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

. Continuously broadcast since 1964 (premiered during the Soviet era), it airs on the

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

channel. The program's presenters have included Valentina Leontieva (in the 1960s and 1970s), Angelina Vovk,

Tatyana Sudets Tatyana Alexandrovna Sudets (russian: Татья́на Алекса́ндровна Суде́ц; first marriage — Grushina, née — Burantseva) (born August 22, 1947 in Moscow) is a Soviet and Russian TV presenter and television annou ...

and

Tatyana Vedeneyeva Tatyana Veniaminovna Vedeneyeva (russian: Татьяна Вениаминовна Веденеева; born 10 July 1953) is a widely known Soviet and Russian actress and an anchor for the Soviet children's program ''Good Night, Little Ones!'' B ...

(in the 1980s),

Amayak Akopyan Amayak Arutyunovich Akopyan (russian: Амая́к Арутю́нович Акопя́н; hy, Հմայակ Հարությունի Հակոբյան); born 1 December 1956, Moscow, USSR) is a Soviet and Russian illusionist, actor, circus artist. Et ...

(in the 1996 and 2001). Current presenters () include

Anna Mikhalkova Anna Nikitichna Mikhalkova (Russian: А́нна Ники́тична Михалко́ва; born 14 May 1974, in Moscow) is a Russian actress and model. Her film credits include '' Our Own'', '' Kokoko'' and ''Rasputin''. Her television credits ...

( Nikita Mikhalkov'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 and Mikhail Porechenkov.

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 A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

characters. The most regularly appearing puppets are ''Khryusha'' (a piglet - introduced on February 10, 1970), ''Stepashka'' (a

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...

, 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, introduced in 1982) and ''Mishutka'' (a

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

, 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 A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

. The cartoon lasts about five minutes and was often taken from the Soyuzmultfilm stock. In early 2006, however, American '' Casper the Friendly Ghost'' cartoons were used on Fridays, and in 2007 and 2008, most nights featured an episode of '' Luntik'', 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 "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 and

Zoya Petrova Zoya (russian: Зоя, links=no) is a feminine Russian and Ukrainian first name, a variant of Zoe, meaning "life", from Greek ζωή (zoē), "life".