Cultural comparison of the Soviet and American animation in the 20th century : key points of the origins, development and notable examples

Animation is principally associated with the American production of cartoons which to this day takes the leading position in the worldwide industry. Simultaneously, animated films created in the Soviet Union are mostly unknown be-yond the post-Soviet states due to the decades-long Iron Curtain and isolation despite their immense cultural value and impact to the people acquainted with them. The objective of this work was to gather information about the origins of the American and Soviet animation, to study the key points of the development of animation in both countries in the 20th century and to compare the animated films produced by the United States and the Soviet Union. Firstly, the thesis provided an outlook on the key points of the development of animation and historical impact on its cultural role in the USA and USSR based on an extensive review of scientific literature. Secondly, the examples of the American and Soviet animated adaptations of the same books were presented, analysed and compared. The findings demonstrated that against the censorship and lack of access to the innovative technologies, Soviet animation developed its unique way of ex-pression acquiring profound, hidden sense, aiming to deliver cultural values to both children and adults and mastering the sound and the image to deepen the meaning of the story and characters. In its turn, American animation, being a pioneer in the technical development, was able to innovate and master the techniques of creating animated films, yet being perceived as a genre for chil-dren from its origins, it maintained the entertaining spirit rather than attempted to hide a deeper meaning and concentrate on the delivery of the moral value of the story.