baleanoptera | The Rock'n'Roll Wolf or Mama.

The Rock'n'Roll Wolf or Mama.

Continuing the trend of odd children's television that few have heard of. Hee. This is the rock’n’roll version of an old Romanian fairytale. It is a French/Romanian/Soviet co-production from 1976, and when I was a kid they used to send this on telly all the time. You see Norwegian television didn’t have that much money and they were afraid of what they saw as American commercialism – so instead they bought and broadcasted lots of Eastern European productions. This was one of them.

The Big Bad Wolf - in leather

It tells the story of Mother Goat (here called Rada), and her kids. Naturally there is an evil wolf (Titi Suru), who in this version dresses in black, tight leather and sings rock songs. Incidentally the wolf character was recently voted "most disturbing pre-teen sexual experience" by a rather large number of Norwegians. Interpret that as you wish.

Titi Suru and Mrs Rada

What ever interpretation no one can deny there was something going on between him and Rada. He said he was trying to steal her kids, and eat them – but somehow he was always more interested in Rada than the kids. Don’t believe me? Watch this clip which is the first meeting of Suru and Rada. Oh, and it is dubbed in English.

In addition there are several other animals in the village, and their costumes are just amazing. I’m particularly fond of the sheep, but the squirrels are also pretty cool.

The Parrot - he sells tickets to the fair.

One of the kids

But the story was actually rather basic. Wolf tries to steal kids, wolf fails because Mother Goat kicks ass. What made this production stand out were the costumes and the fancy wigs – and the songs! Because this, good people, was a musical. A rock'n'roll musical none the less – and it was performed by the members of the Bolshoi ballet and the Moscow Ice ballet.

Rada! She really does kick ass you know. In a way she is this fairytale's version of Eowyn or Ripley. You don't mess with her. Also she is a single-mom.

The main song of this musical – called Mama – and has been covered by several Norwegian bands – though none of them did so while wearing tight, black leather and a wolf wig. Ah well...

This is a montage of the most famous songs from the musical. The quality is a bit better, and it comes with Norwegian subtitles! Which really doesn’t mean that much to most of you, but for me it is just another proof of this huge Norwegian subculture. (Forget Vikings! When Norwegian my age gather we discuss things like "what really went on between Rada and Suru, and which of the other animals was the coolest". Behold kids, the subculture you get when you live close to the Arctic Circle)

These are the opening credits. The quality isn’t all that great – but I love because it shows the actors putting on makeup and their huge wigs.

So tell me - does this look familiar to any one?

alexandral, do you have any recollection of this?

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Oh my! I am not familiar with this show , but it reminds me very much of a show we had here in the U.S., during the 1980s. It was called Faerie Tale Theatre. Creepy, weird, disturbing, and awesome all at the same time! :-D

Ooh, I hadn't heard about this Faerie Tale Theatre - but that sounds very cool. I love weird and disturbing. :)

Ha! That looks awesome. I don't think I have anything comparable in my childhood...

In retrospect I think I love the person responsible for the Norwegian children's broadcast - because they kept showing things like these. There were also some incredible surreal cartoons from Czechoslovakia and the like.
And of course I love Youtube for making this all available again. Hee.

Glad you liked it. :)

HEEEEEEE! I REMEMBER THIS! It was so popular and movie theatres were full and I was 10(??). Mother Goat is kicking ass indeed - it is one of most famous Russian actresses Ludmila Gurchenko (type of lady who managed to look HOT when she was 55 and was a great singer too :D). And wolf! Boyarsky! he was a pop star-film-star at the time and he was indeed sexy. This brings back memories.

Yay! I was hoping you would know about this film. Mother Goat is such an awesome character - and all the wonderful skating and dancing in this film! I didn't know about the actors, but that is so great. Especially about the wolf. Hee.

And if you're interested then, as far as I can tell, the film is available in Russian here (http://filmiki.arjlover.net/info/mama.avi.html). But since my Russian is pretty much non-existent it is a bit hard to say. ;)

Oh; I love this! I got to see it again this year, after not having seen it since I was a child. I agree with you that mrs. Rada is amazing - she is so strong, yet vulnerable, and her chemistry with Suru is thrilling...:)

It's just a perfect production, and I'm very grateful that I grew up with it. It's just so quirky, surreal and awesome all at the same time.

Greetings!

Thought I'd comment.
I grew up in Latvia and Russia and yes, this brilliant film used to play there. Like many others, I haven't seen it for almost seventeen years, but the images and the love has burned themselves so strongly into my mind that I haven't forgotten it to this day. :3

I looked up the clips the other day, and was struck by the fact that the characters have lost nothing of their sexiness even after so long ;3. Also, I didn't realise that there was an English version out there X3. The poor Russians are mouthing the English words, but it's clear that the voices are overdubbed... perhaps to fight the accents.

I definitely prefer the Russian version (and not because of the nostalgia element), the English montage is a little more scatter-pot and the conversations differ quite a lot. ...The Russian version seems better, I gotta say.

Lastly, poor Wolf! D:} Re-watching the clips, you definitely get a sense that he's a dick because everyone abuses him for the simple fact that he's a wolf. Like, the kids chuck stones at him, and the goat mother automatically thinks he's the enemy... her kiddies are, of course, well behaved at all times. (Similar prejudice seen towards the Wolf in '10th Kingdom' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0207275/), recommended!)

*grunt*

But yes, Wolfie and the Goat Mother, definitely had a thing going on. It's undeniable. ;3

Peace,
~Yel.
P.S. The Russian DVD has come out with English subtitles. So, I'd advise you to get a Russian speaking friend and buy it off the net! :D Relive the original classic. <3

Hello!
Always great to meet other people who have seen and know this film. It's interesting what you say about the dubbing, and great news to hear about a DVD release. I must try to track that down.

the kids chuck stones at him, and the goat mother automatically thinks he's the enemy... her kiddies are, of course, well behaved at all times.

Hee, yes. And even though he threatens to eat them he never does. Instead he resorts to blackmail.

Wolfie and the Goat Mother, definitely had a thing going on

*g* Glad I'm not the only one thinking that.

I've seen the 10th Kingdom actually, and I really liked it. I must admit I thought the Wolf was the best aspect of the show. ;)

This was shown on the French channel of the CBC back in the 80's. I think it was on a Sunday afternoon. I was intrigued that the dialogue was dubbed into French but the songs were all in English.

The Rock'n'Roll Wolf or Mama.

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Oh yesh!

Re: Oh yesh!

seen it