Am a big fan of animation, have been as long as can be remembered, and am very fond of the Russian language, it is a beautiful language though with all the phonetic symbols and rules about hard and soft signs it is difficult to get the head round. So that's two of the main reasons as to why Soyuzmultfilm fascinates me so much as a studio, and of the animations of theirs seen (almost all of the ones available) they have yet to disappoint, their best works masterpieces.
Evidence of why Russian/Soviet animation should be much better known outside of Russia, when most of them are so much better and visually more interesting than animations marketed more frequently and accessibly. Seeing them on Youtube and not always with subtitles or their English titles so it's easy to miss them (though credit is due for having them there at all) is not enough in my view, wouldn't say no to a DVD collection with subtitles for those that don't speak or know Russian and the English titles.
'Vasilisa the Beautiful' is actually the second Soyuzmultfilm animation based on the 'The Frog Princess' story. The first being made in 1954 named 'The Frog Princess', also available and do slightly prefer that to this. Both are wonderful in their own way, and they have differences to each other. Namely the animation style, both traditional but the earlier version has more of a prime-Fleischer Studios look, has Koschei the Immortal playing a prominent and quite scary role and has a quite nightmarish climax (this version's climax is creepy, stangely surreal and beautifully done but didn't have me as disturbed or excite me quite as much as the other's).
Enough of the comparisons and talk about 'Vasilisa the Beautiful'. Perhaps not everybody will like the animation style, for me it's very interesting and looks very striking in especially the latter stages. The character designs are sometimes made in interesting shapes and blend very well into tapestry-like backgrounds, really do love how the titular character in both her human and frog forms looks (especially the former).
The music wasn't as even throughout, there are some lush and beautiful parts that are unmistakably Russian like the Princess in the latter stages. At other times though there is a near-expressionist or more atonal sound like the part with the Princess in frog form with a mouse that don't quite gel with the visuals and don't sound as beautiful. That is the only thing though that didn't work for me as much.
Liked how 'Vasilisa the Beautiful' is written, with some nice dashes of humour and plenty of intrigue, and the subtitles flow well and allows one to fully understand what's going on without explaining too much. The story is enchanting and wonderfully strange at times like the encounter with Baba Yaga onwards, the length is fine and doesn't feel rushed or stretched too much. The characters carry it well, while the Princess and Ivan are appealing, and did love how the Princess in human form looked, making more of an impression was the tsar and Baba Yaga (who is creepy if not quite the stuff of nightmares as portrayed often in Russian folk-lore). The voice acting is not too theatrical, with the tsar's being most engaging.
In conclusion, wonderful. 9/10
