Another tribute to Russian cartoons 

I remember when I was a child I sat in front of my TV at six o’clock and it was an inviolable rite. I came home from school and forgot everything about school homework to watch one hour of cartoons. It was practically the only cartoon ration we had and so we had to take it. We lived at a time, still not far away, where the national television only had two channels, and all their accomplishments were so empirical that it seemed that the Cuban TV reinvents Television every day. We were allies of the socialist countries and they—in exchange for tons of sugar—flooded us with a colorful production of anything: canning factory, perfumes, children's toys, books, building designs, buttons, furniture, etc… and, of course, cartoons for children.

 
Russian cartoons was the way we Cubans coined the entire animated production for children exhibited in the 1970s and 1980s of the 20^th century, from various socialist countries, not only of the Soviet Union. There were cartoons for all tastes. There were mixed films designed for kindergarten children with true art works of European animation, thought for all ages. Many of these animated films were vouched by awards won at international festivals.

Many of these cartoons touched us since they were sad. That’s why we rejected them at first. After growing up, we realized that many times that sadness was a sign an emotional vibration that caused the cartoons in our subconscious child, the sum of all human and artistic values set out in those materials, ethical values remaining as vital sediment. The animation quality, the obvious cultural references, the use of color, optical and photographic effects, endowed these cartoons with a refined artistic quality that somehow sharpened our aesthetic taste. The soundtracks of these films, supported by the rich and melodic melancholy of this people, were set in many people’s minds. Many years later, more than one feels an indefinable nostalgia when listening to a piece of Glazunov, Khachaturian or Shaicovsky.

Still, we now profess the Russian cartoons a complex longing, a strange feeling divided into a deep love and childish hatred, strong and direct. In addition to their virtues, some of them were also defective, slow, crude and boring, and become really unbearable for us. We sometimes watched them with boredom since we were bombarded with the same films for years, and we had no choice. But this is the reason why they are now present when we look at our childhood. They are inseparable part of our memory. Today the Russian cartoons come back with us with all the lost memories, our playgrounds or homes where we lived. They bring the fright, the joys and tears of the time. When we watch a Russian cartoon, it comes to light a sense of peace that we experienced every Saturday morning, the closest thing to happiness.

Cubasí Translation Staff

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