''Good Night, Little Ones!'' (russian: Спокойной ночи, малыши!, Spokoynoy nochi, malyshi!) is a long-running

Russian-language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living Eas ...

children's

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

. Continuously broadcast since 1964 (premiered during the

Soviet era The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...

), it airs on the Carousel channel. The program's presenters have included

Valentina Leontieva Valentina Mikhaylovna Leontyeva (russian: Валентина Михайловна Леонтьева; 1 August 1923 in Petrograd – 20 May 2007 in Ulyanovsk) was a famous anchor on Soviet TV. She was one of the first television presenters in t ...

(in the 1960s and 1970s), Angelina Vovk, Tatyana Sudets and Tatyana Vedeneyeva (in the 1980s), Amayak Akopyan (in the 1996 and 2001). Current presenters () include Anna Mikhalkova (

Nikita Mikhalkov Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (russian: Никита Сергеевич Михалков; born 21 October 1945) is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union. Mikhalkov is a three-time laureate of the ...

's daughter),

Oxana Fedorova Oksana Gennadyevna Borodina (russian: Оксана Геннадьевна Бородина, Oksana Gennad'yevna Borodina; née Fedorova, russian: Фёдорова, Fyodorova; born 17 December 1977), known professionally as Oxana Fedorova, is a ...

Nikolai Valuev Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev (, rus, Никола́й Серге́евич Валу́ев, p=vɐˈlujɪf; born 21 August 1973) is a Russian politician and former professional boxer. He competed in boxing from 1993 to 2009, and held the WBA heav ...

and

Mikhail Porechenkov Mikhail Yevgenyevich Porechenkov (russian: Михаи́л Евге́ньевич Поре́ченков; born 2 March 1969, in Leningrad, Soviet Union) is a Russian film actor, producer, director. He became famous after his lead role as FSB Agent ...

Format

The format has remained relatively constant over the decades. The presenter (a recognisable news reader, actor, or public figure) is joined on-set by one or two puppet characters. The most regularly appearing puppets are ''Khryusha'' (a piglet - introduced on February 10, 1970), ''Stepashka'' (a hare, introduced in 1970), ''Philya'' (a

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

, introduced in 1968), ''Karkusha'' (a

crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

, introduced in 1982) and ''Mishutka'' (a bear, introduced in 2002). The presenter engages the puppets in a short conversation or helps them to perform a quick activity such as cleaning up the puppets' toys, or learning a moral. After a minute or two the presenter introduces a short cartoon. The cartoon lasts about five minutes and was often taken from the

Soyuzmultfilm Soyuzmultfilm ( rus, Союзмультфи́льм, p=səˌjʉsmʊlʲtˈfʲilʲm , ''Union Cartoon'') (also known as SMF Animation Studio in English, Formerly known as Soyuzdetmultfilm) is a Russian animation studio based in Moscow. Launched in ...

stock. In early 2006, however, American ''

Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a pleasant, personable and translucent ghost, but often criticized by his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio. The ...

'' cartoons were used on Fridays, and in 2007 and 2008, most nights featured an episode of ''

Luntik Moonzy and his friends (russian: Лунтик и его друзья) or simply Luntik (russian: Лунтик), in its English version better known as Moonzy, is a Russian animated series for children. TV broadcast In Russia, the show premiered on ...

'', a cartoon produced by

Melnitsa Animation Studio Melnitsa Animation Studio (russian: Студия анимационного кино «Мельница», "melnitsa" meaning "windmill") is one of the largest animation studios in Russia. Deutsche Welle called the studio the Walt Disney of Saint ...

. If the cartoon is in another language it is dubbed into Russian, although the original language may still be audible. After the cartoon the presenter and puppets return for a few seconds to say "Spokoinoi nochi, malyshi", or a variant thereof, and wave goodnight. The

lullaby A lullaby (), or cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies they are used to pass down cultural knowledg ...

"Tired toys are sleeping" (russian: «Спят усталые игрушки») opens and closes each segment, accompanied by elaborate

clay animation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tra ...

. The lullaby itself was written by

Arkady Ostrovsky Arkady (Avraam) Il'ich Ostrovsky (also spelled Ostrovskij, Ostrovskyj russian: Аркадий (Авраам) Ильич Островский) (February 25 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._February_12.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_d ...

and Zoya Petrova, while the animation was done by

Aleksandr Tatarskiy Alexander Mikhailovich Tatarsky (russian: Александр Михайлович Татарский; December 11, 1950 – July 22, 2007) was a Soviet and Russian animation director, screenwriter, animator, producer, artist, co-founder and a ...

in 1981. In 1988,

Fred Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...

had made a guest appearance on the show with Daniel Striped Tiger, as shown on ''

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' deb ...

'', during the weekly theme, "Nighttime". Tatiana Vedeneyeva, who was the presenter at the time, appeared on Rogers' show later in the week and brought Stepashka with her. ''Khryusha'' and other Russian puppet characters appear on the 1988 TV special '' Free to Be... a Family'' where they met the Muppets

Kermit the Frog Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Muppet Show'', as well ...

Miss Piggy Miss Piggy is one of the Muppet characters known for her breakout role in Jim Henson's ''The Muppet Show''. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy has been notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, tendency to use French phrases i ...

and others. Khryusha and Stepashka would later make cameo appearances in the 1989

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

special ''Mickey Goes to Moscow''. From September 11 to September 14, 2001 and from April 15 to May 30, 2014, the show wasn't aired. The show celebrated its 50th anniversary on September 1, 2014. An anniversary concert was produced and screened on television. In November 2018, Khryusha was the spokesperson for Russia at the 16th annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Minsk, Belarus along with a girl named Dina. Khryusha returned at the 2019 contest as the spokesperson.

References

External links

Официальный сайт телепередачи «Спокойной ночи, малыши!»

Описание программы на сайте телеканала «Россия»
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208234626/http://russia.tv/brand/show/brand_id/9205/ , date=2016-02-08 Channel One Russia original programming Russia-1 original programming Soviet children's television series Russian children's television series Russian television shows featuring puppetry 1964 Soviet television series debuts Soviet television series 1960s Soviet television series 1970s Soviet television series 1980s Soviet television series 1990s Russian television series 2000s Russian television series 2010s Russian television series 2020s Russian television series 1960s preschool education television series 1970s preschool education television series 1980s preschool education television series 1990s preschool education television series 2000s preschool education television series 2010s preschool education television series 2020s preschool education television series

Format

See also

References

External links