22 Soviet children's films that even adults love

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Fantasy and adventures, stories of first love and instructive parables from our past.

22. Chuck and Huck

• USSR, 1953.
• Comedy, drama.
• Duration: 48 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 3.

The adaptation of the story of the same name by Arkady Gaidar is dedicated to two very young boys. Chuk is seven years old and his brother Gek is six. On New Year's Eve, together with their mother, they are going on a long trip from Moscow to Siberia - to their father, who works as a geologist. Only the little rascals accidentally threw out a telegram with very urgent information through the window.

Despite the difficulties that the heroes have to overcome, the whole film is a bright and kind story, saturated with the spirit of the New Year's holiday and the expectation of a miracle.

21. Fifteen-year-old captain

• USSR, 1946.
• Adventures.
• Duration: 82 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 5.

After the disappearance of the captain and a significant part of the crew, fifteen-year-old boy Dick Sand has to take command of the ship and lead it to America. But due to the betrayal of the cook, they find themselves in a dangerous situation.

Compared to the original book by Jules Verne, the adaptation was made lighter and more childish. And they even changed the ending a little, taking pity on some of the characters who died in the novel.

20. There was a dog on the piano

• USSR, 1979.
• Melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 69 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 5.

Fifteen-year-old Tanya Kanareikina from the village of Bersenevka falls in love for the first time in her life. She really liked the charming and talented helicopter pilot. But next to Tanya is the tractor driver Misha Sinitsyn, who is unrequitedly in love with a girl.

In this picture, the love dreams of the young heroine are very vividly and ironically shown. Fantasies are mixed with reality and even the viewer can sometimes get confused about what is really happening and what is only in Tanya's head.

19. The Tale of the Star Boy

• USSR, 1984.
• Fantasy.
• Duration: 129 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 7.

The inhabitants of a distant planet once freed themselves from emotions and live, relying only on reason. Frightened by the incomprehensible energy of love emanating from the Earth, they send the boy there. He is taken up by a simple huntsman. The child grows up incredibly beautiful and talented, but very cold.

The two-part film is based on two short stories by Oscar Wilde, The Boy Star and The Birthday of the Infanta. But in the adaptation, the magic component was changed to fiction, slightly modernizing the topic.

18. Girl and Echo

• USSR, 1965.
• Drama.
• Duration: 67 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 7.

Young Vika spends a lot of time alone, wandering among the seaside rocks and communicating with echoes. But one day she meets a friendly newcomer, Roman. But in a difficult situation, he turns out to be a coward, for which he is punished.

It was in this film that the talented Lina Braknite first starred. Then the audience saw her in "Three Fat Men" and "Dubravka". They predicted a great future for the young actress, but soon she gave up filming.

17. New Year's adventures of Masha and Viti

• USSR, 1975.
• Adventure, musical.
• Duration: 71 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 7.

Young friends Vitya and Masha are strikingly different in character: the boy relies only on science and technology, and the girl believes in miracles. It is this couple who will have to save the Snow Maiden from the evil Koshchei.

Screenwriter Pavel Finn personally adapted his play "Masha and Vitya against Wild Guitars" for the film adaptation. And the main thing that he added to the plot is the New Year's atmosphere. In the original, the heroes saved Snow White.

16. Summer is gone

• USSR, 1964.
• Comedy, adventure.
• Duration: 79 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 8.

Schoolboy Valera has to go to the village to visit his three aunts, whom he has never seen. But this idea seems boring to the hero, and he is trying to get into a real expedition. Instead of Valera, his friend Zhenya goes to the village, who pretends to be his nephew. But the expedition turns out to be very boring, and the summer in the village is amazingly fun.

This film is the debut work of the famous Rolan Bykov. Initially, another director worked on the picture, but he got very weak material, and Bykov was asked to reshoot the picture. However, due to various difficulties, “Summer is Gone” was released later than the next film by the master.

15. Dreamers

• USSR, 1965.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 69 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 8.

