The Bremen Town Musicians (1969)

Best movie of this year hands down!

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

"Bremenskie muzykanty" is a Soviet musical adaptation of the famous Brothers Grimm tale from almost 50 years ago. The director and 2 writers apparently are still alive, even if they are not really making films again. And judging from their work here, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The animation did not appeal to me at all, even if that is just subjective perception. But it is not subjective that, if you don't know the Grimm tale, you will not understand at all what is going on in here and even if some people may like the music (I am not among them), getting a story/message/plot across is still the most crucial part in filmmaking, even when it comes to animation, or especially there. i was very much underwhelmed by this one and cannot see why it has such a high rating here. Not recommended. Really only for very small children, but you should want them to grow up watching better films. I hope the sequel is better.

The thing that will surprise you most about Bremenskie Muzykanty is how such amazing music and voice work can be accompanied by such slipshod animation. There is no question, here is probably the best soundtrack in Soviet cartoons. All the songs are witty, masterful, fun, emotionally stirring, and life-affirming, and Oleg Anofriev's character work is unforgettable. Meanwhile the animation is amateurish and unsophisticated at best. It's flat, there's no personality or engaging style, and it really looks like a bad afterthought, the creators rushing to showcase the songs without giving due consideration to the visuals. So sit back, close your eyes, and enjoy the magic. Or better yet, get your hands on the soundtrack with Anofriev doing additional narration, which is a truly wonderful recording.

This is my favorite Russian cartoon. I don't understand very much Russian, but I do like Russian films. I have loaned my DVD copy of this cartoon to some of my friends, and both families LOVED it! The first family was American, and they had a lot of trouble believing that the cartoon was made during Communism! They don't know any Russian, but they loved watching the cartoon. The lady told me that her husband saw the title for the second part of the cartoon, and claimed that the title meant, "They went that-away!!!" Their younger son thought it was very cool and wished his friends could have seen it.The other family had adopted children from Russia, who are quite young, so I thought the kids might like to see it. They enjoyed it, but the little girl wondered why there weren't any words, and her daddy explained that the words were in the song.What I like best about this movie is the fact that one of my very favorite Russian singers, Oleg Anofriev, is one of the principle voices. Overall, it is a very pretty movie. Anyone who likes a good cartoon or who is learning Russian, must watch this Soviet classic!

This is a wonderfully done cartoon; every song is superb and catchy, highly recommended for those who don't even speak the language since every piece of dialogue is part of a song anyway, and you don't really have to know Russian to appreciate those.