Children's movie

In both the United States and Europe , the idea of ​​children's films was relatively developed in the 1930s. According to Basleget and Staples, the term “family film” is used primarily by Americans, and “children's film” is used in Europe ^[4] .

The approach to the selection of the main characters is also different. For American films, children who meet special requirements for appearance are selected, while Europeans approve of “ordinary” children for playing roles in their films ^[5] . Similarly, for adult roles in American films, well-known actors and actresses are invited to attract the widest possible audience, and at the same time the story is presented from the point of view of adults, including parents. This approach affects the set of actors, plot construction, and even the stage-scenes ^[5] . Basleget and Staples consider the 1989 film “ Darling, I reduced children ” to be a good example of the American approach, while if it were a European film with a similar plot, its name would be something like “Sister, dad reduced us,” that is, the film would be interpreted from the point of view of the experience and feelings of children, and not their parents ^[6] .

Thus, American films sell well both in the US and in the international film market, while European children's films are more suitable for the local audience ^[7] .

Europe

Germany

In Germany, the 1930s - the first half of the 1940s, children's films were also paid attention from an ideological point of view - against communism, for national socialism . One of the first films of this kind - " Young Hitlerite Quex " of 1933 - is dedicated to the confrontation between the communist father and his son, sympathizing with the Nazis.

After the collapse of the Nazi regime in 1945, two Germany appeared - western ( capitalist ) and eastern ( socialist ), and, accordingly, two cinemas . Despite the well-known antagonism of the capitalist and socialist systems, the task of both West German and East German cinema was denazification ^[8] .

Russia

Children's films in the USSR received great attention. One of the main characters in the ideologized game of Soviet films was the October Party , the pioneers and their sympathizers: “In the Soviet Union, D.F. is one of the means of communist education of the younger generation, its artistic and cultural development ” ^[9] . Accordingly, children's cinema in the USSR was based on the method of socialist realism .

The early Soviet film, which was very popular with the public, was the silent film 1923 “ Red Devils ”, where an international children's squad - Misha, Dunyasha and black acrobat Tom fight people Batko Makhno . Then another series of films was made about the adventures of these guys - Savur-Grave and others.

In 1925, the film “Child of the State Circus” was released at the Mezhrabpom-Rus studio, where six-year-old Grisha Kalabukhov dreams of becoming an October student ^[10] .

Films were dedicated to the urgent topic of eliminating homelessness in the USSR at that time: on October 11, 1928 in Kiev and on February 1, 1929, the premiere of the film “Homeless” took place in Moscow ^[11] .

In 1936, a film studio for the production of children's films was founded in Moscow - Soyuzdetfilm , which, under a different name , still works. One of the films shot at this film studio in 1937 - “ The Lone Sail Whitens”, narrated about the tramp Gavrik and the son of teacher Peta, who took part in the revolutionary events in Odessa in 1905. Children's films were shot not only at Soyuzdetfilm studio, but also at others. For example, the 1939 film " Golden Key " was shot at the Mosfilm film studio.

Politically neutral films were also produced: fairy tales - “ By the Pike Command ” (1938), Vasilisa the Beautiful (1939), “The Little Humpbacked Horse ” (1941), adventure films - “ Treasure Island ” (1937) and others. Some films were an incentive for children's and youthful activity. For example, after the release of the film Timur and His Team (1940), a movement of Timurovites arose in the USSR.

Since 1998, on the initiative of the Moscow Children's Fund, Children's Cinema Day has been celebrated on January 8 ^[12] .

Czech Republic

In the 1950s, a lot of animated films appeared in Czechoslovakia , focused not only on children. The outstanding masters of this period were Jiri Trnka (“Prince of Baya” of 1950, “A Midsummer Night's Dream” of 1959) and Karel Zeman (“ Journey to the Beginning of Time ” in 1955, “The Stolen Airship ” of 1967). For many years, the animated series "The Mole " (1957-2002) by the artist Zdenek Miler has been popular .

Since the 1960s, a joint Czech-German production of series and television films has appeared. Such cooperation includes the work of Ot Hoffmann and Jindrich Pole: the television series " Guests " (1981-1983), "Lucius, the thunderstorm of the street" (1984). As in many Eastern European countries, considerable attention was paid to well-set fairy-tale films: “I Can Jump Through Puddles” (1970), “Girl on a Broomstick” (1972), “ Three Nuts for Cinderella ” (1973), “ Arabela ” (1979) “ Alice ” (1988), “Princess from the Mill” (1994).

North America

USA

Before World War II , Walt Disney's company created an animated version of the Brothers Grimm Tales , starting in 1937 with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . Just before and at the beginning of World War II, the United States released three significant family films. This is the aforementioned “Snow White ...” Disney, the 1939 animated film “ Gulliver’s Travels ” by Fleischer’s studio , and the 1940 Disney animated film “ Pinocchio ”, which are very free arrangements of literary sources ^[13] .

During the war, Disney continued to work, releasing the full-length fantasy film in 1940 for viewing by the whole family, and in 1941 the cartoon Dumbo .

After the war, Disney continued to produce animated films that can be classified as "family" ^[14] . According to Wojcik, the most significant play adaptations of children's literature after World War II were the 1959 feature film Anne Frank's Diary directed by George Stevens , the Treasure Island film, directed by Byron Haskin in 1950 and the Italian Heidi ( Switzerland ) feature film directed by Luigi Comencini , filmed in 1952 ^[15] .