Four friends, Stasik, Mishutka, Seryozha and Yasha, love to invent different stories. They also find themselves in funny situations all the time. Heroes exchange values, quarrel, sometimes deceive each other, but always correct themselves.

The film is based on several stories at once by the famous author of "Dunno" Nikolai Nosov, who himself collected the plots into a single script.

14. The Tale of Lost Time

• USSR, 1964.
• Fantasy, comedy.
• Duration: 85 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 8.

Lazy Petya Zubov wastes his time in vain - this is what evil wizards decide to take advantage of. They find three more idlers and turn them all into old people, while restoring their youth. Now Petya and his new friends need to get their time back.

An instructive children's picture was staged by the famous Alexander Ptushko - the creator of "Ilya Muromets", "Ruslan and Lyudmila" and other famous fairy tales. Moreover, "The Tale of Lost Time" based on the work of Eugene Schwartz is his only work where the action takes place in modern times.

13. Kingdom of crooked mirrors

• USSR, 1963.
• Fantasy.
• Duration: 75 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 8.

The capricious pioneer Olya, in pursuit of the cat Barsik, passes through a magic mirror and finds herself in a fairyland, immediately getting acquainted with her reflection - Yalo. It turns out that the evil rich have seized power in this world. Now the girls need to free the boy Gurd from prison and restore justice.

The film was shot by the great Soviet director-storyteller Alexander Rowe. And for the main roles they found two real twins - Olga and Tatyana Yukin.

12. The adventures of Petrov and Vasechkin, ordinary and incredible

• USSR, 1984.
• Comedy, musical.
• Duration: 134 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 9.

Shy Vasya Petrov and energetic Petya Vasechkin study in the same class. Despite the difference in temperament, they are friends and together get into various funny stories. And also both heroes are in love with one girl.

In this film, the future famous choreographer Yegor Druzhinin first appeared on the screen in the role of Vasechkin. And the voice of the hero is Igor Sorin - the future vocalist of the group "Ivanushki International".

11. Adventure Electronics

• USSR, 1979.
• Science fiction, adventure, comedy.
• Duration: 215 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 9.

Engineer Gromov creates an android Elektronika, which looks like a school hockey player Seryozha Syroezhkin. Soon the original gets acquainted with its copy, and they change places. But Electronic is already being hunted by bandits to use it for criminal purposes.

Initially, the authors planned that both main roles would be played by one actor. But this made the shooting much more difficult. Then they found the young twins Volodya and Yura Torsuevs, which not only simplified the work, but also helped to make the characters, at least similar, but possessing at the same time features.

10. Spring shifters

• USSR, 1975.
• Drama.
• Duration: 85 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 9.

One spring, thirteen-year-old Dyushka Tyagunov was reading Pushkin and noticed that his neighbor looked like Natalya Goncharova. But with the first love, the first disappointments came to the romantic's life: local hooligans turn out to be very cruel, and parents do not care about the worries of their children.

The film based on the story by Vladimir Tendryakov is incredibly touching about growing up, drawing parallels between the collapse of the hopes of young Dyushka and the tragedy of a weak adult.

9. In secret to the whole world

• USSR, 1977.
• Drama, comedy.
• Duration: 119 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 9.

Collection of short stories dedicated to Denis Korablev. He quarrels with a classmate because he hit him with a pencil case, is going to the dacha with his mother's friend and even makes a bicycle with friends.

The film is based on the famous collection Deniskin Stories by Viktor Dragunsky. At different times, stories were transferred to screens a dozen times both in full-length versions and in short films. But "A Secret to the Whole World" is the most famous version, loved by both children and adults.

8. The eccentric from the fifth "B"

• USSR, 1972.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 0.

The bully and dreamer Borya is appointed a first-class counselor. At first, he does not take seriously the position, which requires discipline and responsibility. But gradually Borya is imbued with important ideas and learns to take care of others.

Director Ilya Fraz greatly softened the literary original of Vladimir Zheleznikov, turning a teenage drama into a children's comedy. However, he still retained the basic ideas.

7. Lullaby for brother

• USSR, 1982.
• Drama, adventure.
• Duration: 70 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 0.

