Soviet Animation: The Song of Joy (USSR, 1946)

So, the whole state of Minnesota is basically a snowy wasteland these days . . . and I think we just had our 50th blizzard of the season. I also managed to get stuck in my own driveway yesterday . . . so stuck that even Triple A couldn't get me out (because of the heavy volume of snow and incline on the hill). I found this failure "unacceptable," but the principle of the thing had zero effect on the cold, hard, fact of the thing. Thank goodness for my brothers, who despite their cultured natures, intelligence, and sensitivity, summoned the brute strength of their northern forefathers and managed to free my car from the ice. But we're all tired of it, I'm not going to lie. Roads are bad even when we aren't having a snowstorm, and when we do have a snowstorm, the roads get that much narrower, as the snowbanks further encroach on the road. 

But, in celebration of my brothers' temporary victory over the spirits of snow and ice, I share with you a soviet short film, The Song of Joy (ПЕСЕНКА РАДОСТИ, USSR, 1946). 

It's been a colder, harsher winter than usual. Even the forest creatures can't seem to get warm in their caves. 

Unlikely friendships are born from the mutual desire for warmth and companionship. 

The forest girl shares some hope with the young beasts, who can't remember anything but the winter. 

They're skeptical of her tales of this thing called a thaw.

She becomes so engrossed in her tale of spring, that she ventures outside and begins to cause Spring itself . . . just by virtue of her song. 

This doesn't go over well with Winter, a crotchety old crone living in nearby fortress of Snow Mountain. 

Winter abducts the spring maiden, and turns the first spring Robin into an icicle. 

Spring maiden is defiant . . . 

But she is surrounded by evil polar bears and an ice maze .  .  . how will she escape?

Her new furry friends set out to get her back. 

They reach Snow Mountain, but is it too late? 

Winter has blindfolded the maiden  . . . telling her she is free to go if she survives the trek down the ice staircase. 

But Winter also instructs her right-hand walrus to tamper with the stairs.

They manage to save her, but in a classic "out of the cooler, into the deep-freeze" plot twist, hot on their heels Winter turns the maiden into a ice sculpture. 

Can they save her?And can they avoid being turned into pelts by the maiden's well-meaning hunter of a brother? 

Will spring ever come? 

???

(I'll get back to you on that last one, I'm a bit of a skeptic myself these days . . .)

This one's available with eng subs on the youtubes . . . if you need a nice, twenty minute tale of fluffiness, snow, and hope to brighten your day.