The cult Soviet animated series "Well, wait a minute!" viewers first saw in the second half of the past century. It was then that people became acquainted with the adventurer Wolf and the charming, innocent Hare, who faced each other in an eternal confrontation.
The stunning success of the immortal epic, its popularity among the audience of our country and foreign audiences, was facilitated not only by the director and animators, but also by the actors who participated in the dubbing. Although the characters are laconic, the action is most often based on intriguing silent scenes, stunts, races and fights, emotionally supported by musical accompaniment, the voices from the screen are so bright and soulful that they do not leave anyone indifferent. In addition, the cartoon characters successfully sing. About who voiced the Hare in "Well, wait a minute!" and whose voice speaks to the audience’s favorite Wolf with irresistible charisma, you can find out further.
How it all started
In 1940, the Disney series of animated adventures "Tom and Jerry" was released, where the cat and mouse, competing with each other, amuse the audience. These funny characters conquered the world. The Soviet cartoon about the adventures of the Wolf and the Hare was a fundamental response to the breakthrough of bourgeois art. Despite the fact that the epic is soon preparing to celebrate its half-century anniversary, its demand among children and even adults is still fantastically high.
For the period from 1969 to 2012, 21 issues were created. But first, more precisely in 1969, only a small plot with the same name appeared on the screen, shot by Gennady Sokolovsky. It was under the direction of this director that the immortal characters first came to life and saw the light. And only then came 1 episode "Well, wait a minute!". And they began to think about the continuation of the series after the resounding success of the cartoon from Soviet viewers.
Original plot
The idea of a masterpiece, it would seem, is as old as the world, even to some extent rustic and banal. Here goodness invariably and under any circumstances overcomes shameful evil. The personification of the rational and the eternal, as well as optimism and philosophical composure, is the Hare, which the Wolf wants, but can not eat. Not that the big-eared hero is trickier than his opponent or can stand up for himself. He’s just lucky, because fairy tales and good cartoons should always end well. So thought the director of “Well, wait a minute!”, Famous throughout the world Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin. The wolf is shown in the cartoon as a convinced incorrigible bully and vandal. But he also turns out, according to the idea, to be an inveterate loser, endlessly falling into comic situations, over which the viewer laughs deafeningly. This is the secret that tearing off the screen during an action is simply impossible.
How to create a masterpiece
To create "Well, wait a minute!" Soyuzmultfilm quenched the comedians, who had already managed to become famous, in the hope that they could do something original and funny. The plot itself was later invented by Haight and Courland. The directors reacted to the idea coolly and did not burn with the desire to make a cartoon. And only Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin decided that from the unpretentious plot you can try to do something worthwhile.
The image of a positive Hare, the voice of which was later invited to "Well, wait a minute!" Klara Rumyanova, appeared before the director once at once. It turned out to be pink-cheeked and blue-eyed, that is, exactly what a simple-minded hero should be, giving rise to the best associations among the audience and in all cases being the winner. True, the image was later perceived ambiguously. Artless hare was credited with hidden cunning. And popular rumor accused this positive character of outright mockery of his rival. And everyone sympathized a little with the loser in the wolf's clothing, too evil seemed offended in his cruel bad luck.
Klara Mikhailovna
Now it's time to talk about the one who voiced the Hare in “Well, wait a minute!”. Rumyanova Klara Mikhailovna is a famous Soviet and then Russian actress who worked not only in cinema and theater, but also on radio. Basically, she became famous for having a completely unusual voice. For this reason, she was often invited to voice cartoons. In total, she has about three hundred similar works.
Klara Mikhailovna was born in Leningrad, and dreamed of becoming an actress from childhood. Interestingly, the characteristic timbre did not appear in her from birth, but as a result of a serious illness. After she very successfully portrayed the cry of a newborn baby in the film "Country Doctor", Rumyanova gained fame among the figures of the cinema of that time as an actress capable of portraying children's voices. Unfortunately, after the collapse of the USSR, she rarely worked, only occasionally took part in radio shows, but she remained in the people's memory for a long time as the one who voiced the hare in “Well, wait a minute!”.
