The Twelve Months

The Twelve Months has much beauty and heart, as well as some great values. There are a few scenes in the middle that drag a little too much, but that was the only thing that stood out as something that could have been better. The traditional animation is very beautifully rendered, the colours and backgrounds are elegant, moving very smoothly from one frame/scene to the next, and the characters move very convincingly. The music accompanies the story very sensitively, the distinctive Soviet style of it is sumptuous and rousing. The Twelve Months is engagingly written and shows and teaches values like kindness and patience, great values- that were relevant then, are relevant now and always will be relevant- that are well-meant and never heavy-handed within the story. The story has a very emotional core to it, it's always told beautifully and with a lot of heart and charm, it doesn't feel too thin for the short running time, and while it has a tendency to drag at times much of it draws you in. The characters are well-drawn, are right at home in terms of placement in the storytelling, and have personalities that anybody can relate to, while the voice acting is noble, more subtle and less theatrical than some of the other Soviet films(animated and non-animated) viewed in the past two months or so. To conclude, beautiful, moving and well-meaning though with a tendency to drag. 9/10 Bethany Cox

A very nice film, different from the hundreds of films we are used to, in which kings and queens are always kind and nice people. This story is more realistic and suitable for children for sure. It deserves an english dubbed release, such as a lot of other films from the same period.

Graphics is quite good, even though not at the same level of other animation films produced in other countries in the same year, but still very enjoyable.

Dialogues are never so obvious and contain different expressions. Film pace is not particularly fast, but it's never boring; the viewer always remain curious about what's gonna happen next.

Timeless and really very pretty. I saw the film for the first time and I have to say that there is something about these Russian fairy tales that can only excite you! Can certainly keep up with Disney. The Eastern European fairy tales have always had their own special charm and have always conveyed special moral concepts. Very beautiful and definitely worth seeing.

I remember I used to watch it many times when I was about 5 or 6 years old and it was very entertaining. Even now, being considerable older, I think it's a good film for children to watch. It teaches them kindness, patience, and mercy. The only thing about it that I notice more of now than I did then is the length of the film. It's kind of slow at moving on to the next scene, maybe it's just because I've seen it so many times. The soundtrack is good, the characters are well drawn, there are some memorable lines, and kids could learn a lesson from it. If you're looking for a movie that will teach your child kindness, show them this.

Another Russian animation gem I discovered back then in the late 90s thanks to Stories from My Childhood.

While the dubbed version included in that series it's pretty charming, as usual, the original it's a better film overall: While the dub is relatively faithful to the original (At least compared with the usual liberties taken by anime dubs from the same age) some dialogues, pieces of the soundtrack and even the order of a couple of scenes were altered.

In addition to that, the original Russian voices were more fitting for the characters and the dialogues had a more poetical feel.

I still appreciate a lot Stories from my Childhood for introducing me to the golden age of Russian animation, but if you have the chance to watch these films in their original languaje, don't miss it: These movies have the same timeless "magic" of many classic Disney films.