Adventures of Captain Vrungel

A really bizarre series with animation of inconsistent quality, huge plot holes, and only a passing relationship with its source material, Kapitan Vrungel is one of the most memorable Soviet cartoons, thanks mostly to the exceptional voice work by Zinovi Gerdt, a wonderful theme song, and a non-condescending Soviet friendliness and warmth. The animation, sometimes drawn on top of actual sea footage, is in the busy, unpolished, often grotesque style of Soviet children's illustrations and its absurdity and implausibility bring to mind Monty Python animation. Most of the episodes are really sub par, and the first and last one are the best, but the cartoon is disarming and likable, and Hristofor Bonifatich is one of the great paternal characters in a late-Soviet childhood.