when i was 18 years old and started living on my own, i made a conscious decision i am still happy and proud about – never to have TV in my house. not even once i questioned or regretted it. i believe that not having TV makes you a better person and gives you freedom: freedom from propaganda and other people’s tastes and opinions, freedom from useless and sometimes harmful information, freedom for your brain to imagine and explore, freedom for your eyes to read and look at beautiful things, as well as the most basic but very important freedom – to choose what to watch and when. and while i foresee a battle over this subject with Leonardo when he is a little older and gets to know about TV from his peers, i will try to explain to him where i am standing and why.
but to tell you the truth, not having TV also means a lot of work. it’s like renting a private home when you are on vacation versus staying in an all-inclusive hotel. when you don’t have TV you need to spend time researching and finding things you would like to watch and ways to do so, be that movies, music videos or cartoons. with Leo’s fast growing curiosity and interest to moving image and music, I am in a constant search for good cartoons appropriate for his age. and after much research, Soviet Russian cartoons are still on the top of the list. I already wrote about some of them here. we watched these over and over again, until Leo stopped paying attention to the screen. it was a sign for me to update his cartoons library. so here are some new finds and some all-time favorites:
– Absent-minded Giovanni (Рассеяный Джованни): ironically, this cartoon was found by my non-Russian husband who stumbled upon it while browsing Russian-speaking YouTube. surprisingly, i never heard about this one before, even though it’s obviously pretty old. the graphics of this cartoon is just mind-blowing – as if inspired by Picasso, Matisse, and Russian constructivism movement all at the same time. but unlike many visually sophisticated cartoons of that kind, this one is actually interesting to watch for both kids and grown-ups.
– At the port (В порту): equally gorgeous and timeless graphics and soundtrack, with beautiful lyrics and chorus performing them. i love listening to it on the background while Leo actually enjoys the visual part a lot.
– The Bremen town musicians (Бременские музыканты): apart from the rebellious message that made princess run off from her palace and follow a gypsy circus, this cartoon could be a fashion bible for modern hipsters – just check out what all the characters are wearing! color-blocking rocks!
– The Mystery of the third planet (Тайна третей планеты): very grown-up and very multi-layered, this cartoon is an eye candy and endless source of inspiration for daydreamers and nerds.
– Maugli (Маугли): color palette borrowed from Van Gogh or Vrubel, this cartoon is captivating for both kids and grown-ups.
re-watching some of these together with Leo is like traveling in a time-machine and having a psychoanalysis session at the same time. now i realize that these cartoons had a serious say in shaping my taste, perspective of the world and beauty, my values, and sense of humor. back then they were not about violence, bullying or cruel jokes. sometimes true to life, sometimes completely imaginative, they all had a secret message, something between the lines. humor was subtle, visuals were avant-garde, and music was performed by real orchestra. they taught us to dream big and work hard towards achieving those dreams. when i search for the new cartoons for Leo i keep all this in mind. they are my little helpers in raising a brand new human being i can be proud to call my son. but this is just my two cents 🙂
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