''Good Night, Little Ones!'' () is a long-running

Russian-language Russian is an East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is the native language of the Russians. It was the ''de facto'' and ''de j ...

children's

television program A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...

. Continuously broadcast since 1964 (premiered during the

Soviet era The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...

), it airs on the

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...

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

Angelina Vovk Angelina Mikhaylovna Vovk ( rus, Ангели́на Миха́йловна Вовк, , ɐnɡʲɪˈlʲinə mʲɪˈxajləvnə ˈvofk; born September 16, 1942) is a former presenter for the Soviet Central Television active from 1980, best known for ...

, 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 (; born 21 October 1945) is a Russian filmmaker and actor. He made his directorial debut with the Red Western film ''At Home Among Strangers'' (1974) after appearing in a series of films, including the romantic com ...

's daughter), Oxana Fedorova,

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 World Boxing ...

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. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...

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 Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

, introduced in 1970), ''Philya'' (a

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

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

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

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

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), 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 ...

, 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 few minutes the presenter introduces a short

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

. The cartoon lasts about five minutes. In early 2006, however, American ''

Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is a fictional character who serves as the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a translucent ghost who is pleasant and personable, but often criticized by his thr ...

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

Luntik ''Luntik and His Friends'' () or simply ''Luntik'' (), or ''Moonzy'' in the English version, is a Russian animated series for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. TV broadcast In Russia, the show premiered on the TV channel Russia-1 and was broad ...

'', a cartoon produced by Melnitsa Animation Studio. 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 a 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 knowl ...

"Tired toys are sleeping" () opens and closes each segment, accompanied by elaborate

clay animation Claymation, sometimes called clay animation or 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 cl ...

. The lullaby itself was written by

Arkady Ostrovsky Arkady (Avraam) Il'ich Ostrovsky (also spelled Ostrovskij, Ostrovskyj ) (February 25 O.S. February 12">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. February 12/small>, 1914 – September 18, 1967) ...

and Zoya Petrova, while the animation was done by

Aleksandr Tatarskiy Olexander Mykhailovich Tatarskyy ( Ukrainian: Олександр Михайлович Татарський; ; December 11, 1950 – July 22, 2007) was a Ukrainian 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), better 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 s ...

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. It was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. Its original incarnation, the se ...

'', 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 in 1955 and originally performed by Jim Henson. An anthropomorphic green frog, Kermit is the pragmatic everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably as the showrunner and host o ...

Miss Piggy Miss Piggy is a The Muppets, Muppet character known for her Breakthrough role, breakout role in the sketch comedy television series ''The Muppet Show''. She is notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, her tendency to use French l ...

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

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

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.

Awards

* Winner of the

TEFI TEFI () is an annual award given in the Russian television industry, presented by the Russian Academy of Television. It has been awarded since 1994. TEFI is presented in various sectors (up to 50 nominations in 2008), such as television shows ...

award (1997, 2002, 2003) in the nomination "Best Children's Program". * Winner of the TEFI-Kids award (2022) - Oksana Fedorova as the host of a children's TV program.

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

Awards

See also

References

External links