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Hongrui Shao

1007930447

BMS 401

April 23rd 2025

Topic 3: A Comparative Analysis of Tsekhanovsky’s the Post (1929) and its 1964 Remake

Introduction

Mikhail Tsekhanovsky is renowned as one of the founders of Soviet animation, and his

work is recognized for blending of poetic rhythm with visual experiments. His two works, The

Post of 1929 and its 1964 remake are a fascinating case study of the way that artistic expression

has evolved across two different political and historical contexts of the Soviet era. The two films

showcase both continuity and transformation in Tsekhanovsky’s approach to film. The analysis

of the Post by Tsekhanovsky (1929 and 1964) charts the director's artistic development from

avant-garde experiment to narrative realism reflecting the changing ideological, aesthetic, and

pedagogical priorities of Soviet animation across the years.

Director’s Style Across Periods

Mikhail Tsekhanovsky is one of the leading pillars of Soviet animation, known for his

interesting mingling of verse and visual experimentation. The Post (1929 edition) reveals his

constructivist beginnings. It stands as an amazing work of geometric abstraction, bold design,

and montage-like sequencing. This film aligns with his earlier endeavors with poet Samuil

Marshak and composer Dmitri Shostakovich, like Pacific 231 (1931) and Post, characterized by

synesthesia and rhythmic visual structure (de Castro 50). On the other hand, the 1964 remake of

Post reveals a rather refined visual style, shaped by the state-imposed aesthetic limitations of the
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Stalin era. Tsekhanovsky’s subsequent films like Mister Twister (1963) exemplifies the shift

towards didactic storytelling with softer lines and polished cel animation.

Animation Art Techniques

For the 1929 version of Post, Tsekhanovsky employed cut-out animation, which enables

the director to do more formal experimentation. The scenes in Post 1929 unfold in episodic

bursts, which mimic the poetic stanzas instead of going for cinematic continuity. Tsekhanovsky

made the transitions between the scenes to be more abrupt, albeit intentional to jolt the audience

out of passivity (Tsekhanovsky, 1929, 4:20). For each setting, Tsekhanovsky made it to look like

a symbolic abstraction, rather than a background for the scene. For instance, in the scene where

the plane flies overseas, Tsekhanovsky uses a comet to illustrate the speed of the plane (See

Appendix A). The plane appeared to be moving slowly across the sky; however, Tsekhanovsky

matches the speed of the plane to that of the comet to show the passage of time as the plane flies

overseas.

Additionally, Tsekhanovsky uses metamorphosis in several scenes. For instance, in the

scene where the actor travels abroad to Berlin, one mode of transport shifts into another

seamlessly, from traveling on foot, to flying on a plane, and then to using a train. Tsekhanovsky

exemplifies this use of metamorphosis in The Tale of a Silly Little Mouse (1940), in the scene

where various animals who will try to help the mouse to fall asleep are introduced, there is a

symbolic change in character and setting from the swan, to the pigs, to the ducks, to the pigs, and

then to the owl, among others (See Appendix B).

The 1964 remake of Post employs cel animation to introduce detailed character frames

and backgrounds, synchronized lip movement, and natural pacing. For the remake,

Tsekhanovsky softened the transitions unlike the abrupt and episodic bursts, accompanying them
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with fade-ins and cross-dissolves. The remake retains the metamorphosis, but does so within a

more restrained framework to make the transitions seem more natural. An interesting comparison

that can be made is that in the 1964 remake, Tsekhanovsky uses diagonal lines to show the tail

winds and head winds, as the plane races across the sky, thus capturing its speed (Tsekhanovsky,

1964, 7:00). Additionally, the plane is contrasted with a slow-moving train to depict its speed.

Depiction of Characters and their Movements

In the 1929 version of Post, Tsekhanovsky deconstructs the characters into lines, curves,

and angles, which is almost machine-like. In the film, the postman, the child, pilot, and sailor are

cogs that are part of the machine, thus reinforcing the Constructivist values that viewed art as an

extension of industrial logic. Tsekhanovsky designed the movement of the characters to be

angular, mathematical, and choreographed to the internal rhythm of the film. De Castro (49)

terms this the temporalities of the machine to denote the rhythm of the movements of the

characters and the internal rhythm of the film. On the other hand, in the 1964 remake,

Tsekhanovsky fully individualized the characters, and each one displayed its own emotions and

reactions. There is more clarity and, backgrounds are more immersive compared to the 1929

version, and the movements are more fluid.

Depiction of Background

For the 1929 version, Tsekhanovsky rendered the backgrounds as flat, geometric, and

stylized, thus no sense of realism, just symbolic space. Features and objects like the plane,

characters, train, the factory, or stairs are depicted as lines, curves, or blocks. On the other hand,

the 1964 version of Post uses decorative and painterly backgrounds that immerse the viewer into

the narrative. Tsekhanovsky renders the background as emotional scaffolding, to guide the

audience through the letter’s global journey. Tsekhanovsky’s Legend of the Moors exemplifies
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the spatial storytelling that he aimed for in the 1964 remake of Post. In both Legend of the

Moors and Post (1964) Tsekhanovsky uses the painterly landscapes to increase the depth of field

and enhance the narrative detail.

