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Soyuzmultfilm (p=səˌjʉsmʊlʲtˈfʲilʲm , Unioncartoon) (also known as SMF Animation Studio in English, formerly known as Soyuzdetmultfilm, Unionchildcartoon) is a Russian animation studio, Film production, and distribution company based in Moscow. Launched on June 10, 1936 as the animated film production unit of the U.S.S.R.'s motion picture monopoly, GUKF, Soyuzmultfilm has produced more than 1,500 cartoons. Soyuzmultfilm specializes in the creation of animated Animated series, feature films and . The studio has made animated films in a wide variety of genres and art techniques, including stop motion, hand-drawn, 2D and 3D techniques.
The "Golden Collection" of Soyuzmultfilm, produced from the beginning of the 1950s and to the end of the 1980s, is considered to be the classics of the animation medium and the best works of world-renowned directors, production designers and animators. Among the studio's best-known films are Hedgehog in the Fog (1975), the Cheburashka series (1969–1983), the Well, Just You Wait! series (since 1969), Karlsson-on-the-Roof (1968) and others. Many of the films rank among the classics of world animation, garnered a multitude of international and Russian awards and prizes, and became an integral part of Russian and global culture.
In 2018, the studio released the feature film Hoffmaniada, considered a masterpiece of stop motion puppet animation, based on the tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann. The 3D full-length animated Epic film Suvorov is currently in production.
The studio has released 7 Animated series projects since 2017. One of them is a sequel of the well-known Prostokvashino trilogy based on the aesthetics of the original. Six other series, with new original scripts, are Orange Moo-cow, which is co-produced with Cyber Group Studios, Squared Zebra, Claymotions, The Adventures of Peter & Wolf, Captain Kraken and His Crew, Pirate School. The series Mr. Theo, Cat and Dog and Orange Moo-cow ranked in the top 5 among the cartoons shown on Russian television in 2019, according to Mediascope research company. Several other series are in production and expected to be released in the second half of 2020.
The Short film produced by the studio participate in prestigious festivals and receive international prizes. Among the recent award-winning shorts are: Vivat Musketeers! (2019), Good Heart (2018), Coco's Day (2017), The Sled (2016), Two Trams (2016), Moroshka (2015), Pik Pik Pik (2015) and others.
In addition to the production of animation, the studio launched many activities. Soyuzmultfilm conducts advanced training programmes for animators and script-writers. In 2018, it opened a development center for children Soyuzmultclub with animation workshops, interactive programs, regular animation courses for children, the museum. In 2020, the first indoor multimedia park Soyuzmultfilm will be opened at the VDNKH exhibition center. A Science park, which is to become the largest animation production centre in Russia, is being created on the basis of the studio.
The creative staff included already well-known masters of hand-drawn animation – Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Olga Khodataeva, Brumberg sisters, Vladimir Suteev, , and others.
Three-months retraining courses were organized by the studio for all creative artists. The masters taught young animators the basics of professional skills. The studio turned into the main production base of Soviet Union animation and became a creative centre for animation of the Soviet Union. In the early years, Soyuzmultfilm embraced the cel technique – the so-called Disney's conveyor method, which was convenient for mass production of hand-drawn animation. Contour with a drawing pen and an exposure sheet borrowed from the Disney became essential elements of production. In the late 1930s, the studio began actively using the Eclair method (or rotoscoping), developed by the American animators Fleisher Brothers and Screen Gems. The reason was the reorientation of the studio to current topics and the need to create not only grotesque, but also heroic characters. From the very beginning, the studio took as a basis for production the principle of division of work into separate specialties (in-betweeners, ink artists, paint artists), which accelerated the process of production and made it cheaper.
For several years Soyuzmultfilm focused mainly on the creation of entertaining shorts for children with animal characters depicted in a Disney manner. One of the first cartoons created at the studio was the black-and-white (1936) by . That was the first experience of the famous children's poet Sergey Mikhalkov in animation as a screenwriter.
Despite the chosen direction, many animators developed their own styles – in particular, Vladimir Suteev ( (1937) and (1938).
Since 1937, the studio started to produce color films. The first experience was by . Many cartoons of 1938–1945 were made both in colou Color and black-and-white.
If in 1936–1937 the animation was limited to the children's themes within the genres of and , then in 1938 it was ordered to direct Soviet cinema to contemporary issues. The studio's repertoire policy was changed, it again began to produce political films in the genres of the Soviet "political fairy tale", political cartoons and agitprop posters. The possibility of portraying a person as a positive Soviet hero in animation was discussed. At that time, the films ( (1938) by , (1939) by
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