February 06, 2014

1980 Olympics: Songs and Cartoons


1980 Olympics: Songs and Cartoons

The 2014 Winter Games in Sochi open tomorrow, February 7! Here's a taste of what the last Olympic Games brought into Russian culture.

In the context of the Cold War, the 1980 Moscow Olympics were inevitably remembered for their political implications: the US-led boycott and the show of prosperity for foreigners, the fallout from letting foreign elements behind the Iron Curtain. But within the Soviet Union, the Olympic Games brought a lighter legacy of music, cartoons, art, and festivities to remember.

 

The Mascot

What’s not to love about an adorable stuffed bear wearing a belt with the Olympic rings, always smiling and happy to see everyone? Misha, the instantly recognizable bear mascot designed by kids’ illustrator Viktor Chizhikov, greeted everyone at the opening ceremonies and cried when everyone had to leave at the close. But his appearances didn’t end there: not only was the inflatable Misha from the closing ceremony on display for a while, he was also sold in endless smiling dolls, images, posters… He even had his own cartoon, in which he makes his way to the Olympics despite the efforts of a jealous Baba Yaga and her mismatched group of Russian-fairy-tale-based villain assistants.

 

Nu, Pogodi!

And speaking of cartoons, Misha himself and the Olympics in general also found their way into other popular cartoons of the time. The 13th episode [video] of “Nu, Pogodi!” (a Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner-style chase cartoon) takes place at the Olympics, complete with an awards ceremony where Misha presents the Wolf and Hare with a chocolate trophy. All the icons of the Games are present: the rings (the Wolf’s smoke rings), the diversity, announcements in English, a wide variety of sports, and even a brief moment of reconciliation over a joint victory.

The moment is, however, extremely brief and almost immediately ruined as the characters get right back to their usual antagonisms.

 

The Olympic Ruble

The Olympics also show up, in passing, in another famous cartoon, Three from Prostokvashino – a magpie steals a coin from Pechkin the mailman, for which Pechkin wants to send the poor bird to a lab for animal testing. Why does the mailman get so worked up? It’s not just any coin, it’s a commemorative Olympic ruble! Several variants were released between 1977 and 1980, but all allowed the Soviet public to feel like they were part of something special, a Union-wide celebration and opportunity to show off. And if you got your hands on an Olympic ruble, you got to keep it forever – unless some magpie stole it!

 

Saying Goodbye

But the Games themselves had to come to a close. In addition to the crying-Misha card stunt and the inflatable Misha flying off with a bunch of balloons, the Closing Ceremony that year gave Russia the song Goodbye, Moscow! [До свиданья, Москва!] It was a hit in the original Russian, and was translated into several languages, including English, French, Czech, and Finnish. Thirty years later, Russians still know the words.

Here’s hoping that these Winter Games turn out to be just as memorable!

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Query
Template: /muraWRM/core/mura/content/feed/feedGateway.cfc:250
Execution Time: 0.768 ms
Record Count: 0
Cached: No
Lazy: No
SQL:
SELECT
tcontent.siteid, tcontent.title, tcontent.menutitle, tcontent.restricted, tcontent.restrictgroups,
tcontent.type, tcontent.subType, tcontent.filename, tcontent.displaystart, tcontent.displaystop,
tcontent.remotesource, tcontent.remoteURL,tcontent.remotesourceURL, tcontent.keypoints,
tcontent.contentID, tcontent.parentID, tcontent.approved, tcontent.isLocked, tcontent.contentHistID,tcontent.target, tcontent.targetParams,
tcontent.releaseDate, tcontent.lastupdate,tcontent.summary,
tfiles.fileSize,tfiles.fileExt,tcontent.fileid,
tcontent.tags,tcontent.credits,tcontent.audience, tcontent.orderNo,
tcontentstats.rating,tcontentstats.totalVotes,tcontentstats.downVotes,tcontentstats.upVotes,
tcontentstats.comments, tparent.type parentType,
tcontent.path, tcontent.created, tcontent.nextn, tcontent.majorVersion, tcontent.minorVersion, tcontentstats.lockID, tcontentstats.lockType, tcontent.expires,
tfiles.filename as AssocFilename,tcontent.displayInterval,tcontent.display,tcontentfilemetadata.altText as fileAltText,tcontent.changesetid
FROM
tcontent
left Join tfiles on (tcontent.fileid=tfiles.fileid)
left Join tcontentstats on (tcontent.contentid=tcontentstats.contentid
and tcontent.siteid=tcontentstats.siteid)
Left Join tcontent tparent on (tcontent.parentid=tparent.contentid
and tcontent.siteid=tparent.siteid
and tparent.active=1)
Left Join tcontentfilemetadata on (tcontent.fileid=tcontentfilemetadata.fileid
and tcontent.contenthistid=tcontentfilemetadata.contenthistid
and tcontent.siteid=tcontentfilemetadata.siteid)
WHERE
tcontent.siteid in ('default')
and tcontent.active = 1
and tcontent.Approved = 1
AND tcontent.isNav = 1
AND tcontent.moduleid = '00000000000000000000000000000000000'
AND tcontent.searchExclude = 0
AND tcontent.contentid <> '00000000000000000000000000000000001'
AND tcontent.type <>'Module'
and (
tcontent.parentid
=
'C9028E03-5056-A32F-D50012AD517EFBFF'
and
tcontent.subtype
=
'footnote'
)
AND (
tcontent.Display = 1
OR
(
tcontent.Display = 2
AND
(
(
tparent.type!='Calendar'
and tcontent.DisplayStart <=
{ts '2026-04-03 15:05:00'}
and (tcontent.DisplayStop >=
{ts '2026-04-03 15:05:00'} or tcontent.DisplayStop is null)
) OR (
tparent.type='Calendar'
and tcontent.DisplayStart <=
{ts '2027-04-03 15:05:00'}
and (tcontent.DisplayStop >=
{ts '2026-04-03 15:05:00'} or tcontent.DisplayStop is null)
)
)
)
)
AND (
tcontent.mobileExclude is null
OR
tcontent.mobileExclude in (0,1)
)
order by
tcontent.lastUpdate desc
siteidtitlemenutitlerestrictedrestrictgroupstypesubTypefilenamedisplaystartdisplaystopremotesourceremoteURLremotesourceURLkeypointscontentIDparentIDapprovedisLockedcontentHistIDtargettargetParamsreleaseDatelastupdatesummaryfileSizefileExtfileidtagscreditsaudienceorderNoratingtotalVotesdownVotesupVotescommentsparentTypepathcreatednextnmajorVersionminorVersionlockIDlockTypeexpiresAssocFilenamedisplayIntervaldisplayfileAltTextchangesetid
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955