Recurrence of Motifs

The letter is both versions of Post is a motif of transition. For the 1929 version, the letter

is an embodiment of internationalism, as it easily crosses the borders from the Soviet Union to

Germany without friction or bureaucracy, thereby signifying mobility, progress, and

interconnection. However, in the 1964 version, the emphasis is on the delivery of the letter to

Germany, and thus a promise fulfilled, which reflects the Soviet Union’s desire to paint itself as

a global benevolent and moral leader. The commitment to deliver the letter is kept, and the

narrator reiterates that the letter will fly and float through a perilous journey of many miles, but it

will at last be delivered. Weld (11) claims in her discussion of Soviet picture books that

comprised of objects like letters, were vehicles for socialist pedagogy, whereby they taught the

reader to undertake the right course of action. Weld (11) urges the readers that by whatever

means and at whatever cost, one must instill the right behaviour and follow the proper path. The

Post seemingly strives to teach the viewers, who are mostly children about the importance of

keeping one’s promise and following the right course of action.

Music and Sound

Pikkov (19) reveals that the 1929 version of Post, which was originally a silent film, was

one of the first Soviet sound animations when a soundtrack was added in 1930. The piano

musical score of the 1929 version sounds mechanical and punctuated, and rarely in sync with the

actions of the characters and the objects (Tsekhanovsky, 8:13). For De Castro (56), this

asynchronous counterpoint was reminiscent of the operatic experiments of the Soviet avant-
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garde operas and films, where sound was used as a tool to disturb, provoke, and jar the audience,

instead of soothing them. Contrarily, the 1964 remake comprised of both diegetic and non-

diegetic sounds, as the characters spoke to each other, and the director used a musical score to

punctuate some of the scenes. This is the same technique that Tsekhanovsky employed in

Legend of the Moors and The Tale of a Silly Little Mouse, whereby the characters spoke to each

other, and the director used melodic scores to emotionally reinforce the mood.

Theme and Genre, and Tone and Target Audience

The theme of the 1929 version of Post revolves around technological utopia, with a

hybrid genre that is equal parts a visual poem, and propaganda. The film seeks to showcase the

technologies that make globalization possible such as planes, high-speed trains, and the

international mail system, among others. The target audience was thus adults and engaged youth

who appreciated the modernist experimentation and technological advances that the Soviet

Union was making. Contrarily, the 1964 version targeted children and the themes are rooted in

children’s educational genre, where it stresses the themes of moral perseverance, and civic

responsibility to underpin the benevolence of the Soviet Union as a world actor. Weld (3)

confirms this notion as she notes that the early Soviet media for kids used books, and visual

media to craft the image of the ideal citizen.

Author’s Objectives

In the 1929 version, Tsekhanovsky’s aim was to convey the theme of utopia futurism,

and do an ideological affirmation of the technological progress that the Soviet Union had made,

especially in communication and transport. For the 1964 version, the author aimed to educate

children about the importance of civic responsibility, and commitment to one’s promises.

Conclusion
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Both the 1929 and 1964 versions of the Post are a mirror of their time. The 1929 version

featured geometric abstractions and visual experiments that reflect a time when the filmmakers

were searching for new visual languages and techniques to express the new ideologies, while the

1964 version simplifies the visual experimentation to craft a simple narrative that resonates with

the viewers. The animation techniques in the 1920 version seek to jar the viewers out of

passivity, and provoke them to reflect on the technological progress of the Soviet Union, whereas

the animation techniques in the 1964 version were meant to delight and educate the kids, instead

of provoking. The two films show that the change in visual language and techniques, tone, and

motif, allow the audience to view the journey of Tsekhanovsky from a revolutionary vanguard in

filmmaking, to a prolific filmmaker, much like the journey of the Soviet cinema and animation.
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Works Cited

de Castro, Paulo F. "Machines, Films, and Operas: A (Mostly) Soviet

Perspective." Intersections 39.2 (2019): 45-59.

Pikkov, Ülo. "On the topics and style of Soviet animated films." Baltic Screen Media Review 4

(2016): 16-37.

Tsekhanovsky, Mikhail, director. The Tale of a Silly Little Mouse, 1940.

Tsekhanovsky, Mikhail, director. Legend of the Moor’s Legacy, 1959

Tsekhanovsky, Mikhail, director. The Post [Pochta]. Leningradskaia Fabrika Sovkino, 1929.

Tsekhanovsky, Mikhail, director. The Post [Pochta]. Soiuzmul’tfil’m, 1964,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khF47qdAHvU

Weld, Sara Pankenier. Visual and Verbal Self-Referentiality in Russian Avant-Garde

Picturebooks. Svenska barnboksinstitutet, 2019.

Appendix A

Figure 1: Depiction of a Comet

Figure 2: The plane flying in the same sky as the comet

Appendix B
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Appendix C
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Appendix D

Legend of the Moors

The 1964 version of Post