Good night, kids - 5 facts about the oldest and most popular children's show

Over the past 54 years, these dolls have wished good night to children by teaching them how to behave and showing cartoons. Goodnight Babes is more than a program - it is a social phenomenon that has helped nurture three generations, and it still does.

Each country has its own show for kids, with fictional creatures telling funny and cute stories to help kids grow and navigate the strange world we live in. There is Sesame Street in the USA. Well, and for Russia "Good night, kids." For generations of Russians, this is considered an exceptional piece of art. That's why.

5 PHOTOS

1. Inspired by German legends.

It seems that the original program in Russia is only house 2 fresh episodes of which many viewers are so waiting. Good night, kids use a structure that is not particularly original. The broadcast was originally a copy of East Germany's Sandmännchen (Sandman) show - a story about Sandman, a creature from European folklore who makes children sleep by splashing magic sand in their eyes. However, the Russians were not interested in Sandman, so Soviet television replaced him with cute animals; probably so as not to scare children away.

2. The transfer has survived repression.

The transmission initially consisted of static images with off-screen text reading. Then short puppet sketches appeared. In 1968, the classic characters appeared: Filya the dog, Piggy pig, Stepashka the hare, and Karkusha the crow. However, over the decades, the program has undergone some changes. For example, on November 11, 1982, the program did not appear on the air for the first time. Leonid Brezhnev died, and they decided not to release the program. Then, within 3 years, the animals disappeared from the show and there were only humans. What for? Andrei Menshikov, who previously headed the television studio, recalled: "The party expelled Piggy because the leaders of the Muslim Soviet republics believed that a pig should not put Muslim children to bed." Only with Perestroika did Mikhail Gorbachev allow Piggy to return with the others.

3. Helped to bring down the Iron Curtain.

Gorbachev had reasons to sympathize with Piggy: the piglet helped reduce tensions between the USSR and the United States (in fact, they were the producers Menshikov and his American colleague Christopher Cerf). On the 1988 television series Free To Be ... A Family, Piggy met Kermit the Frog at The Muppets and they discussed some serious issues.

4. Favorite characters.

As Menshikov recalled, the children begged the authorities to return Piggyback, and it worked. Children and other classic animals from Goodnight Little Ones! Still loved by children. In addition to Khryusha, Fili, Stepashka, and Karkusha, other animals appeared. In the 1960s, Buratino joined them, and then Mishutka appeared, because the Russian program could not but have a bear. The latest newcomer is Moore, the Amur tiger, who is trying to raise awareness of the need to protect endangered species.

5. Adhering to tradition.

People are also changing - among the current ones - Oksana Fedorova (former Miss Russia), pop singer Dmitry Malikov, and former boxer Nikolai Valuev. The show does not use computer graphics and the puppets are still controlled by people hiding under the table.