Ginger's Tale () is a 2020 Russian animated musical fantasy film written and directed by Konstantin Shchekin. Tatyana Ilina and Ekaterina Mikhailova also were script writers. Vverh Animation Studio produced the film which became its second and final animated film produced at the animation studio after its closure in 2021.
Within the frameworks of an original story, Ginger's Tale is a modern-day adaptation of the 1835 Danish fairy tale The Tinderbox. The animators drew exclusively in frame-by-frame traditional animation.
The film depicts the trials and tribulations of Ginger, a faithful young friend of a craftsman named Potter. One day, the poor potter craftsman finds the magical Stone Of Fire artifact that can grant the ability to turn stones to treasure. It is up to Ginger to rescue Potter, as he forgets his past and allies closer to the Queen who is also seeking the artifact. The film was noted for a drawing style of all colors and shades. It is also a story of the confrontation of human qualities such as greed and friendship.
The movie premiered and was a nominee for best animation in 2020 at the June 2020 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The movie also premiered one month later at the Shanghai International Film Festival. The film has been granted accolades for best animation at Crystal Keys, Scandinavian International Film Festival and nominated at the San Diego International Kids Film Festival. The movie released in Russia on 4 February 2021 with critical acclaim for its animation and story.
Plot As a young craftsman, Potter works as a potter and is a resident of the fairy-tale City of Masters. Potter has just set up a shop with his friends Padlock and his betrothed Ginger. Day by day he works honestly, but is trying to make ends meet. However, he has self-doubt when he always wanted to achieve his primary goal of fixing the city's fountain.
One day, Potter stumbles upon the magic tinderbox Flint. Potter realizes he just needs to make a wish, drawing a spark, and the wish will certainly come true. With three strikes a gold dog is conjured that will bid any wish to the wielder of the artifact. The Queen learns of the activation of the artifact and cracks down on Potter so that she can seize the Stone of Fire. Without thinking twice, the Potter uses magic and makes himself untold riches. The wealth blackens the soul of a craftsman. In a critical moment, a lively and sincere girl named Ginger comes to the aid of her friend.
Cast +CharacterRussian ActorGingerNatalya TereshkovaGinger spent her whole life under the care of her grandfather. She tried from an early age to save everyone who needed help.
Her biggest test comes when her own friend, Potter is in trouble.Potter Peter KovrizhnyhGood and industrious Potter who first wanted to renovate the city's fountain changes when he finds a flint - a magic item that
makes the owner fabulously rich, but instead casts a terrible spell. Queen Irina YakovlevaThe queen of a forgotten castle who can turn into two forms: the one is beautiful, tall, and hard-hearted and
the other is an old, pompous woman trying to retrieve the
Stone of Fire for the restoration of her fountain of youth.Ups! Sergey BurunovA loyal servant of the Queen, whose steampunk inventions are never bought to the spotlight and instead languish at the castle dungeons.Firefighter Edgard ZapashnyPadlock Alexander OleshkoAwl Alexey ElistratovShoe Yuri AskarovArchivist Nikita ProzorovskyDoctor Vasily MishchenkoMistress Lyudmila GnilovaСat and ZhekaOleg Yesenin
Production
Development Vverh Animation Studio teamed up to present their next feature film after their release of the 2017 animated film The Tale of Peter and Fevronia. The scriptwriters intended the film to be a new fairy tale that features the centerpiece character, Ginger.
The idea of the story started when the team at a meeting decided to make a story about love. However, there was a bag of money nearby. Therefore they decided the story to revolve around the concept of love and money. As they wrote the script, a copy of an 1835 Fairy Tales Told for Children. First Collection was nearby and it reminded them of how their script had parallels to the stories of Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. The scriptwriters were known to be Andersen fairy tale readers and they believed Andersen's fairy tale The Tinderbox would be an apt reference point for the script. The writers were able to reference pertinent details of The Tinderbox such as the magical artifact protected by guard dogs.
Andersen's central concept of how with just one strike at the tinderbox a copper dog will be summoned with copper coins; twice a silver dog with silver coins; and third a gold dog with gold coins is completely portrayed in the film Ginger's Tale. The artifact - Stone Of Fire was the motif object that drove forward the conflict of the film. The writers deviated from the source material slightly in its depiction of the wish fulfillment object. In the fairy tale, the tinderbox had the power to fulfill any desire of its owner while in the film, the artifact was used to grant the fulfillment of money. The minor change tied back to their original story pitch of money and its effects of greed. The writers wanted to convey the central idea that "money in itself is not bad; but they need to be earned by honest labor." The final script was created within the frameworks of an original story. However the fairy tale was reinterpreted to modern realities.
