Treasures Of Soviet Animation Vol. 2: Lev Atamanov's The Snow Queen, The Scarlet Flower & The Key

THE SNOW QUEEN (SNEZHNAYA KOROLEVA) - 1957, 65 min. Lev Atamanov's sublime and often terrifyingly beautiful masterpiece, based on a Hans Christian Andersen story, follows a resourceful young girl, Gerda (voiced by Yanina Zheymo), as she embarks on an epic journey to save her friend Kay (Anna Komolova) from the frozen embraces of the magnificent Snow Queen (Mariya Babanova). A favorite of Hayao Miyazaki who said the film inspired him to become an animator -- and it's easy to see the direct influence of THE SNOW QUEEN on characters and storylines in CASTLE IN THE SKY, PRINCESS MONONOKE and SPIRITED AWAY.

THE SCARLET FLOWER (ÁLENKIY TSVETÓTCHEK) - 1952, 42 min. Dir. Lev Atamanov. An almost impossibly lovely, bejeweled fantasy adventure, a mixture of Ptushko's THE STONE FLOWER and SADKO with Cocteau's BEAUTY & THE BEAST. A ship's captain promises his youngest daughter Nastenka (voiced by Nina Krachkovskaya) a scarlet flower as a gift. But when he plucks it, the enraged beast who owns it demands a sacrifice - and Nastenka offers herself up as the monster's prisoner on an enchanted isle.

THE KEY (KLYUCH) - 1961, 58 min. Atamanov's delightfully quirky gem is one of his most surprising efforts, a surreal parable about the benefits of Magic vs. the value of Good Hard Work. Three wonderfully wacky fairies come to bless a newborn child with the gift of an enchanted ball of yarn - but the boy's no-nonsense grandfather (voiced by A. Glushchenko) wants to give him more practical gifts, like common sense, a good hammer and a strong work ethic. THE KEY is told in a totally different visual style than Atamanov's lush earlier works, closer to the angular mid-century modern look of UPA circa "Gerald McBoing Boing" and "Mr. Magoo."