In the Wake of the Bremen Town Musicians (1973) User Reviews

a Nostalgic Musical Legend for every Russian and Soviet Kid

[iraida-09203 · 10/10 · 12 November 2016]

I would like to explain the popularity of these Animations .

It's a Romantic and Adventurous story in two parts. And it is a legendary Musical for children made a bit in style of Rock musical.

Especially its Sequel – the 2 part represented here.

That's why You won't find ordinary dialogues. The story of main characters and everything is told through their songs which were written even with lots humor and fun, with puns, play on words, etc.

Probably this (this language barrier) could be the main obstacle to non – Russian speakers which could prevent unfortunately to apprehend and feel this animation fully. The graphic is rather laconic and made a bit in abstract and avant- garde style. Don't forget that these animations were created under the influence of "Revolutionary" 60's and dedicated to them...

But the Main thing for which these animations about Bremen Musicians are estimated so High is its Music and General Mood created by the Songs which were performed by legendary singers Oleg Anofriev in 1st part and Muslim Magomaev in this Sequel.

They are known by heart by lots of people in former USSR and Russia. Lots of generations were brought up on them. Even special Vinyl Disks for kids were released. It's the Legend for many generations of children which corresponds with Childhood and Romance . That's why the rating is so high.

A Spoiler - Some Details about How those animations were made.

The most curious thing - the Surprise which you will discover in the End of 1st part is that ALL Characters except Princess were dubbed by One Actor – Oleg Anofriev. It was a musical attraction and a Know-How of Anofriev. It was His special Talent and Gift. He could do absolutely everything from his voice. He could Sing beautifully and at the same time he could imitate different timbres: from high and almost childish voice till smth in style of Joe Cocker or Garou with some sexy hoarseness in his voice. So afterwards he has written lots of Soundtracks to different animations\ cartoons and movies in his special Style and they also became very popular.

In this Sequel - "Po sledam bremenskikh muzykantov" (1973) which also became a Great Hit another Legendary performer appears...

A Soviet Star – Muslim Magomaev. He also had a very beautiful and Unique voice.

He metaphorically took "the challenge" of Oleg Anofriev and repeated his Musical Trick by performing the part of three main Characters including Troubadour. The serenade of Troubadour which you could hear in this Sequel became one of the symbols of Romance. And it was sung beautifully.

Another curious thing is that it was made by "Russian Sherlock Holmes" , by Vasily Livanov who played this Role in Russian Movie- adaptations of Conan Doyle. He is not only a prominent actor but also has created animations, films, lyrics, scenarios, etc

And another funny thing is that the image of Princess (from her "little red dress" till her appearance) was inspired greatly by future wife of a Poet – Yuri Entin who wrote the lyrics to these animations .

So, if you're interested in Art of Acting, if you enjoy different musical and especially Vocal experiments, if you're not afraid of Russian Language or study Russian this animation is for You. :)

As forgettable as the first

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 6 January 2016]

"Po sledam bremenskikh muzykantov" is a Soviet 18.5-minute short film from 40 years ago. Writer and director is Vasiliy Livanov, who also wrote the prequel to this film from 4 years earlier. Not only the runtime is very similar, the animation style is too and also the fact that there is no talking in here, just singing. I must say I did not like the first a lot and same goes for this one. The characters just look pretty bad sometimes, especially the human characters. The animal characters in this Brothers-Grimm-based film are okay for the most part. But the animation really is not. The 1960s and 1970s are not exactly considered great decades for animated films and this is another example. Do not be fooled by the IMDb rating. No idea why these 2 films are considered classics in terms of Soviet animation. I have seen other films from that era from Eastern Europe and there are certainly some much better example in terms of quality. As for this on here, there are shots when a mass of people are still, not moving at all. There are other shots, for example a shot of the female protagonist, a princess or so, that is completely still for 5 seconds perhaps. Not quality filmmaking. Not recommended. The story is also not too easy to understand.