The Snow Queen (1957 film)

The Snow Queen
The Snow Queen
American newspaper advertisement
Directed byLev Atamanov
Written byHans Christian Andersen (story)
Nikolai Erdman
Lev Atamanov
Nikolay Zabolotsky (1957 lyrics)
Georgy Grebner (ru)
Produced byLev Atamanov
StarringSee voices
Edited byLidiya Kyaksht
Music byArtemi Ayvazyan
Animation by
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal-International (U.S.)[1]
Release dates
  • 1 November 1957 (1957-11-01) (Soviet Union)
  • 20 November 1959 (1959-11-20) (US)
Running time
64 minutes
CountrySoviet Union
LanguageRussian

The Snow Queen (Russian: Снежная королева, romanizedSnezhnaya Koroleva) is a 1957 Soviet animated musical fantasy film directed by Lev Atamanov.[2] It is the ninth full-length animated production by Soyuzmultfilm and is based on the 1844 fable “The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Andersen. The film is one of the earliest cinematic adaptations of the Scandinavian Danish fable since its publication in New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection.

The film was released in Russia on November 1, 1957. The film was re-released with an English soundtrack in 1959, 1993, and 1995. The film was translated into several major languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Finnish and Swedish. In 1959, at the height of the Cold War, Universal Pictures acquired the film for U.S. theatrical distribution (as the first animated film from Universal).

In foreign dubbings of The Snow Queen, popular actors were cast to play most characters. The Snow Queen was voiced by Russian actress Maria Babanova. Vladimir Gribkov (ru), Yanina Zhejmo, Sergey Martinson and Anna Komolova (ru) also were part of the voice cast.

The screenplay was written by Nikolai Erdman, Georgy Grebner (ru) and animation by Alexander Vinokurov (ru), Leonid Shvartsman, Elizabeth Komova, Vladimir Krumin and Fyodor Khitruk. After a 2007 Ghibli Museum Library release in Japan, an interview revealed that the dialogue, compositions, animation and themes of the film influenced Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. An HD film restoration re-release of The Snow Queen was published in Russia on 19 December 2020 by Soyuzmultfilm.

  1. ^ The Snow Queen (1960) - TCM.com
  2. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 205. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.