Even those born after the collapse of the Soviet Union know the animated series "Well, wait a minute!" The actors who voiced the main characters knew the whole country. Their names are still familiar to viewers today. How was the famous cartoon created? Who voiced the characters whose statements scattered into quotes?
Once, movie officials decided it was time to create a decent analogue of Disney cartoons. A considerable budget for those times was allocated for this event. It was 1969.
Vyacheslav Kotenochkin
It was this man who invented the characters and picked up the actors in the animated series "Well, wait a minute!" True, Gennady Sokolsky worked on the first issue. It was a zero series, the characters of which officials did not approve. In the future, the directors refused to work on this cartoon. It only seemed to Kotenochkin that there was something interesting in the idea of creating a strange combination of Disney plot and native Russian folklore.
It turned out much better than even the director himself had expected. The animated film has become a cult. This is not the story of Tom and Jerry, transferred to the Russian-speaking soil. This is a cartoon that reflects the realities of the seventies - reflecting what is not in documentary sources, but only in the memory of people who lived in Soviet times. Thus, we can say with confidence: the animated series "Well, wait a minute!" Has considerable historical value.
Characters
In Soviet times, namely in the 70-80s, the intelligentsia was invisibly opposed by the working class. Not that people with Moscow State University diplomas scorn graduates of vocational schools, but loaders, drivers, and plumbers answered them with hatred. Nevertheless, a certain hostility between these social strata took place.
The artists faced a difficult task: to create heroes-antagonists. The fact that it will be a hare and a wolf, the creators of the cartoon did not come to mind immediately. Various variations were considered: fox and rooster, fox and hare, and so on. We settled on a duet, which is more often found in Russian fairy tales.
To come up with the image of a negative and positive character this time was not enough. It needed something more lively, memorable and close to Soviet television viewers. The director did not spend much time creating the image of the Hare. It’s easy to draw a hero without flaws. But what should a wolf be like?
Once Kotenochkin saw a young, rather untidy man on the street. He stood leaning against the wall of the department store, had long dark hair, a slightly unbridled look and, of course, a cigarette in his mouth. The director understood: this is what the Wolf should be like. In the animated series "Well, wait a minute!" casting was easier. True, here the director encountered difficulties characteristic of that era.
Vladimir Vysotsky
A lot of symbolic episodes include the animated series "Well, wait a minute!". The main character - the Wolf - was supposed to have a voice with a hoarse voice. The hare is sonorous and clean. Who in the Union possessed the most famous hoarse baritone? Of course, Vladimir Vysotsky. Kotenochkin and offered to voice the Wolf. The actor, bard and poet, however, was an odious person. Soviet censorship did not miss this candidacy.
One of the tunes created by Vysotsky was included in the animated series "Well, wait a minute!" The photo of the main character, located below, depicts the famous frame: The Wolf climbs the rope, like a climber, under the well-known song of Vladimir Vysotsky. Censorship was against the voice of a popularly beloved singer, but his artistic whistle still missed. Thanks to such episodes, both children and adults loved the animated series "Well, wait a minute!"
Actors
So, Vysotsky was once again denied the role. Then Kotenochkin invited the actor with an equally distinctive voice. Namely Anatoly Papanov. Hare voiced by Clara Rumyanova. There are no other characters, as you know. With a few exceptions. In the ninth issue, the action takes place in a television center, and episodic heroes appear who speak in the voice of Gennady Khazanov. In the fifteenth issue, Vladimir Soshalsky voiced the Hippo.
Anatoly Papanov
You can talk about this actor endlessly. He played in the movie many roles, some of them became legendary. For example, the role of the father-in-law of the speculator from the movie “Watch Out for the Car” or one of the attackers in the comedy “The Diamond Arm”. But few today know that characters from more than one hundred cartoons speak in the voice of an outstanding artist.
Anatoly Papanov passed away in 1987. Five years later, the creation of the 17th edition of "Well, wait a minute!" Papanova, no actor could replace. The directors decided to use the artist’s voice recordings. Thus, two more issues were created.
Klara Rumyanova
The actress played mainly secondary heroines. She became famous, of course, not for movie roles. Klara Rumyanova in Soviet cinema was known as an actress capable of masterfully reproducing a child's voice. For the first time, she used her rare ability on the set of the film "Country Doctor", imitating the cry of a baby. After that, she instantly became famous and began to receive many offers from the Soyuzmultfilm movie studio. Klara Rumyanova voiced about two hundred cartoon characters.