Asia

Kazakhstan

China

The genre of children's cinema in China often intersects with the genres of comedy and fairy tales ( English fantasy ) ^[16] . Until 1981, when the Chinese children's film studio was founded, films for children were produced by ordinary film studios, and very few films were devoted to the life of children in the early stages of Chinese cinema ^[16] . Among them is the short film "The Shot" ( Eng. The Urchin ), filmed in 1922 by director Dan Duy.

Children's films mainly talked about the social problems of the younger generation. For example, the film “ Lost Lambs ” ( English Lost Lambs ) directed by Tsai Chusheng (1936) told of orphans wandering the streets of Shanghai until they were sheltered by an old servant of a wealthy house. The idea of ​​this film came up with Tsai Chusheng after watching the Soviet film about homeless children - “A Trip to Life ” directed by Nikolai Ekk , which was shown in Shanghai in 1932 and received recognition from both the public and critics, so Tsai Chusheng decided to shoot something something like that ^[17] . Tsai Chusheng was looking for an answer to the question: are such children the future of society, or is it a criminal threat to him. In his memoirs, the director noted that in this film he tried to show the shortcomings of the social system of society, the purpose of which should be the protection and education of abandoned homeless children. The film, although it had a happy ending, was rather gloomy. More optimistic was the film directed by Yang Xiaozhong, filmed at the same time, which was called " Little Orphan Girl " ^[18] . The picture combines the romantic image of an orphan with a more realistic description of her life on the street. In the end, the girl finds the strength to break off relations with a gang of Shanghai thieves, of which she was a member, and find happiness in the adoptive family of the doctor.

Another well-known children's film of this period was the 1949 film directed by Zhao Ming and Yan Gong, based on the popular comic strip ( manhua ) by Zhang Leping's Street Orphan (or Sanmao's Wanderings). The protagonist of this film subsequently played in several films from the Sanmao series. Over the years, the theme of the small wanderer Sanmao has evolved, so that as a result, he has gone from a unprotected homeless child to a conscious assistant in the affairs of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ^[19] .

In general, despite serious social topics, the films “Lost Sheep” and “Wandering Sanmao” are imbued with humor and optimism, which served as the basis for the creation of subsequent children's films ^[20] .

Japan

Since the first half of the 1990s, Japan has held the only annual KINECO International Children's Film Festival throughout the country ^[21] . Its feature is the screening of films from around the world for an audience of children from one year to teenagers, while films should be presented in the form of “live cinema” ( English Live Cinema ) ^[22] , that is, recordings of various performances with direct scoring, for example , performances, concert performances.

Korea

Korean children's cinema (and all cinema), after the Second World War , like German cinema once, is divided into two Koreas: North and South .

In North Korea - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - cinema is inspired by the Juche idea . The creation of film production for a children's audience is specifically engaged in the Studio of Children's Films named after April 26 ^[23] , located in Pyongyang ^[24] . Among the cartoons intended for the children of North Korea, one can name, for example, the drawn “Oxwe”, the puppet “Echo” and “Suni” ^[24] . Also, the studio is a large commercial producer of cartoons, not intended for Korea, but on order for other countries ^[24] . The animated series " Pororo Penguin " is broadcast in more than 100 countries, and in South Korea its images are found on almost every subject ^[25] , created not without the help of North Korean animators ^[26] .

• Article "Children's film" // BIG SOVIET ENCYCLOPEDIA / B. A. Vvedensky (editor-in-chief). - 2nd ed. - M .: Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1952. - T. 14 ("Demosthenes - Precambrian"). - 300,000 copies.

• Bazalgette Cary. Unshrinking the kids: Children's Cinema and the Family Film // In front of the children: screen entertainment and young audiences. - British Film Institute, 1995. - ISBN 9780851704524 .

• Watson, WS Understanding Rainer Werner Fassbinder: Film as Private and Public Art. - Univ of South Carolina Press, 1996 .-- 341 p. - (Understanding modern European and Latin American literature). - ISBN 9781570030796 .

• Wojcik-Andrews Ian. Children's films: history, ideology, pedagogy, theory. - New York: Garland Pub, 2000. - (Garland reference library of the humanities; Children's literature and culture). - ISBN 081533074X .

• Brockmann, S. A Critical History of German Film. - Camden House, 2010 .-- 522 p. - ISBN 9781571134684 .

• Brown Noel. The Hollywood Family Film: A History, from Shirley Temple to Harry Potter. - London & New York: IB Tauris , 2012 .-- ISBN 978-1-78076-270-8 .

• Tan Ye, Yun Zhu. Historical dictionary of Chinese cinema. - The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2012. - ISBN 978-0-8108-6779-6 (boom.) 978-0-8108-7913-3 (e-book).

• Laura Pozzi. The Revolution of a Little Hero: The Sanmao Comic Strips and the Politics of Childhood in China, 1935-1962 / Prof. Stephen A. Smith, (EUI / All Souls College, Univ. Of Oxford) et al. - Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the deg. of Dr of History and Civilization of the EUI. - Florence, 7 July 2014: European University Institute (EUI), Dep't of History and Civilization, 2014.

• Childhood and nation in world cinema: Borders and encounters since 1980 . - Date of appeal: 12/01/2017. (The aim of this project is to bring together an international network of scholars in order to address questions of the child and nation in the context of world cinemas. © Copyright 2014 Childhood and Nation in World Cinema.)