Putin wants Russian children to watch more cartoons

Russia has a well-known history of making great space rockets and a less well-known history of making great cartoons.

In 1933, Moscow hosted a film festival that showcased American cartoons. Walt Disney sent along a reel of Mickey Mouse, and Russians, including Josef Stalin, were captivated by Disney's creation. Three years later, the state-owned Soyuzdetmultfilm animation studio opened, and a year later its name was shortened to Soyuzmultfilm. It was the Soviet Union's answer to Disney, and like Disney, it created characters that would become beloved in Russian culture. Some were borrowed from the West, like "Winnie the Pooh," who turned into the loveable Soviet bear "Vinni Pukh." Others, such as "Hedgehog in the Fog" emerged from Russian folk tales. 

Now, Vladimir Putin — in an act of impressive multitasking, considering he's quite busy annexing parts of eastern Ukraine — is out to preserve the place these cartoons have in Russian culture. He's backing a proposal by his culture minister, Vladimir Medinsky, to create a Russian cartoon network, named for Soyuzmultfilm, that would feature classic cartoons from the Soyuzmultfilm collection and new work by today's Russian animators. 

(Clearly, this would be the best thing he's done in 2014 thus far.)

Russian children are in for a treat, because many of these cartoons are total masterpieces. They are strange and beautiful and entrancing.

Here are some Soviet classics to help you get caught up before the launch of Soyuzmultfilm TV:

"Hedgehog in the Fog" (1975)

"Vinni Pukh" (1969)

"Film, Film, Film" (1968)

"Crocodile Gena" (1969)

And "Nu Pogodi" (1969)