''The Bremen Town Musicians'' (russian: links=no, Бременские музыканты, Bremenskiye muzykanty) is a 1969

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

musical animated film produced by

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 ...

, directed by

Inessa Kovalevskaya Inessa Alekseyevna Kovalevskaya (russian: Инесса Алексеевна Ковалевская; born 1 March 1933) is a Soviet and Russian animation director at Soyuzmultfilm known for her musical animated films and ''The Bremen Town Musicians' ...

and written by

Yuri Entin Yuri Sergeyevich Entin (russian: Ю́рий Серге́евич Э́нтин; born 21 August 1935) is a Russian and Soviet poet, playwright, and lyricist who wrote screenplays and songs for various children's films including ''The Bremen Town Mu ...

and

Vasily Livanov Vasily Borisovich Livanov (russian: link=no, Василий Борисович Ливанов; born 19 July 1935), MBE, is a Soviet and Russian film actor, animation and film director, screenwriter and writer most famous for portraying Sherlock H ...

, with music by

Gennady Gladkov Gennady Igorevich Gladkov (russian: link=no, Геннадий Игоревич Гладков; born 18 February 1935) is a Soviet and Russian composer. He composed music for some of the most famous Soviet movies and cartoons, most notably '' The ...

. It is based on the characters of

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

fairy-tale, ''

Town Musicians of Bremen The "Town Musicians of Bremen" (german: link=no, Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' in 1819 (KHM 27). It tells the story of four aging domestic animals, w ...

''. The film became a cult hit in the Soviet Union because of its memorable musical soundtrack, which contains influences from Western

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

music. Two sequels were made, including ''

On the Trail of the Bremen Town Musicians ''On the Trail of the Bremen Town Musicians'' (russian: links=no, По следам бременских музыкантов, Po sledam bremenskikh muzykantov) is a 1973 Soviet animated film directed by Vasily Livanov. It was made as a sequel to ' ...

'' (1973) and ''

The New Bremen Town Musicians ''The New Bremen Town Musicians'' (russian: links=no, Новые бременские, Novye Bremenskiye) is a 2000 Russian animated film. Sequel to the films ''The Bremen Town Musicians'' and '' On the Trail of the Bremen Town Musicians''. None of ...

'' (2000).

Plot

The cartoon focuses on a Donkey, a Dog, a Cat, and a Rooster and their leader, a Troubadour (possibly to represent a classical five-piece rock-band). At the start of the cartoon, the band sings about the joy of freedom, which they feel in their travels. They arrive in a palace and begin a show for the King and his subjects. They perform a variety of tricks. However, while the Troubadour is balancing upside-down on top of his animals, he and the Princess catch each other's eye; they both blush. The unexpected event derails the show, causing Donkey to shatter a window. The King furiously throws the band out of the palace and into the woods. Back on the road, Troubadour looks up at the moonlit sky and dreams of the Princess, seeing her face in the moon. As he sings, it is revealed that the Princess, too, is gazing at the moon thinking of him. Their translucent figures share a duet in the sky. Afterwards, they each sing, pulling the moon their way; it tilts to and fro until at last it is at its highest point in the sky. Presumably at midnight, the band chances upon a stone hut housing a band of bandits. Their leader is a

fortune teller Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical w ...

with golden bracelets, heavy makeup, and a long black ponytail - likely a stereotype of Romani people. Shuffling a deck of

playing cards A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...

, she sings about her desire to rob the king. The other crooks merrily join the song, drinking foaming mugs of beer and dancing together as they sing along. The woman dances atop her drum as the song speeds up into a

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

, with a vision of fire behind her. Meanwhile, the crooks engage in a

sword dance Sword dances are recorded throughout world history. There are various traditions of solo and mock-battle (Pyrrhic) sword dances from Africa, Asia and Europe. General types of sword dance include: *solo dancers around swords – such as t ...

. She swooshes her shawl and shimmies her shoulders, laughing maniacally as the song concludes. Suddenly, the music stops as they are interrupted by Troubadour and the animals. They frighten the crooks with strange noises and a trenchcoat-like disguise. The crooks scramble out of the windows in fear, and the musicians take possession of the hut. The next day, the King and his military escort are marching to a classified location when their road is blocked by Troubadour and his companions, who are disguised similarly to the crooks; they sing a song about being bandits. The group chases off the cowardly soldiers and capture the King, tying him to a post and running into his hut. The King trembles with fear, having a vision of knives slicing against each other. Unable to escape, the King sinks down in despair. Troubadour then comes out of the hut as his regular self and plays a song on his guitar about how he would do anything for the King, especially if he could marry the King's daughter. The King notices the Troubadour and desperately gestures to be saved. Troubadour immediately runs into the hut and the house trembles as he appears to beat up the bandits within (in reality, he and his band are simply doing cartwheels and jumping jacks while throwing laundry out windows). At last the King is untied by the Troubadour's band, and thereby winning the King's favor. With the King rescued, the musicians lead a procession back to the palace. The guards attempt to reconcile with the King to no avail. The King formally introduces Troubadour to the Princess, implying they are to be wed. That night, the King throws a

ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used f ...

, where Troubadour and the Princess dance in modern ways that energize the other guests. Meanwhile, the animals are not allowed in the palace; they are forced to spend the night outside, unsuccessfully attempting to peer in through windows. In the morning, the Rooster calls for Troubadour multiple times, sounding dejected towards the end. Hearing no answer, the animals pack up their things and leave the palace, beginning a solemn rendition of the song they sang in the opening. To their surprise, one of the verses is sung by outside voices: Troubadour and the Princess. Now reunited, Troubadour, the princess, and the animals set off into the unknown.

Cast

Oleg Anofriyev Oleg Andreyevich Anofriyev (sometimes spelled Anofriev, russian: link=no, Олег Андреевич Анофриев; 20 July 193028 March 2018), PAR, was a Soviet and Russian theatreРусский драматический театр: Энци ...

- Troubadour, the Rooster, the Dog, the Cat, Atamansha, the Robbers and the guards *

Elmira Zherzdeva Elmira Sergeyevna Zherzdeva (russian: link=no, Эльмира Сергеевна Жерздева, born 6 March 1936) is a Soviet singer and Meritorious Artist (since 1992). Early life and career Zherzdeva was born in Bolokhovo, Soviet Union. ...

- Princess * Anatoly Gorokhov - The Donkey, the Robbers and the guards

Voice actors in other countries

Legacy

A track from the film is available on Russian copies of the rhythm/dance game, ''

Just Dance 2019 ''Just Dance 2019'' is a 2018 dance rhythm game developed and published by Ubisoft. It was unveiled on June 11, 2018, during its E3 press conference as the tenth main installment of the series, and was released on October 23, 2018 on Nintendo ...

'' for 8th generation consoles. It became available as a ''Just Dance Unlimited'' exclusive for regions outside of Russia on December 20, 2018. The track is streamed through the

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

servers.

References

External links