Iris I would like to explain the popularity of this Animation. It's a Romantic and Adventurous story. And it is a legendary Musical for children made a bit in style of Rock musical. Especially its Sequel – the 2 part. That's why You won't find ordinary dialogues. The story of main characters is told through their songs which were written also with lots humor and subtle irony. Probably this (the language barrier) could be the main obstacle which could prevent unfortunately to apprehend and feel this animation fully . The graphic is rather laconic and made a bit in abstract and avant-garde style. But the Main thing for which this animation and its Sequel are estimated so High is its Music and general Mood created by the Songs which were performed by legendary singers Oleg Anofriev in 1st part and Muslim Magomaev in Sequel. They are known by heart by lots of people in Former USSR and Russia. Lots of generations were brought up on them. Even special Vinyl Disks for kids were released. A Spoiler- Some Details about How it was made.The most curious thing-the Surprise which you will discover in the End is that ALL Characters except Princess were dubbed by One Actor – Oleg Anofriev.It was a musical attraction and a Know-How of Anofriev. It was His special Talent and Gift. He could do absolutely everything from his voice. He could Sing beautifully and at the same time he could imitate different timbres: from high and almost childish voice till smth in style of Joe Cocker or Garou with some sexy hoarseness in his voice. So afterwards he has written lots of Soundtracks to different animations and movies in his special Style and they also became very popular. In Sequel of this animation which also became a Great Hit another Legendary performer appears. A Soviet Star –Muslim Magomaev. He metaphorically took "the challenge" of Oleg Anofriev and repeated his Musical Trick by performing the part of three main Characters including Troubadour.Another curious thing is that it was made by Russian Sherlock Holmes , by Vasily Livanov who played this Role in Russian Movie- adaptations of Conan Doyle. He is not only a prominent actor but also has created animations, films, lyrics, scenarios, etc He has lots of talents. And another funny thing is that the image of Princess (from her "little red dress" till her appearance) was inspired greatly by future wife of a Poet – Yuri Entin who wrote the lyrics to these animations . So, if you' re interested in Art of Acting, if you enjoy different musical and vocal experiments, if you're not afraid of Russian Language this animation is for You. :)

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Bremenskie muzykanty" is a Soviet musical adaptation of the famous Brothers Grimm tale from almost 50 years ago. The director and 2 writers apparently are still alive, even if they are not really making films again. And judging from their work here, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The animation did not appeal to me at all, even if that is just subjective perception. But it is not subjective that, if you don't know the Grimm tale, you will not understand at all what is going on in here and even if some people may like the music (I am not among them), getting a story/message/plot across is still the most crucial part in filmmaking, even when it comes to animation, or especially there. i was very much underwhelmed by this one and cannot see why it has such a high rating here. Not recommended. Really only for very small children, but you should want them to grow up watching better films. I hope the sequel is better.

hilarythebaker This is my favorite Russian cartoon. I don't understand very much Russian, but I do like Russian films. I have loaned my DVD copy of this cartoon to some of my friends, and both families LOVED it! The first family was American, and they had a lot of trouble believing that the cartoon was made during Communism! They don't know any Russian, but they loved watching the cartoon. The lady told me that her husband saw the title for the second part of the cartoon, and claimed that the title meant, "They went that-away!!!" Their younger son thought it was very cool and wished his friends could have seen it.The other family had adopted children from Russia, who are quite young, so I thought the kids might like to see it. They enjoyed it, but the little girl wondered why there weren't any words, and her daddy explained that the words were in the song.What I like best about this movie is the fact that one of my very favorite Russian singers, Oleg Anofriev, is one of the principle voices. Overall, it is a very pretty movie. Anyone who likes a good cartoon or who is learning Russian, must watch this Soviet classic!

moongoddess1907 This is one of the greatest cartoons that i watched when i was a kid. It was very popular in Soviet Union at that time, and was shown on TV very often. Even now I still enjoy this cartoon, it has wonderful and memorable music, characters are so lovable and the plot is great (well, it's based on the story of brothers' Grimm). It has great deal of humor and romance and it's done so nicely. Characters are dressed in the style of 70's which gives the cartoon that special 70's touch. It is a musical cartoon, even if you don't know Russian, you will still understand what is going on. I highly recommend it not only to kids but also to adults who enjoy good and kind cartoons.