June 26, 2020

The reboot of a classic Russian cartoon features some modern updates.


The reboot of a classic Russian cartoon features some modern updates.
Wolf gets his act together. Nu pogodi!

The classic cartoon “Ny pogodi!” is getting revamped in 2020, and, according to Soyuzmultfilm Director Boris Mashkovtsev, viewers should expect at least one significant change in the new episodes.

Whether you grew up watching it or first saw it in a Russian language class, we all remember that rascally wolf “Volk” chasing “Zayets” (a rabbit) with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Now, however, Volk will be cutting out this bad habit. “In the episodes for which stories are being created, Volk does not smoke at all," said Mashkovtsev. "If now Volk smokes, the information will be distorted, the audience themselves, no matter what they say now, will generally evaluate the fact of smoking in a different way.”

Volk quitting smoking isn’t the only big change coming to the reboot.  Three new secondary characters are being introduced: the badger Tim, the hedgehog Shu, and the deer Ulya. According to Marina Malygina, Soyuzmultfilm press secretary, the original cartoon features multiple memorable secondary characters, such as a hippo and piglets. The new secondary characters are just a continuation of that experience, and are not meant to overtake the main characters, Volk and Zaets.

According to Malygina, “Badger Tim is a young sportsman, always on the move, kind and responsible. Hedgehog Shu is a small researcher with glasses, an inventor. Deer Ulya is an emotional beauty, active and positive. They will participate in the plot, but the main focus, of course, will remain Volk and Zaets.”

The reboot will still maintain the original’s slapstick comedy by relying more on actions than dialogues. And of course, the catchphrase “Ny, Zaets, pogodi” (“Well, Rabbit, just you wait”) will remain the same.

As to the timing of the reboot’s release, Mashkovtsev predicts it will be sometime in the second half of 2020. The director reminded fans that this is a creative process and that, “however long it takes, that’s how long it will take.”

You Might Also Like

Moving Pictures
  • November 01, 2003

Moving Pictures

The masters of Russian and Soviet animation rank among the world's greatest artists of the genre. But not many outside the industry know their names or have ever seen their work.
Influential Comic Voice
  • September 01, 2002

Influential Comic Voice

Actor Anatoly Papanov (1922-1987) would have turned 80 on October 31. Generations of Russian children associate his voice with that of the Wolf in the popular cartoon Nu Pogodi!  (“You just wait!”).
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Fearful Majesty
July 01, 2014

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

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.

Fish
February 01, 2010

Fish

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

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.

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. 

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