Holiday Cartoons From Soviet Union - My Top 5

Holiday cartoons from Soviet Union - my top 5

“The Last Year’s Snow Was Falling” (1983)

This one is a legend. Packed with phrases that every Russian person recognizes in a conversation. I watch it religiously every year on December 31. I pretty much know it by heart, but I still enjoy watching it! Voiced by the amazing Stanislav Sadalsky. Great music too!

(«Уж послала так послала!» «А вот это мой размерчик.» «Ох уж эти сказочки! Ох уж эти сказочники…»)

(Watch with English subtitles here)

“Father Frost and Summer” (1969)

It’s sooo cute! And those songs! Love love love it.

(LQ quality but with English subtitles)

“Winter in Prostokvashino” (1984)

Another classic cartoon - the third installment in the story of the little village called Prostokvashino. Check out the Christmas tree decorated in attic-found vintage. :)

(«Фиг вам называется!»)

(with English subtitles)

“The Nutcracker” (1973)

I remember watching this as a child and being mesmerized with the music. It was long before I knew who Tchaikovsky was! And the scene when Nutcracker turns into boy gave me goose bumps.

This one needs no translation.

“Father Frost and Grey Wolf” (1978)

I mostly include this one for the song - «Тревога! Тревога! Волк унёс зайчат!» - which is an old joke between me and my sister. We watched this one a lot back in the day. :)

(with English subtitles)

Making this list has put me into holiday mood! :)

Russian school slang

📌 Камча́тка. Kamchatka Krai (Rus. Камчатский край, Камчатка) is this part of Russia –

At schools “камчатка” is also the last rows of tables in the classroom, where the rowdy and the D-students sit.

(There is a joke that Kamchatka teachers call those rows “калининград” (see that tiny exclave on the far left of the map? That’s Kaliningrad Oblast), but they apparently don’t)

📌 Шпарга́лка/шпо́ра – a cheatnote/crib. Cheating is pretty widespread in Russian schools and colleges and isn’t a big deal (except for state exams and certain teachers). Usually called шпора for short (literally “spur”, as in something you put on boots)

📌 Бота́ник – a geek/nerd/swot, literally “a botanist”. Also отли́чник/зубри́ла – “an excellent student” (neutral, not slang)/”one who learns everything by heart” (a bit derogatory, as is the first one)

📌 Дво́ечник. In Russia a mark you get in class is a digit from 0 (lowest) to 5 (highest) (0 to 10 in Belarus, 0 to 12 in the Ukraine). A D-students are called двоечник – “one who gets twos”, a C-student is тро́ечник/середнячо́к – “one who gets threes (the lowest grade you need to pass)”/”average”, and a B-student is хороши́ст – “a good student” (just because четвёрочник and пятёрочник don’t sound good)

📌 Кол. Единица (the mark one out of five) is often called кол even by teachers – “stake/pole”. Двойка is sometimes па́ра – “pair”, тройка – троя́к.

📌 Зубри́ть/зубрёжка. Learning things by heart is expressed in a few words and phrases:

учить (несов. в.)/выучить (сов. в.) наизусть – to learn (smth) by heart

зубрить – to learn something without understanding, to cram; зубрёжка – cramming

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blokzezdjenciami

6 years ago