Thanks for the good childhood to Leonid Schwartzman!

Probably, there is no such person from the post-Soviet space who would not see the cartoon “Caution: monkeys” (the second name is “Monkeys, go ahead!”). But even those who didn’t bother to see him, the passage of the song from this animated film "every little child crawls out of the diapers ...", they just heard.
Leonid Shvartsman is a brilliant creator of not only this masterpiece, but also many other cartoons that are part of the country's animated heritage:

• star "Crocodile Gene and Cheburashka";
• instructive "38 parrots";
• touching-tender "Kitten named Woof";
• magnificent "Snow Queen";
• "Scarlet Flower" and dozens of others.

about the author

Shvartsman Leonid Aronovich was born in the family of a Russian accountant and a Jewish beautiful housewife in the Belarusian city of Minsk. In the spring of 1941 he graduated from an art school at the Institute of Painting, drafted into the army. He spent the war working in the rear at the tank factory, and after the victory he went to Leningrad. He graduated from VGIK, and the Walt Disney cartoon Bambi became the catalyst for choosing the course. Leonid Aronovich got a job in the country's most famous cartoon studio.

At the Soyuzmultfilm studio, the master worked for 54 years, during which time more than 50 animated films of various types came out of the hands of the animator: those made with the participation of dolls. At first, he was a simple assistant to the artist, drawing background details in cartoons, after graduating from the institute he became a production designer, and starting in 1975, he was already the main director.

Story line

The plot is “Monkeys, go!” there is a story about five reckless kids and their single mom (dad does not meet in any series), who tried her best to keep the kids from pranks. In the process of the film it is clear that a lot of troubles and worries around the house take away all the strength from the monkey mother and she often falls asleep from fatigue in different places, which is in the hands of her pranksters.

As you watch the mini-animated series, it becomes clear that the monkeys are not hooligans at all, but rather are trying to help everyone. Only they understand the reality in their own way, therefore their help is very specific, the consequences of which their mother has to disentangle.

Series sequence

For the period from 1983 to 1997, 7 episodes of this interesting cartoon were created. We bring to your attention their sequence:

1. "Garland of Babies" (1983) - the first acquaintance of monkeys with the world outside the zoo.
2. "Caution Monkeys" (1984) - a walk around the city and its consequences.
3. "Monkeys and robbers" (1985). In this series, monkeys help police catch the robbers of a pastry shop.
4. "How the Monkeys Dined" (1987), where the characters help the little girl develop an appetite for food.
5. "Monkeys, Forward" (1993) - the most eventful of the series in terms of the number of leprosy.
6. "Monkeys at the Opera" (1995) - a trip to the opera at Othello and how it all ended.
7. "Ambulance" (1997) - the disease of the youngest and a new meeting in the robbers.

Each episode of the cartoon flies over in an instant, despite the fact that there are no dialogues and no comments in them, only musical accompaniment. By the way, all the music and songs in the film are the work and performance of the “Time Machine” group.

Interesting facts about the cartoon

Creating cartoons is an exciting activity that requires a lot of work. Few people know that in the process there were many interesting facts:

• In the first series, among the neighbors of the monkeys at the zoo, you can see an elephant calf and a boa constrictor from the cartoon "38 Parrots". In the same series, a kindergarten teacher at a kiosk selects a book for purchase: on the window, among others, is a book by Grigory Oster, the author of the cartoon script.
• The same teacher has a prototype - this is the brilliant Sophia Loren! The animator for a long time could not choose the movements of the cartoon heroine, but by chance seeing the actress on the film, he realized: what is needed. That is why the kindergarten teacher has the plastic of the great Sophie.
• In the third series, the director copied himself from one of the characters: a robber of a pastry shop, who again appears in the last episode with an attempt to rob a bank. By the way, the second robber is also copied from a real person - actor Alexei Smirnov (from Operation Y)

• When creating the fifth series, there were a lot of alterations due to the excessive requirements of Leonid Schwartzman. At that time, the artist was already 73 years old (his hands began to tremble and the lines came out too uneven, sometimes he had to hold a pencil with both hands) and he could not fully draw all the characters himself - he had to deal with it others, but the author very carefully noted inaccuracies and returned for revision.

In fact, Leonid Shvartsman is left-handed, but in the third grade, the teacher forced him to write right. But the artist’s gift is still stronger - the genius of animation draws with his left hand anyway.

More than thirty years have passed since the creation of the first series of monkeys, and their adventures still delight kids and adults alike. This is the genius of the master. His characters are relevant, modern and understandable to any generation in love with animated cinema.