He fell asleep, 31 years later.
April 22, 2012 12:42 PM   Subscribe

 
Seems pretty accurate to me.
posted by daniel_charms at 12:50 PM on April 22, 2012


(that's how I learned it as a child)
posted by daniel_charms at 12:51 PM on April 22, 2012


Is the language actually Russian? It sounds really odd, but I don't know Russian.
posted by Jehan at 12:59 PM on April 22, 2012


I kind of assumed this was going to be I Am the Man Who Arranges the Blocks.
posted by jeudi at 1:07 PM on April 22, 2012 [6 favorites]


I recognize enough Russian to know that it was Russian, but the narrator did seem to have a non-standard accent. Whether it was regional or individual, I can't say. Can one still summon languagehat?
posted by benito.strauss at 1:24 PM on April 22, 2012


benito.strauss: "I recognize enough Russian to know that it was Russian, but the narrator did seem to have a non-standard accent. Whether it was regional or individual, I can't say. Can one still summon languagehat?"

Summon Languagehat!!!
posted by Blasdelb at 1:39 PM on April 22, 2012 [13 favorites]


It's standard russian with a sort of a simple-minded, folksy, provincial kind of mannerism.
posted by rainy at 1:44 PM on April 22, 2012 [2 favorites]


It's actually rather common in many Russian cartoons, for standard comic effect. Compare to this neat example from the 90s: As yester-year's snow fell....
posted by rainy at 1:55 PM on April 22, 2012


Yes, it is standard Russian. The delivery is supposed to be funny/ironic, as rainy says. If any Americans remember the narrator from 'Fractured Fairy Tales' from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, it's kind of like that.
posted by trip and a half at 2:09 PM on April 22, 2012


Brilliant. Mustaches always help.
posted by Isadorady at 2:24 PM on April 22, 2012


Oh man, after watching that Cold War documentary I couldn't help but bust out laughing at the Brezhnev telling everyone they didn't have to kiss him, he kissed everyone instead... LOL...

If you haven't heard much Russian and want to hear some interesting stuff in the language, listen to some 2H Company... I love the guy's fast flow.
posted by symbioid at 2:39 PM on April 22, 2012 [2 favorites]


> listen to some 2H Company

I love it. It's the acoustic equivalent of driving 50 mph over a heavily rutted road.
posted by benito.strauss at 3:43 PM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]


Yeah, what they said—it's basically kiddie-narration Russian, and fits here very well indeed. I thought Gorbachev was particularly brilliant.
posted by languagehat at 4:32 PM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]


Reminds me of old Soviet animations from the 1970s, like the one about Karlsson...
Concerning the contents, I couldn't help laughing while thinking that only the Russians have the right to laugh with clean conscience, because they lived it.
posted by hat_eater at 4:42 PM on April 22, 2012


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