''The Snow Maiden'' (russian: Снегу́рочка; tr.:''Snegurochka'') is a 1952

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, ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

. It was produced at 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 ...

studio in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and is based on the Slavic-pagan play of the same name by

Aleksandr Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Остро́вский; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 origina ...

(itself largely based on traditional folk tales). Music from

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

's opera ''

The Snow Maiden ''The Snow Maiden'' (subtitle: A Spring Fairy Tale) ( rus, Снегурочка–весенняя сказка, Snegúrochka–vesénnyaya skázka, italic=yes ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composed ...

'' is used, arranged for the film by L. Shvarts. The animated film was shown at movie theaters. The film is listed as being in the public domain on the website of the Russian Federal Agency of Culture and Cinematography

The film also lapsed into the public domain in the United States when its US copyright expired, but the copyright was restored under the GATT treaty

Plot

Snegurochka Snegurochka (diminutive) or Snegurka ( rus, Снегу́рочка (diminutive), Снегу́рка, p=sʲnʲɪˈgurətɕkə, snʲɪˈgurkə), or The Snow Maiden, is a character in Russian fairy tales. This character has no apparent roots in ...

(the Snow Maiden), the daughter of Spring the Beauty (Весна-Красна) and

Ded Moroz Ded Moroz (russian: Дед Мороз, ; Russian diminutive: russian: Дедушка Мороз, Dedushka Moroz, label=none; sk, Dedo Mráz; pl, Dziadek Mróz) or Morozko (russian: Морозко) is a legendary figure similar to Saint Nicho ...

, yearns for the companionship of mortal humans. She grows to like the Slavic god-shepherd named ''Lel'', but her heart is unable to know love. Her mother takes pity and gives her this ability, but as soon as she falls in love, her heart warms up and she melts.

Creators

Creation history

In the first half of the 1950s the Soyuzmultfilm studio releases known movies of the "classical" direction — mainly children's, often based on application of "eclair" (

rotoscoping Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced ov ...

). During this period such well-known tapes as "The Tale of the Fisherman and a Small Fish" (1950), "Kashtanka" (1952) M. M. Tsekhanovsky, and "The Snow Maiden" (1952) I. P. Ivanov-Vano, etc. are removed. In the movie "Snow Maiden" the innovative artistic touch offered by V. A. Nikitin — use of luminescent paints was used.

The edition on video

In the early 1980ss the animated film started being issued the Videoprogramma Goskino of the USSR video company initially on import, since 1984 on the Soviet cartridges "VK Electronics". Since 1990 the animated film is released by the film association "Krupnyy Plan" on videotapes. In the mid-nineties Studio PRO Video published the animated film on VHS in the collection of the best Soviet animated films
Frost Ivanovich
',
Wonderful Hand Bell
',
Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka
',
Vasilisa Mikulishna
',
Lie's Swans
' and
The Tale of the Fisherman and Small Fish
'. Since 1995, the Union of Video studio republished this animated film on VHS. From the first half the 2000s, the animated film was restored and released on DVD by Soyuz Video studio.

References

External links