Animated story of Kolobok. 1936–2020
Abstract
The fairy tale Kolobok [The Gingerbread Man] belongs to the group of archaic cumulative fairy tales. Their entire content was reduced to recounting the phenomena of reality,
living beings or objects. This type of thinking continues to be relevant for any person during
early childhood. But in the modern world, such worldview does not exist and cannot be
represented in figurative forms. Meanwhile, the cartoon interpretations of the Kolobok plot
claim to be adequate in the transfer of folk pedagogy and morality. It considered to be
their high dignity. However, not a single film adaptation conveys the content of the fairy
tale in its natural environment. Thus the assessment of the film adaptation should not depend
on its compliance with the original work.
The fairy tale Kolobok is one of the most popular fairy tales; a large number of animated
films have been created on this plot for both children and adults. But since the idea of cumulation is incomprehensible to a modern person, the directors fill the plot of the tale with new
solutions and meanings. Children’s film adaptations teach to be careful and not trust the first
person they meet, obey their parents and not run away from home. Adult film adaptations
deal with the tragedy of human life, the complex relationship between man and power,
ironically mention social turmoils. It does not matter whether the positive or destructive nature
the new film has, but the most important thing is artistically convincing solution to the problem.
Keywords
Kolobok / Gingerbread Man, cumulative fairy tale, film adaptation, animation, plot,
interpretation.
For citation
Stroganov M. V. Animated story of Kolobok. 1936–2020. Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2022, no. 1. pp. 131–155.
DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2022-1-131-155
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Received: 20.11.2021
Revised: 03.02.2022
Accepted: 11.02.2022