The producer explained the growing popularity of fairy tales in Russian animation.

The fairy tale genre has become the dominant trend in Russian animation, and this is due to the stage of development of the industry, rather than a random trend. Dmitry Parshin, general producer of Klaxon Production Studio, told Izvestia on April 8.

"Fairy tales is a "safe" and proven format. Familiar characters, from Ivan Tsarevich to Baba Yaga, reduce marketing risks, which are very high in animation, given the long and expensive production, which the authors do not immediately profit from. In the case of a fairy tale, the audience instantly reads the cultural code. Therefore, it is easier for such cartoons to establish communication with children and their parents, sell episodes to TV channels and online platforms, and then release franchises, licensed content and merch based on motives. This means that it is easier to predict profits by raising funds to create new products," the expert said.

According to him, over the past five years, from 40 to 60% of full-length animation projects in Russia are based on folklore, literary classics or author's fairy-tale worlds. This is because such stories are easy to read by the audience, simplify the promotion of projects and allow the development of franchises, including merch and licensed content. In addition, the fairy tale is organically embedded in the cultural tradition and forms a stable audience interest.

Parshin stressed that the saturation of the market with fairy-tale plots is not a problem, but, on the contrary, serves as a foundation for the further development of the industry. In his opinion, many countries went through a similar stage, relying on the national cultural code, before moving on to genre diversity.

The expert added that in the future, it is important for the industry not to limit itself to classical folklore, but to develop science fiction, urban fantasy, family dramedies and author's animation. He noted that a fairy tale can become the basis for hybrid formats where traditional motifs are combined with modern plots and topical issues.

Parshin also pointed out that interest in folklore indicates a search for national identity. At the same time, he called on the industry to move away from direct quoting and experiment with form, using fairy-tale elements as a metaphor and a basis for creating new artistic worlds.

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