Fedot the Blockbuster

Children in Russia may be more familiar with the sleek graphics of "Shrek" and "The Incredibles" than with their own country's animation tradition, but a new, big-budget, full-length Russian cartoon based on a work by a much-loved actor and writer hopes to re-acquaint people with classical Russian storytelling and illustration.

"The Tale of Fedot the Hunter, A Daring Fellow" (Pro Fedota-Streltsa, Udalovo Molodtsa) was penned in 1986 by Leonid Filatov, an established film actor and director. Written as a rhyming fairy tale for adults, the story tells of a demanding king who asks his hunter to fulfill impossible tasks in an attempt to steal the hunter's wife.

The story became a huge favourite during the Perestroika era and Filatov, who died in 2003, used to perform it regularly on television always dressed immaculately in a white three-piece suit. Many of its lines have passed into Russian speech and in an obvious tribute, Fedot has Filatov's trademark moustache.

With a huge publicity campaign backing the film, the film has a good chance of being a New Year success with adults and children over the long holiday.

As with Hollywood's cartoon blockbusters, most of the characters carry the voices of famous actors. Fedot has the speech of Sergey Bezrukov, an actor best known for his role as Sasha Belov in the television series "Brigada."

Nashe Kino

For Bezrukov it wasn't the first time he has played Fedot. A big fan of the fairy tale, he made an audio book of the story that Filatov approved shortly before his death. Filatov died before its release.

"It's really sad when we watch Western animated films," said Bezrukov in an interview with St. Petersburg television channel STS in November. "We have our own Russian stories that I don't think are any less funny or entertaining."

"Why do we need the West for fairy tales, when we have our own traditions and writers that we have barely begun to explore?"

The Tsar has the voice of veteran star Viktor Sukhoruko, who starred in the cult crime film "Brat" and Russia's hardest working actress, Chulpan Khamatova, acts the princess role.

The film's look is very different from the Hollywood style, as it uses a technique where the characters are like puppets in front of a moving background.

"We tried to draw the film in such a way that it would look traditionally Russian," said Lyudmila Steblyanko, the 28-year-old director making her feature length debut.

The surroundings are unmistakably Russian too, with the Tsar's city drawn with detailed wooden architecture, making it look like a more densely populated version of the ancient Russian city of Suzdal.

Apart from the hero hunter, the princess and the tsar, the film has a host of Russian characters including Baba Yaga, a Russian witch who in the film wears a black cat around her neck like a scarf and whose large underwear is visible every time she leans over to put something in her cauldron.

Still, even though set in a fairy-tale Tsarist Russia, the film plays on modern Russia too.

Baba Yaga has a magic dish that shows Zenit football matches and Channel One -- one of the backers of the film -- and when she gets onto her flying mortar, Baba Yaga puts on her seat belt.