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Nudnik

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by GJR (talk | contribs) at 17:05, 6 May 2019 (replaced "melon collie" with "melancholy" / split run-on sentence into 3 sentences / wiki-linked to "Wrap Your Trouble in Dreams"). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Nudnik was a Czechoslovak/Czech animated film series directed by Gene Deitch, produced by William Lawrence Snyder, and distributed by Paramount Studios. The shorts were released during 1965 and 1967 with 12 shorts, and a new series was made in 1991.

On Gene Deitch's entry on the IMDb website (see External links below) there are listings of eight short animated films featuring the Nudnik character.

The shorts were featured on Cartoon Network's animated anthology series ToonHeads in 1996.[1]

The "pilot" episode of the series Here's Nudnik, originally called Nudnik #2, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1965.

Shorts

Title Release Date Alternate Title
01 - Here's Nudnik August 1, 1965 Nudnik #2
02 - Drive On, Nudnik November 1965 None
03 - Home Sweet Nudnik March 1966 None
04 - Nudnik on a Shoestring March 12, 1966 None
05 - Welcome, Nudnik' May 1966 None
06 - Nudnik on the Roof July 1966 None
07 - From Nudnik with Love September 1966 None
08 - Who Needs Nudnik?? May 1967 None
09 - Nudnik on the Beach May 1967 None
10 - Good Neighbor Nudnik June 1967 None
11 - Nudnik's Nudnickel August 1967 None
12 - I Remember Nudnik September 1967 None

Synopsis

Nudnik contains only one major character, simply named Nudnik (or, Yaramaz Nudnik, as the Turkish DVDs refer to him). He can't do anything right; when he does something, it usually ends with disastrous results, and usually gets him in trouble. At first the idea was for each short to be scored with melancholy jazz music, which was done for the first cartoon. However, the studio wasn't pleased with the musical choice, and they made Gene use more upbeat music. The song that was used most often was "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams", used both for the opening sequence and as a general theme of sorts for the character himself.

Though there were other characters, they were unnamed, such as the fat woman, the dog, the cop, and the thief. It was sort of a unspoken rule that everything in the world hates Nudnik, further adding to the mayhem.

Tv series

A 'new' animated series The Nudnik Show was created in 1991, which showed the 12 classic shorts in syndication, and it also had one brand new Nudnik short, "Nudnik Impossible", however it was mostly made using left over clips from old promotional material from when the shorts were original being produced in the 60s, bringing the number of Nudnik shorts from 12 to 13. It also had 11 bumpers with all new animation, each one being about 30 seconds long, according to the IMDb listing, Jules Feiffer was a writer for the series, so it is most likely that he wrote for the bumpers. The production companies were Paramount Pictures and of course Rembrandt Films.[1]

References

  1. ^ Mendoza, N.F. (January 7, 1996). "SHOWS FOR YOUNGSTERS AND THEIR PARENTS TOO : At last, 'Nudnik' emerges from storage onto the Cartoon Network". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2013-04-28.