What was the villain
The image of the Wolf as a hero personifying evil was chosen on the basis that this particular character is most in tune with the ideas of national folklore. But for a long time Kotyonochkin failed to finally present the negative character. A real image of a Soviet bully, accidentally seen on the street, helped here. This is a typical vocational school student of those times, not ennobled by communist morality. It was he who became the prototype of the unprincipled Wolf.
As well as the prototype, the villain from the immortal epic of the Union film “Well, wait a minute!” had long not cut black hair and constantly smoked. The cigarette has become an integral part of the image. The hoarse timbre of his voice was also conceived as a characteristic feature of this character. And here, to create the alleged image, they found a simply incomparable character, whose voice in all respects corresponded to the idea. It was an irresistible Anatoly Papanov who voiced the first 16 issues of this animated series. The actor turned out to be indispensable, after his death for some time when shooting, tape recordings of his voice were used. Issues 19-21 were voiced already by Igor Khristenko.
Why didn’t they take Vysotsky?
Even before the first episode of “Well, wait a minute!” Kotyonochkin wanted Volk’s bass to be conveyed to the audience by Vladimir Vysotsky. The hoarseness of this famous bard was incredibly popular in those days. The actor reacted to the proposed idea with understanding and enthusiasm, even wrote a song specifically for his hero. Probably, such an option for voice acting would be very interesting, but cruel censorship of the Soviet era intervened. Vysotsky was extremely undesirable. And if there were no special questions about who voiced the hare in “Well, wait!”, Then there were again problems with the wolf. But in memory of the role that Vysotsky could play in the cartoon, almost in the first frames of the epic, the hero of Papanov whistles the famous song of the bard.
Cartoon characters and Soviet morality
The plot of Sokolovsky, which launched the whole epic, although it was largely recognized as successful, was still not fully combined with ideas about the humanism of that era. That is why the characters Hare and Wolf, before the animated series Kotyonochkina gave the go-ahead, underwent significant changes and refinement of censorship. Heroes ennobled and made much kinder.
Not everyone was in agreement with the main idea of the plot, for many it seemed too frivolous and not particularly instructive for the full education of the young generation. However, after much debate, the animated series “Well, wait a minute!” still saw the light. During numerous alterations, qualitative additions were also made: the graphics improved, and the plot itself added more humor and exciting tricks.
What did the Wolf do?
A new war, this time already the legislation of the Russian Federation with the heroes of a popular cartoon, began in 2010. The image of the Wolf with a cigarette in his teeth really did not like the domestic deputies. They decided that such a character could not teach children anything good. The ban on any information on television that could provoke young citizens' interest in tobacco or alcohol and prevent their full development came into force. This made it impossible to watch "Well, wait a minute!" for all who have not reached the age of majority. However, such a measure did not greatly prevent the children from monitoring the adventures of the Wolf and the Hare, but only fueled their interest. These characters experienced and not such alterations!
Now the ban has been canceled, and after the debate the deputies came to the conclusion that since only Wolf smokes, and he is a negative character, this will not hinder the upbringing of children and their healthy development.
How many series
The story about the animated film “Well, wait a minute!”, The actors and the role of famous personalities in creating images and plots should perhaps be completed by reporting the total number of issues of this cult project. According to official figures, there are twenty-one. However, it is rumored that some episodes did not see the light, being banned by censorship. In addition, a total of seven issues back in Soviet times were filmed specifically for the satirical magazine, which was popularly known at that time, called “The Wick”. Four of them appeared under the direction of the same director, and the rest was reported to the Soviet audience by Yuri Butyrin.
The last three episodes of “Well, wait a minute!” filmed son Kotyonochkina - Alex. And the release of "New Year's" as a gift for the holiday appeared on YouTube in 2012. In total, if you count all the plots listed, you get 28 fragments of an immortal epic. Currently, the cult animated series is considered to be logically completed, they no longer plan to shoot new stories.