On the eve of the premiere of the first trailer to The Stolen Princess (Animagrad, FILM.UA Group) animated feature scheduled for December 14, 2017, the film authors presented some of the celebrities lending their voices to the cartoon characters. For example, it became known that the leads Mila and Ruslan will speak in voices of the vocalists from Vremya i Steklo band, Nadya Dorofeeva and Positiff (Oleksii Zavgorodnii). TV hosts Yuriy Gorbunov and Serhiy Prytula will lend their voices to the Wise Cat and Nestor, Ruslan’s friend, respectively. Musician Oleg “Fagot” Mykhaylyuta will speak for Fin the Sorcerer.
One of the principal characters, Kyiv King Volodymyr and Princess Mila’s father, will be dubbed by Merited Artist of Ukraine Mukola Boklan. Volodymyr’s guards will speak in the voices of Oleh Voloschenko and Roman Lutskyi, familiar to the audience after The Stronghold (Kinorob) fantasy feature where they played the protectors of Rymov, knights Illya and Oleshko.
The voice team of the animation film has had another addition: the stars of Dizel Studio Yevhen Gashenko, Yegor Krutogolov, and Oleksandr Berezhok. The actors will give their voices, humor and cheerful attitude to the fun trio, brothers Farlaf, Rogday and Ratmir from Chernigiv who went after Ruslan to look for the stolen princess Mila. “Dizels” say that these roles are a perfect fit for them.
“I have dreamed of voicing an animation for a long time!” says Egor Krutogolov, Dizel Studio actor. “Even in life, we behave like cartoon characters sometimes because we make people laugh. Since childhood, I’ve adored cartoons with voices of Papanov, Livanov, and Tabakov. Using their voices, they did some incredible things. I really want our characters to one day stand next to these geniuses. Is it too ambitious? Is this not modest enough? Sure, but I know what we are capable of!”
Egor’s colleague Aleksandr Berezhok believes that film characters are spitting images of themselves: “The most interesting thing is that Chernigiv brothers are really similar to Egor, Zhenya and me, such a colorful trio, the prototypes of Vitsin, Nikulin, and Morgunov [Soviet actors who played together in renowned comedies directed by Leonid Gayday],” says Aleksandr Berezhok, Dizel Studio actor. “I haven’t seen the film in full yet, so I am looking forward to the premiere. I am convinced it’s going to be a powerful work.”
Evgeniy Gashenko, the actor, has loved cartoons since childhood. “While still at school, I used to entertain my classmates by copying characters from Winnie-the-Pooh cartoon and imitating their voices,” he says. “In high school, I watched cartoons without translation on Cartoon Network TV channel to improve my English. And since 2007, I have voiced films of my production for corporate events. The Stolen Princess is a sound piece of work, and I am so proud of being directly involved in this event.”
TV host Masha Efrosinina lent her voice to Naina, the lover of Fin, a powerful sorcerer. “Though my role is very small, it is great to feel a part of animation crew, especially for a Ukrainian animation film,” Masha says.
A charismatic villain and main antagonist of the animation feature, Chornomor the sorcerer, will be voiced by an iconic dubbing talent Yevhen Malukha. It is worth noting that Evgeniy’s voice can be heard in the Ukrainian dubbing of Alf, Homer Simpson, and other pop culture icons.
When hearing Troeschyna gangsters, the audience will recognize the voices of Honored Masters of Sports, boxer Oleksandr Usyk and the strongest man in the world Vasyl Virastyuk.
February will see the official premiere of the second trailer to The Stolen Princess. Unlike the first trailer narrated by Ruslan, the second will feature the outlook of Princess Mila on everything happening around her.
You can follow the news of the project on its official Facebook page, Instagram account, and official website.
About the film. This wonderful story happened in the age of valiant knights, beautiful princesses, and battling sorcerers. Ruslan, a wandering artist dreaming to become a knight, met beautiful Mila and fell in love with her; he didn’t even suspect that she is the King’s daughter. However, the lovers’ happiness wasn’t meant to last too long. Chоrnomor, the evil sorcerer, appeared in a magic vortex and stole Mila right before Ruslan’s eyes to transform her power of love into his own magic power. Without further ado, Ruslan sets out on a chase after the stolen princess to overcome all obstacles and to prove that real love is stronger than magic.
Producer: Egor Olesov.
Director: Oleg Malamuzh.
Scriptwriter: Yaroslav Voytseshek.
FYI. The Stolen Princess is the first animated feature film for Ukrainian and international release in the production line of the Animagrad studio. The film is in the production stage, but the rights for its release have been pre-sold to more than 30 territories, including China, South Korea, France, Poland, Bulgaria, Germany, countries of the MENA region and Latin America. The Stolen Princess became the winner of the 9th competitive selection of Ukrainian State Film Agency; the sum of state financing amounts to about 20 percent of the film’s total budget of 95 million UAH.