Treasures of Soviet Animation Vol. 2 (Standard Edition)

Gorgeous new restorations of 3 of Soviet-Armenian director Lev Atamanov’s THE SNOW QUEEN, THE SCARLET FLOWER and THE KEY.

THE SNOW QUEEN (SNEZHNAYA KOROLEVA) – 1957, 65 min. Lev Atamanov’s sublime and often terrifyingly beautiful masterpiece, based on a Hans Christian Andersen story, follows a resourceful young girl, Gerda (voiced by Yanina Zheymo), as she embarks on an epic journey to save her friend Kay (Anna Komolova) from the frozen embraces of the magnificent Snow Queen (Mariya Babanova). A favorite of Hayao Miyazaki who said the film inspired him to become an animator — and it’s easy to see the direct influence of THE SNOW QUEEN on characters and storylines in CASTLE IN THE SKY, PRINCESS MONONOKE and SPIRITED AWAY. THE SCARLET FLOWER (LENKIY TSVETTCHEK) – 1952, 42 min. Dir. Lev Atamanov. An almost impossibly lovely, bejeweled fantasy adventure, a mixture of Ptushko’s THE STONE FLOWER and SADKO with Cocteau’s BEAUTY & THE BEAST. A