Twelve Months (1980 film)

Twelve Months (世界名作童話 森は生きている, Sekai Meisaku Dōwa - Mori wa Ikiteiru, "lit. World Masterpiece Fairy Tales: The Forest That Lives" Russian: Двенадцать месяцев, Dvenadtsat mesyatsev) is a 1980 animated feature film directed by Yugo Serikawa, Kimio Yabuki and Tetsuo Imazawa, produced by Toei Animation from Japan in partnership with Soyuzmultfilm from the Soviet Union. It was based on the 1943 play written by Samuil Marshak which itself was based on the medieval fairy tale of the same name. The music was composed by Vladimir Ivanovich Krivtsov and performed by the National Leningrad Philharmonic under the direction of A. S. Dmitriev.

For the 1956 Soviet animated film, see The Twelve Months (1956 film).
Twelve Months
Theatrical poster
Directed byYugo Serikawa
Kimio Yabuki
Tetsuo Imazawa
Written byKimio Yabuki
Ikuko Oyabu
Tomoe Takashi
Based onTwelve Months
by Samuil Marshak
Produced byChiaki Imada
CinematographyRyoichi Toba
Yutaka Chikura
Music byVladimir Ivanovich Krivtsov
Production
companies
Distributed byToei Company
Release date
March 15, 1980 (Japan)
Running time
65 minutes
CountriesJapan
Soviet Union
LanguageJapanese / Russian / English

Preceded by The Wild Swans (1977) and Thumbelina (1978), and followed by Swan Lake (1981) and Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1982), it represents the third episode in Toei's World Masterpiece Fairy Tales movie series.

Plot synopsis

A spoiled, young queen asks for the impossible during a cold winter and requests for a bouquet of Galanthus, a spring wildflower, for New Year's Day in exchange for a reward of gold. One greedy woman desires to collect the bounty and instead of sending her own daughter, readily sends her young stepdaughter, Anja, to look for the white-blossomed flowers in the deep forest during a night snowstorm despite knowing the task will be impossible. Despite refusing, Anja is cast into the blizzard by her stepmother and in the barren forest, falls unconscious from the freezing cold. Later, she is awoken and is drawn to a light in the distance from a mysterious bonfire, surrounded by spirits whom reveal themselves as the Twelve Months. Learning of her task, the twelve spirits take pity on Anja. They use their powers to temporarily bring spring to allow the flowers to grow and be collected but requests no one is to know how and where she obtained the Galanthus. A grateful Anja returns home with the requested flowers and the bouquet is presented to the queen by her stepmother and stepsister. However, the dissatisfied queen wishes to see where the flowers grow for herself. The stepsister and stepmother secretly follow Anja into the forest and lead the queen there as well. The Twelve Months come to save Anja from the others and turns her stepsister and stepmother into dogs. Anja drives away in a sledge together with the queen, with whom she becomes friends.

Cast
Character Original English
Anja Shinobu Otake Corinne Orr
Queen Ai Kanzaki Paula Parker
Stepmother Tokuko Sugiyama Joan Shepard
Stepmother's daughter Mariko Mukai Jenn Thompson
Professor Ichirō Nagai Unknown
Prime Minister Masashi Amenomori
Officer Daisuke Ryu
January Kiyoshi Kobayashi
April Katsuji Mori
Soldier Masato Yamanouchi Earl Hammond
Young soldier Kōji Yakusho Unknown

Additional Voices

Release

The film had its premiere on March 15, 1980.[1]

Music

Opening Theme

  • "I Won't Cry" (泣かないわ, Nakanai wa)
Sung by Mari Yoshiko with The Glinka Choir, lyrics by Kimio Yabuki, music and arrangement by Vladimir Krivstov, performed by National Leningrad Philharmonic.

Ending Theme

  • "The Forest That Lives" (泣かないわ, Nakanai wa)
Sung by Mari Yoshiko with The Glinka Choir, lyrics by Kimio Yabuki, music and arrangement by Vladimir Krivstov, performed by National Leningrad Philharmonic.

See also

References
  1. "TWELVE MONTHS - TOEI ANIMATION LIST OF WORKS". lineup.toei-anim.co.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
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