Snezhnaya koroleva

"Snezhnaya koroleva' (1957) aka "The Snow Queen" directed by Lev Atamanov is a beautiful animated movie of my childhood that I'd seen dozens times back in Moscow even before we had a color TV. It is creative, colorful, sometimes dramatic and intense, and always poetic and moving Russian adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale of voyages "The Snow Queen". Seeing it last night after such a long time together with my husband, we both agreed that this is one of the timeless classics. This story of the devoted heart of a little brave girl and the friendship and love which are above everything and are worth to fight for and to go to the end of the world, will never get old. Two best voices of Soviet stage and cinema participated in the narrating of "The Snow Queen", Maria Babanova - The Snow Queen and Yanina Zhejmo – Gerda. Zhejmo was absolutely charming as Cinderella in the Russian adaptation "Zolushka" (1947) which is also one of my all time favorites.

The film was released on DVD by the company "Films by Jove" with the original Russian soundtrack and English subtitles and is available from the company's site. Four more excellent films by Lev Atamanov are included on the DVD: "Golden Antelope", the Indian fairy tale and three short animations, "Bench", "Cyclist", and "Fence" adapted from the cartoons of Herluf Bidstrup, celebrated Danish artist, famous for his comics, humorous drawings, series of graphical anecdotes, and caricatures.

Full review on my blog max4movies: Snezhnaya Koroleva (international title: The Snow Queen) is a 1957 Soviet animation adventure movie based on the popular eponymous fairy tale by H. C. Andersen. It is mostly faithful to the original story but omits darker passages. The memorable characters, strong pacing, and the entertaining score make the movie fun to watch. Although the overall animation is solid, the movie never reaches the level of the likes of Sleeping Beauty (1959). Still, this version of the fairy tale is atmospheric, entertaining, never too simplistic for an adult audience, and overall a very worthwhile adaptation of the classic tale.

This is one of the best-loved animated features in Russia, richly animated by the renowned Soyuzmultfilm studio. The dubbed U.S. version was released by Universal in 1959 and was widely shown on local TV stations, especially at Christmas time. A hokey prologue was added for the U.S. release starring TV host Art Linkletter and some extremely polished and starched youngsters, including Billy Booth, who played Dennis the Menace's pal Tommy Anderson on the TV series. The kids literally quote lines from Linkletter's best selling book "Kids Say the Darnest Things." Some videos of the movie do not include this prologue at all. The confusion arises when the director of the prolugue is credited with directing the movie! Several low-budget VHS tapes of this gem have been released, and to this day I have not found one with either a satisfactory film print or sound track. It's a shame, because once you see this film, you never forget it.

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 300 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA.

When the Snow Queen, a lonely and powerful fairy, kidnaps the human boy Kay, his best friend Gerda must overcome many obstacles on her journey to rescue him.

In this version that I saw it had live action footage with television icon Art Linkletter. This is the Soviet version of the Hans Christian Andersen tale. voices: Sandra Dee, Tommy Kirk lend their voices for the English version.

Since this is in public domain there is many versions of this version on DVD. Picture and sound varies!

This movie has been a delight to me all of my life. I saw it originally in the theater, and my father bought the soundtrack album for me, which I still have. The animation is unique and beautiful down to articulate movements of hands and feet. You get the feeling that you are making the journey with Gerda, the heroine in the story. Also, one of the most delightful things about this story, is that the girl is the hero, for a change. I highly recommend it, if you can find it. The English dubbed version is the one I have seen, but it isn't obvious that it has been dubbed. This is truly an animated work of art.