On March 7 in Ukraine, The Stolen Princess (Animagrad, FILM.UA Group) animated film went into release! In honor of the long-awaited premiere, Planeta Kino cinema in Kyiv held a special screening for the film team, friends and partners.
Before the screening a private party was held, gathering journalists, film industry, media and show business figures: Many of which participated in working on the animation film`s sound: vocalists of Vremya i Steklo band Nadya Dorofeeva and Oleksiy Zavgorodniy (Pozitiv), TV hosts Masha Efrosinina, Sergiy Prytula and Yuriy Gorbunov, Merited master of sports of Ukraine Vasyl Virastyuk, TNMK band leader Oleg “Fahot” Mykhaylyuta, singer Jamala, actors Roman Lutsky and Oleg Voloschenko, musician Milos Elic, and also TV hosts Dmitry Komarov and Kateryna Osadcha.
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“Today we’ll watch the cartoon for the first time, - said Oleksiy Zavgorodniy to the journalists. “Before that, we saw only parts of it, those we gave our voices for. But it happens all the time and everywhere, including Hollywood. Actors never see the whole picture while working on it.”
Yes, we haven’t seen the anomation film in full,” continued Nadya Dorofeyeva. “Sometimes we voiced the scenes for which characters and locations weren’t ready yet! By the way, I’ll tell you a secret. There is a transformation happening with my character according to the plot, at a certain moment I had to be evil. And I couldn’t manage, really! But I still had to be truly evil. So I remembered some stories from show business, some artists, how they speak. And I managed to do it!”
“I haven’t seen anything yet except that small part I worked on, it is very tiny. But I decided to treat it as a cool adventure, which I think united a record number of public figures in one project, and this is way cool! In all my activities I am for uniting and opportunities to do some big things together,” told Masha Efrosinina before the screening.
I liked that I could fool around and play. To my mind, it is much harder to portray myself as someone serious and when I have to play the ape and do voice imitations – that’s the most interesting thing. Today I’ll see the whole film for the first time, and I am expecting a solid, living story up to Hollywood cartoon standards,” said Vasyl Virastyuk, sharing his expectations before the screening.
The guests were treated to traditional “cinema” snacks, cotton candy and popcorn. Animators wearing costumes of cartoon characters – Ruslan, Mila, and Hamster Vinnitsky – handed out souvenirs and gave dancing lessons together with a choreographer from Open Art studio. Black Tie string quartet played instrumental versions of tracks from popular cartoons as well as instrumental versions of central compositions from The Stolen Princess: “Do Zirok” (Vremya i Steklo) and the final song of theanimation film “ Ty Liubov Moia” (“You are my love”) by Jamala. All this helped everyone present to get immersed in the magical ambiance of the film and to catch a positive wave.
Before the screening, the guests were greeted by the participants of animated film creative team: producer Egor Olesov, director Oleg Malamuzh, script-writer Yaroslav Voytseshek, composer Dario Vero, art-director Christian Koskinen, head of 3D production Andriy Militsky, project manager Oleksandra Lutsenko. Еgor Olesov congratulated the team on the successful completion of the project and thanked everyone for their contribution to the development of Ukrainian animation.
In the first minutes after the animation film`s final credits, social networks were filled with warm reviews, emotions, acknowledgments, and pictures with the project team. The audience appreciated the level of animation and also praised the authors for the depth of protagonists’ characters and the dynamic plot.
“This is a great film. I am really proud that it is totally a Ukrainian film: playful, kind, full of light and beauty, professional and of high quality. It is cool that symphonic music is played in the film. This helps to develop not only visual taste but also musical one. Cartoons are a part of our education, and the fact that we have our own Ukrainian animated film wows me,” Jamala said.
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“I really liked the cartoon. This is the case when you look and don’t see anything which would differentiate it from Hollywood animated films. I saw pieces of English-language version, and when you hear characters speaking English it is impossible to tell the film apart from a Disney production. All components of a good film have come together, and I am proud of it. I really liked Prytula’s character – he added his dialect there, some jokes and perks,” said Kateryna Osadcha in praise of the animation film.
The work of Sergiy Prytula and his character Nestor also impressed Oleg “Fahot” Mykhayluyta: “I liked it. Everything has been done according to a Hollywood storyline and all those canons, how it should be done from the point of a correct script plan, visual solutions and music. Nestor is very vivid: he is written and drawn just like Prytula spoke for him. And Nadya and Pozitiv are a very good match for the protagonists in their temperament.
Blogger Pupsi Kira came to the premiere with her mother; Kira gave her voice to one cartoon character, Olesya. Her mother Sabina Musina, co-founder of G.Bar, liked the film: “It was really funny! The jokes are excellent, I even wrote several of them down. And I am really proud that all of this is ours, Ukrainian. I am sure we’ll go to that cartoon ten more times. During the whole screening, Kira was sitting glued to the screen.”
“Finally there is a real, good Ukrainian animation film in our country. There is a plot, an idea, and the main thing is that all of it captivates and holds you in suspense until the very end,” said Yuriy Gorbunov.
The team of the animated feature film sincerely thanks to the Ukrainian State Film Agency and to the all project partners for supporting the film: Kyivstar Company, distributor of the film in Ukraine – Ukrainian Film Distribution, Planeta Kino cinemas, the chain of bookstores Bukva, the Novyi TV channel, the entertainment portal Dity v misty, the Experimentanium museum, children shops Antoshka, the company Nova poshta, the restaurant chain TARANTINO family, the radio station Nashe Radio.
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. Art-director: Kristian Koskinen.
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.
