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EESTI ELU reedel, 12. augustil 2022 — Friday, August 12, 2022
Nr. 32
The founders of Estonian animation Natalie Jenkins, LJI Reporter Carefully balanced between absurdity and delicate child hood innocence, Estonian animated films carry a certain allure that has been renowned on the world stage. But at what point did Estonia develop its particular animated visual culture, and who can be credited for this? While Estonia produced some experimental animations in the 1930s, film historians commonly trace the country’s animated tradition to key figures who worked for the Tallinn-based film studio Tallinnfilm. Elbert Tuganov Though born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1920, Elbert Tuganov lived in Germany with his aunt until he moved to his mother’s home in Estonia in 1939. Tuganov found work at Tallinnfilm as a cameraman’s assistant. Over the course of eleven years, Tuganov filmed, drew, and painted credit sequen ces and special effects. Importantly, he also modernized the studio’s rather rudimentary animation technology. “Ori ginally,” says Tuganov in Chris Robinson’s book, Estonian Animation: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy, “they used to nail the credits to the wall [and film them by a] camera set up on a tripod.” But he discovered a more effective method: by building an animation stand, camera operators could do frame by frame shooting, per mitting a higher degree of free dom and leniency in the overall creative process. Motivated by the encourage ment and praise from his col leagues, then-37-year-old Tuga nov established the department of animation at Tallinnfilm Studios in 1957. Called Nuku film, Tuganov’s department focused exclusively on puppet animations. Despite the Soviet Union’s tight restrictions, Tuganov man aged to carefully weave satire into the larger mosaic of his films. But Tuganov went further than mere mockery. With every film, he offered a peek into a new world, accessible to both the innocent child’s imagination and the mature adult’s mind. By taking aspects from Estonian identity and intertwining them with those from the West, Tuganov created a cohesive whole in his characters that seemed to dismantle the impla cably opposing worldviews found on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
Rein Raamat.
Photo: efis.ee
Even the films’ settings worked in the same way. “[The] colour palettes [in our films] were beautiful and somehow different [from Moscow’s],” said Tuganov in Estonian Animation. The vivid colours that Tuganov referred to are reminiscent of those from the 1950’s American Pop Art move ment, said Robinson, as well as the bright tones commonly a ssociated with American design and architecture from the same period. Heino Pars Heino Pars grew up sur rounded by Estonia’s idyllic landscape. “I had a strong con nection to nature,” said Pars in Estonian Animation. “My father had a large garden and I remem ber that springtime was the most beautiful when the apple trees were in bloom. Our trees were 30 years old then and when their branches touched each other, it was like a large roof of flowers. Back then I’d climb an apple tree and sit up there for hours.” After moving to Tallinn, Pars was hired at Tallinnfilm, even tually working at Nukufilm. Together, Pars and Tuganov collaborated on many projects. With Tuganov and Pars running the show, it made perfect sense that Pars was promoted to be a director of Nukufilm alongside Tuganov in 1962. Like Tuganov, Pars laced his films with a childlike sense of wonder, innocence and curiosity, drawing inspiration from his time spent in nature. Perhaps the films that best exemplify Pars’ personal style are those from his Cameraman Kõps series. These films were Estonia’s first animated series, featuring the recurring protago nist, Cameraman Kõps, who travels to various scenic loca
Stalin redux The English writer and critic L.P. Hartley came up with a wonderful observation last cen tury. “The past is a foreign country; they do things dif ferently there.” This usually the case, considering the rapid advancement of mankind’s stan dard of living through techno logical innovation, improve ments in medical care, and most important gaining the under standing that we live in a closed ecosystem. Best exemplified by the classic concept of when a butterfly flutters its wings in the Amazon jungle the result is a hurricane somewhere far away. Vladimir Putin’s decision to attack a non-threatening demo cracy has had global impact, such as the butterfly chosen to illustrate the effects of actions elsewhere. Beyond the pande mic’s debilitating impact on the economies of nations, inter national trade, Putin’s brazen decision has led to the rise of foodstuffs, high inflation and worries of how Europe, most
tions, ranging from mushroom lands to berry forests. Robinson says: “For the fourth film ‘Operaator Kõps kiviriigis’ (Kõps in the World of Rocks, 1968), Pars and his crew went to the Leningrad Museum of Natural Science.” Quoting Pars, he continues: “...We were very well received by the museum in Leningrad… The staff even brought things out of storage to show us what they normally would not have. I remember they brought out a beryl [a gemstone] that sup posedly cost I don’t know how many million. They took it out of the safe. I was afraid to even hold it in my hands. That was very interesting indeed.” Together, Tuganov and Pars represented the lighthearted side of Estonian animation. But that changed when Rein Raamat joined the picture in 1972.
