How many wonderful children's films were shot during the Soviet Union! They taught children kindness, responsiveness, hard work, real friendship. More than one generation of people has grown up on such wonderful films as The Kingdom of Curved Mirrors, The Tale of Lost Time, The Old Man Hottabych, The Adventures of Petrov and Vasechkin. And the wonderful tales of director Alexander Rowe? Children now watch these wonderful films with the same interest. Several musical pictures were shot with good children's songs, many of which are still loved. One of these films is “New Year's Adventures of Masha and Viti”, filmed in 1975 and released on New Year's Eve on December 25th.
A bit about the film
The musical fairy tale for children and adults, “New Year's Adventures of Masha and Viti,” was shot at the Lenfilm film studio. The script for the film was written by Pavel Finn, and Igor Usov and Gennady Kazansky became directors. Especially for each of the main characters, the poet Vladimir Lugovoi and composer Gennady Gladkov wrote songs. The main actors in "The Adventures of Masha and Viti" were children: Natasha Simonova and Yura Nakhratov. In addition to them, the film starred a children's dance ensemble and the "Droplets" choir.
Story tale
Just before the holiday of Koschey, in order to arrange a holiday for the forest scum, he stole the Snow Maiden and hid her in the dungeon. Now the New Year may not come. Classmates Vitya and Masha decide to get into the koshcheevo kingdom and save the Snow Maiden. Santa Claus sends children to a fairy tale.
And in the fairy forest there is a rehearsal of the Wild Guitars ensemble. Upon learning that their holiday is in jeopardy, Baba Yaga invites his companions Leshem and the wild Cat Matvey to separate the children. But all their efforts were in vain: Masha and Vita managed to free Snegurochka, coping with the machinations of evil spirits. And Masha’s responsiveness, scientific knowledge of Viti and the belief that good always conquers evil helped them in this.
"The Adventures of Masha and Viti": actors and roles
So, the role of Masha was approved by a six-year-old girl from Leningrad Natasha Simonova. The second-grade student Yura Nakhratov, the performer of the role of Viti, despite his young age, already had experience in the cinema. He starred in two films: “The Bad Good Man” and “Deniskins Tales”.
Father Frost and the Snow Maiden were played by Igor Efimov and Irina Borisova. In "The Adventures of Masha and Viti", theater and film actor Nikolai Boyarsky perfectly played the role of Koshchei the Immortal, and his nephew, Mikhail Boyarsky, was irresistible in the image of Kot Matvey. Valentina Kosobutskaya is the most amazing Baba Yaga in Russian cinema. Good and Leshiy performed by George Shtil. And Lesovich hanging on a bitch in the fairy tale "The Adventures of Masha and Viti" for actor Boris Smolkin is one of the first characters he played in the movie.
About Masha and Vita 43 years later
The actors who played in the film "The Adventures of Masha and Viti" are now well known to the viewer. They are often written about in magazines and filmed on television. Therefore, we will talk about the performers of the roles of Masha and Viti, who became famous at such an early age.
So, Natasha Simonova. An ordinary girl who got into the movie thanks to her mother who heard the announcement on the radio. Natasha's film test was successful, and she was approved for the main role in the film. According to the recollections of the young actress, guardianship over her during the filming took Koschey, Nikolai Boyarsky. At first, uncles and aunts, dressed in evil spirits, scared her, but soon the girl made friends with everyone. The most interesting thing is that during the filming of the film "The Adventures of Masha and Viti", the child actors were very serious. Hooligans and fooling around, remembering their childhood, adult artists. The premiere of the film took place on December 25, 1975 - this was a gift from the director Igor Usov to Natasha on her birthday. By the way, Natasha talked with the director until his death, for her, Usov became a friend, a native person who guided her through life.
Now Natasha is an adult woman, a mother of three children. She did not become an actress, although she entered the Institute of Theater, Music and Cinema, but after studying there for some time, she left school, enrolling in the Faculty of Philosophy of the University and successfully graduating from it.
The role of Viti was played by Yura Nakhratov, who, like his movie hero, was also passionate about science and technology. As Yuri recalls, he was bored with Natasha, but he made friends with a pyrotechnician and was very interested in the principle of the stupa, on which the children were lifted almost to the very ceiling of the pavilion. Yuri Nakhratov, who starred several times in films, including in the fairy tale film "The Adventures of Masha and Viti", was not even going to become an actor. He remained true to his love of technology and immediately after school he entered the Military Mechanical Institute. After working for several years at the department of Voenmekh, Yuri Nakhratov created his own computer company. She still communicates with Masha, Natalia Simonova.
Interesting facts about the film
All actors, with the exception of Nikolai Boyarsky, themselves performed the songs of their heroes.
Mikhail Boyarsky, in addition to Cat Matvey, still plays the role of one of Koschey's servants.
The film uses the scenery left over from the filming of the Soviet-American film "The Blue Bird".
It is unfortunate that now the directors practically do not make children's films.