Interplanetary Revolution

Lore & Background

The film was based on a satirical story by an unknown author (or a different work), not on a screenplay by Vasily Zhuravlev. The directors were students of the State Technical School of Cinematography (now VGIK). The cartoon was made as animated inserts for Yakov Protazanov's science fiction film Aelita, but was ultimately not included and released separately that same year, though it was not shown in theatres.

Reader's Guide

Interplanetary Revolution is significant as one of the first Soviet animated films, marking an early experiment in combining animation with political satire. Its plot follows the bourgeoisie fleeing Earth in a shoe-shaped spaceship, only to be swallowed by the sun, while a communist commissar named Kominternov lands on Mars and fosters a proletarian revolution. The film uses primitive cutout animation with almost no intertitles and relies on clichéd imagery: capitalists with bulldog heads, top hats hiding swastikas, and vampires sucking workers' blood. Polish historian Andrzej Zawistowski noted that one uniformed character resembles Polish marshal Pilsudski. The propaganda is described as extremely cliched and straightforward, especially from a modern perspective, and the filmmakers also parodied communists. The film pokes fun at Aelita, showing Kominternov seeing a man and woman kissing on the Moon. Its legacy lies in its pioneering role in Soviet animation and its blunt, satirical depiction of class struggle.

Did You Know?

• Interplanetary Revolution is one of the first Soviet animated films, shot in 1924.
• The film was originally created as animated inserts for the science fiction film Aelita by Yakov Protazanov, but was released separately.
• The bourgeoisie in the film flee Earth in a spaceship shaped like a shoe.
• Polish historian Andrzej Zawistowski noted that one uniformed character closely resembles Polish marshal Pilsudski.