Elbert Tuganov.
Photo: asifa.net
Rein Raamat Born in 1931 in a small town in central Estonia, Rein Raamat eventually graduated from the Tallinn Art Institute. After spending some time working at Nukufilm, Raamat founded Joonisfilm, Tallinfilm’s first de partment of animated cartoons (as opposed to Tuganov’s puppet animations), in 1972. As a director, Raamat encouraged collaborations with professionals from other fields, including writers, musicians, and artists to work together on his films. Moreover, unlike Tuganov and Pars, Raamat’s intended audience were adults. Even when Moscow’s restrictions on what could be portrayed in film tightened, Raamat insisted on portraying more mature subject matters and blatant criticism of the state. His film Suur Tõll (1980) perfectly exemplifies this. Through a fever dream-ish notably Germany, will heat homes and business during the upcoming winter. And the au thoritarian billionaire, having gained his vast wealth by robbing his countrymen does not care one whit. Thus the title. The meaning of redux, from the Latin, is brought back, revived. Certainly the attack on Ukraine reminds one of the Winter War with Finland, when the USSR, under Josef Stalin attacked, without provocation, their peaceful neighbour. The Finns were staunch and stalwart in their defense of their lands. Much like the Ukrainian military is today. Finland had to relinquish a large part of Karelia when the guns had stopped booming in 1945, but remained indepen dent. Although very aware of the power of its Soviet neigh bour. The Ukrainians might, if the West can truly see Putin for who he is, hold on as well, losing some territory in the East. They already have, with the Crimean invasion of 2014. Let us hope.
Heino Pars.
Photo: elu.ohtuleht.ee
display of visuals done by Estonian artist Jüri Arrak that resemble a bad LSD trip, accompanied by Estonian com poser Lepo Sumera’s hair-raising score of screams, the film tells the story of the Estonian mythological figure, Suur Tõll (Toell the Great), a giant who guards the island of Saaremaa from foreign enemies. The climax of the film culminates in a violent fight between enemy forces and Suur Tõll, until he is decapitated and falls to the ground. It is hard not to read this sequence as a pro-Estonian nationalist/anti-Soviet sentiment, where Suur Tõll represents the
valiant and unyielding Estonian facing foreign occupation, and the enemies, dressed in red, represent the Soviets. In fact, the film was met with heavy criticism from Moscow. Despite this, it went on to be praised on the international stage, even winning an award at the 1982 Ottawa International Animation Festival!
There are other similarities to the Stalin era. According to an AP report last week, the British military spy agency has uncovered evidence that not only have 10 Russian generals perished as a result of Ukraine defending its territory, 6 generals have been summarily dismissed, reassigned to other positions. One presumes due to failure when advances, quick victories were expected. Stalin, of course was much worse, court-martial ing and murdering many of his generals in the years leading up to WW II. Resulting in a disor ganized Red Army and account ing greatly for the speed of German Divisions entering the Soviet Union (through Ukraine initially, then the Baltics). Hitler’s troops were stalled by weather everywhere. Once again a nasty winter saved the Muscovite Empire.
war crimes, according to AP. The Western world was guilty of the same sins in WW II. Think of the RAF bombing Dresden, turning the beautiful city, rich on history and archi tecture into a massive pyre. Killing, again, the elderly, the very young, and the women. And Hiroshima, claimed to have been necessary along with Nagasaki, to demonstrate the futility of Imperial Japan’s hopes to defeat the mighty American colossus should also be considered a war crime. But as the Allies won the war, this was not raised.
And just as was the case un der Stalin, the innocent are suffering. Women and children. Russia bombing large cities is nothing short of criminal. Ukraine has listed thousands of
Legacy Together, Elbert Tuganov, Heino Pars, and Rein Raamat laid the foundations of Estonian animation, setting the stage for future artists to continue their tradition of fantastical, dreamlike storytelling.
Some have argued that it was precisely the demonstration of the might of nuclear weapons that has now kept the West in only a sanction playing and supply role. Some say that not even Putin is that megalomania cal, as to start WW III, unleash nuclear weapons. Who can say for sure? The tragedy today is the fact that decisive steps are not being taken to repel the Russian bear, (Continued on page 11)