After Kirill helped his new friends build the Captain Grant sailing ship, he returned to school a little different - more courageous and self-confident. When the hero finds out the circumstances under which his classmate was forced to steal the girl's wallet, he does not give up his friend, but decides to help him in the confrontation with local hooligans.

The works of the magnificent children's author Vladislav Krapivin have been repeatedly transferred to screens. But even the writer himself considered "Lullaby for Brother" the best, although he criticized a lot.

6. Dagger

• USSR, 1974.
• Adventure, detective.
• Duration: 210 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 0.

In the early 1920s, three schoolchildren fell into the hands of a dagger that belonged to an officer from a sunken battleship. The commander of the Red Army helps his friends understand the mystery associated with this weapon - after all, the White Guard villain is also looking for a dagger.

The children's detective film from three episodes was very much liked by both Soviet children and their parents. That allowed the authors to shoot two sequels: "The Bronze Bird" and "The Last Summer of Childhood."

5. First grader

• USSR, 1948.
• Drama.
• Duration: 68 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 0.

Marusya Orlova is a kind, but too spoiled and capricious girl. But now it's time to go to first grade. Getting to know the teacher and finding new friends, she gradually becomes more disciplined and responsive.

The film by Ilya Fraz based on the play by Yevgeny Schwartz is imbued with nostalgia for the school. It was even shown regularly before September 1, after which many children ceased to be afraid to go to first grade.

4. One hundred days after childhood

• USSR, 1975.
• Melodrama, drama.
• Duration: 94 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 0.

Mitya Lopukhin goes to the pioneer camp for the whole summer and there he falls in love with his classmate Lena Ergolina. And at this time the girl Sonia dreams of Mitya himself. The production of Lermontov's "Masquerade" helps them to understand and express their feelings. Pioneer leader Sergei is watching all this.

Sergey Solovyov made one of the most touching films about growing up. The picture was very fond of viewers and critics, and two sequels were filmed for it: "The Rescuer" and "Heiress in a Straight Line".

3. Republic of ShKID

• USSR, 1966.
• Drama, comedy.
• Duration: 103 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 1.

In post-revolutionary Petrograd, militia captures underage homeless children and sends them to boarding schools. Some end up in the "School-commune named after Dostoevsky" ("SHKID"), which is run by director Viktor Nikolaevich Sorokin, or Vikniksor. The teachers hardly manage to keep the young rascals in check, and then self-government is introduced at the school.

The authors of the book of the same name, according to which the picture was staged, Grigory Belykh and Aleksey Eremeev, retelling their own memories in it: they were brought up in that very "SHKID". And the director Gennady Poloka only moved the story to the screens with reverence, diluting the original plot with urban folklore and other bright elements.

2. Guest from the future

• USSR, 1984.
• Science fiction, adventure.
• Duration: 317 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 2.

Sixth-grader Kolya from a simple Soviet school goes for yogurt and, together with his friend Fima, ends up in an abandoned house. Fast forward to the future, Kolya destroys the plans of the space pirates who wanted to steal the mind reader. Now the villains are hunting for Kolya, who has returned to the past. And they are followed by a young but very smart Alisa Selezneva.

After the release of the cartoon "The Mystery of the Third Planet", the whole country fell in love with Alisa Selezneva. And in the mid-1980s, the first live-action film adaptation of one of the works about this girl was released. After that, the leading actress Natasha Guseva once again played Alice in the feature film "Purple Ball", but it did not come out so well.

1. Welcome, or No unauthorized entry

• USSR, 1964.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 71 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 2.

Only after arriving at the pioneer camp, Kostya Inochkin was already guilty - he swam across the river without permission. The manager Dynin immediately excludes the boy so that he does not set an example for the others. But Kostya secretly returns to the camp, where his comrades feed him. It's just that soon parental day should take place, where the deception will be revealed.

The first film by Elem Klimov is actually a satire on the entire Soviet educational system. However, the caustic story is hidden in the shell of a child's comedy, so the film is adored by viewers of all ages.