''Happy Merry-Go-Round'' () is a long-running Soviet and Russian animated
anthology series
An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...
created by
Anatoly Petrov and
Galina Barinova for
Soyuzmultfilm
Soyuzmultfilm ( rus, Союзмультфи́льм, p=səˌjʉsmʊlʲtˈfʲilʲm , ''Unioncartoon'') (also known as SMF Animation Studio in English, formerly known as Soyuzdetmultfilm, ''Unionchildcartoon'') is a Russian animation studio, produ ...
in 1969. It is presented as a collection of 2–4 experimental shorts by various young directors. The original series ran from 1969 to 2001 and was released theatrically during the Soviet days and on television in the
Russian Federation
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. 2012 saw the revival of the series.
History
The idea of the animated "newsreel" anthology (or a "children's animated magazine" as it was known in the Soviet Union) came to
Anatoly Petrov and his wife
Galina Barinova, both experienced animators at
Soyuzmultfilm
Soyuzmultfilm ( rus, Союзмультфи́льм, p=səˌjʉsmʊlʲtˈfʲilʲm , ''Unioncartoon'') (also known as SMF Animation Studio in English, formerly known as Soyuzdetmultfilm, ''Unionchildcartoon'') is a Russian animation studio, produ ...
who hadn't been given a chance to direct their own films before. It was conceived as a proving ground for experimental animation by beginning directors based on riddles, rhymes, songs, absurd stories and so on.
[''Sergei Asenin (2012)'']
The World of Animation
— Moscow: Print-on-Demand, pp. 76-77
The series aired in 1969 as a collection of four short
traditionally animated
Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation of the 20th century, until there was a shi ...
cartoons by a team of newcomers, originally under the "artistic guidance" by
Roman Kachanov. The first episode included ''Distracted Giovanni'' by Petrov, a hand-drawn story with a
cutout look about a distracted boy who literally fell apart; ''Mosaic'' directed by Galina Barinova and
Leonid Nosyrev that utilized a
mosaic
A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
aesthetics; ''Antoshka'', a musical comedy also by Nosyrev, and ''
Well, Just You Wait!
''Well, Just You Wait!'' (, ), also known as I'll get you! in official translations, is a Soviet and Russian series of animated short films produced by Soyuzmultfilm. In the 2014 all-Russian poll, ''Well, Just You Wait!'' won by a wide margin ...
'' by
Gennady Sokolsky
Gennady Mikhailovich Sokolsky (; 1 December 1937 — 27 December 2014) was a Soviet and Russian artist, animation director, animator, art director and screenwriter at Soyuzmultfilm. Sokolsky took part in over 170 projects, including the '' Happy ...
which was soon turned into a popular series of its own.
Despite heavy criticism from the head of
Goskino
Goskino USSR () is the abbreviated name for the USSR State Committee for Cinematography (Государственный комитет по кинематографии СССР) in the Soviet Union. It was a central state directory body for Sovi ...
for "using children's cinema as a proving ground for
abstract art
Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...
", the anthology got a lot of praise on its release, and the team continued the production, attracting new people.
[Eduard Nazarov
Eduard Vasilievich Nazarov (; 23 November 1941 – 11 September 2016) was a Soviet and Russian animator, screenwriter, voice actor, book illustrator and educator, artistic director at the Pilot (studio), Pilot Studio (2007–2016), vice-president ...]
and others.
They were given a lot of artistic freedom which allowed many of them to develop distinctive styles before departing to their own projects.
The first ten episodes were released theatrically from 1969 to 1978 on a yearly bases. Each episode was 9 months in production.
" pattern and were developed collectively.
After 1978 the original team left the project and it turned into a more traditional collection of cartoons, with each segment being developed independently from the rest.
Episodes started appearing randomly: sometimes 2-3 per year, sometimes with a 1-2 year interval. Several
shorts were introduced during the 1980s.
It was one of the few Soyuzmultfilm's projects that survived the
and the following crisis, switching to the television format. The original series ran for 33 seasons up until 2001 when the production was stopped. In 2012 the series was revived. New directors and new types of animation were introduced, such as