The setting chosen for the film is originally set between the West and the Urals giving the film a Balkan tone somewhere in Eastern Europe. The choreography itself drew upon Romanian, Bulgarian and Irish folk dances that was used as a reference point by the animators.
Characters The main character Potter was originally a soldier that was later changed to a craftsman potter. The change was symbolic in nature that would describe the overall dynamics between the two main characters Potter and Ginger whom are both melded together like clay as the film progresses. Originally based as a feature film, the team finalized the format as animation. Ginger on the other hand was depicted as a character with exuberant energy that parallels not only her characteristics of her red hair but also her name for the Russian release, () means "fire."
Overall, the script was built on presenting a new fairy tale to the modern generation emphasizing the ageless morality that is present in such stories. The creators intended the film to be an appealing film filled with bright memorable characters. They also focused on making the characters inspirational to the audience. The creators prepared the film so that any audience can understand the story including both the children and the adults. According to the director, “It was important for us to make a cartoon that would be understandable to a viewer in any country, so the visual and musical languages of Ginger's Tale are universal.” The climax of the script required the most focus. The creators took special care in resolving the character Potter's peripeteia caused by the effects of the Stone of Fire.
Themes The original story explored the main motif of selfless love through the main character Ginger. The film juxtaposed the themes of the triumph of actions done by the deeds of the heart and its sacrifices in relation to greed. The script also brings to attention the theme of how honesty, love, and work is more expensive than any money. The symbolism of the artifact being a flint that has ambient heat fire effects was used by the script writers as an allegory to potters hardening and giving shape to their clay by firing the substance in a kiln. Similarly the morality of the characters, especially the character Potter is associated with clay that is soft like a soul. The firing of the clay by the effects of the flint hardens the soul of the potter.
The character Ups and Potter are foils to each other. The former is depicted as a genius inventor at the castle, who rather be a servant to the Queen rather than earn praise for his ingenious devices, while Potter is depicted as a self-doubter for his work on pottery.
Overall the film preparations took over three years with initial work done on characters, locations, and storyboards. The direction was greatly inspired by the Soviet Union director Georgiy Daneliya. Previously, Konstantin Shchekin worked with the director as an animation director and supervisor. Veteran screenwriter and production designer Tatyana Ilyina was also part of the production team.
The roles of the youngest characters, Ginger and Potter were performed by the actors, Natalya Tereshkova and Peter Kovrizhnyh of the TV series The Junior Team. The casting of the character Firefighter fit the voice actor Edgard Zapashny perfectly to the point where the lines for the characters were rewritten. The role was Zapashny's first time dubbing for an animated film. Actress Irina Yakovleva was cast for her timbre voice and similarity in appearance to the character Queen. At the May 2019 Multimir animation and entertainment festival, a teaser for the film was presented by Sergey Burunov, Edgar Zapashny, Alexander Oleshko, and other actors who voiced the cartoon.
Animation Vverh Animation Studio decided to choose their favorite technology - traditional animation for the film. The animators harnessed their specialization in 2D animation through the depiction of the characters. The leading 2D animators from Russia were bought in to draw the canvas of the film while the backgrounds were drawn in 3D. Ginger's Tale differs from other animation films by its use of the "conveyor" system. This technique assigns small details of the animation frames to members of different art groups. A characteristic feature of this design is the multi-layered background design that required special care. The animation team with this technique bought out the different hues and shades of the story. The drawings also embedded steampunk elements that revolved around the inventions of the eccentric inventor character Ups. The two departments of background design and personal character drawings interacted with each other to bring to life the array of characters in the film.
Highlights of the film are song dances of the characters animated under the direction of theater choreographer Irina Kashuba. The creators intended to emphasize the originality and uniqueness of the characters in the film. Therefore, they presented the characters dancing to the soundtrack. The animation at this stage was drawn by transferring the movements of real dancers to the movements of drawn characters. The animators also revived the methods of classical Soviet animation.
Production designer Vasily Krasnikov says, "The range of animator tasks is quite large. This is an expressive drawing and a sense of movement, an understanding of the composition of the frame and the laws of editing, acting and directing skills. Like any artist, an animator needs to develop observation skills, notice interesting scenes in life, draw characteristic poses and emotions." Producer Yuri Ryazanov noted for Animationweek in August 2020 that 2D animation films have recently become competitively disadvantageous against 3D animation films. The producer believes there must be active investment for traditional animation in order for the technique to survive in the future.
Soundtrack