Saturday, February 21, 2009
Luntik and his Friends
"Luntik and his Friends" is the title of another impressive 'new' (2005) Russian animation project I want to tell you about.When I saw this creature for the first time (back in the days when I didn't have any children), I remember thinking to myself: "Sheesh, what kind of monster is that? Couldn't they come up with something better to show children? And what sort of stupid name is 'Luntik'?" A lot has changed since then - our son being born among other things - and I have to say that I have come to appreciate and like this series of cartoons very much.
A short introduction: Luntik is a creature that was born on the moon and fell down to earth. There he meets all kinds of insects, caterpillars, a spider, water dwellers and plants. At first, he doesn't know who or what he is, and as he goes along, he finds out more about himself, his friends and the world around him. They decide he is a 'moon bee' and therefore his name should be 'Luntik' ('luna' being Russian for 'moon'). Have a look a the official website (www.luntik.com) to get an idea. No English version, though.
The whole thing is very cordial and educational, the artwork is pretty impressive, and the music is soothing.
Our 2-year-old son just loves it and will watch it for hours on end if you'll let him. We like it very much too, truth be told. Every time the people at 'Spokoinoi nochi, malyshi!' ('Good night, kids!'), a bedtime TV show on national television, put on 'Casper the friendly ghost' or some other ancient American cartoon with lots of violence and exploding dynamite instead of 'Luntik', my wife and I are disappointed.
There is one big BUT, though. This season (the 3rd), the creators switched from 2D to 3D rendering. Huge mistake!! In my opinion - and that of many others, too - they have ruined the project. The characters have become really ugly and I don't get the same satisfaction watching it as I did back in the good old days of 2D. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against 3D in general, esp. if it is done well, but unfortunately, in this case it just spoiled everything.
Maybe it's just me (and all the other people who don't like it). In the greater scheme of things, I guess it's not such a big deal. Hey, some people - like my wife, for instance - don't even notice it. But I'm telling you, I'm torn up about it.
Oh well, I guess there are more important things in life...
P.S.: 'Luntik' is another creation of 'Melnitsa Animation Studio', the studio I spoke highly of in the previous post.
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