot of work. Few people know that in the process of work there were many interesting facts:

• In the first episode, among the neighbors of the monkeys in the zoo, you can see an elephant calf and a boa constrictor from the cartoon "38 Parrots". In the same episode, a kindergarten teacher at a kiosk chooses a book to buy: in the window, among others, is a book by Grigory Oster, the author of the cartoon's script.
• The same teacher has a prototype - this is the brilliant Sophia Loren! The animator for a long time could not choose the movements of the cartoon heroine, but when he accidentally saw the actress on the film, he realized that this was what he needed. That is why the kindergarten teacher has the plasticity of the great Sophie.
• In the thirdof the series, the cartoonist director copied one of the characters from himself: a candy store robber who reappears in the last episode with an attempt to rob a bank. By the way, the second robber is also copied from a real person - actor Alexei Smirnov (from "Operation Y")

When creating the fifth series, there were a lot of alterations due to the excessive demands of Leonid Shvartsman. At that time, the artist was already 73 years old (his hands began to tremble and the lines came out too uneven, sometimes he had to hold the pencil with both hands) and he himself could not draw all the characters in full - others had to do this, but the author very scrupulously noted inaccuracies and returned for revision

Actually, Leonid Shvartsman is left-handed, but in the third grade the teacher made him write with his right hand. But the gift of the artist is still stronger - the genius of animation still draws with his left hand.

It has been more than thirty years since the creation of the first series of monkeys, and their adventures still delight children and adults. This is where the genius of the master is manifested. His characters are relevant, modern and understandable to any generation in love with animated cinema.