I Kinda Wish I Understood Russian

[davidschroth]

A watches a lot of Russian videos (usually while her hair is getting braided). Lately, she's been spending a lot of time watching a video that I presume is about Baba Yage (presumption based on fact that she lives in a house that walks around on chicken legs and she flies around in a mortar and pestle. Her teeth don't look like they're iron/steel, though).

What the story *really* seems to be about is an unlikely family. The stork is attacked while making a delivery, and the baby ends up with Baba Yaga and a bunch of others. The others are why I wish I understood Russian - who *are* these creatures, and what is their story?

Anyway, Baba Yaga and company end up raising the little girl, and the little girl ends up facing down a dragon (with the assistance of the others) and reviving/resuscitating Baba Yaga.

Even though I don't understand a word of the cartoon, I think it's frightfully well done, and I wish I could find a copy with sub-titles.

Comments

[s6b.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'll bite ... but have you tried asking someone to translate the video for you? (Maybe even A herself?)

Out this way, quite a few Russians and other eastern Europeans have settled in this area, with the younger ones being relatively fluent in both English and their native language.
It's relatively easy to find churches that cater to them (their signs are written in Cyrillic) and I would think that it should be even easier to find them in the more cosmopolitan Twin Cities area and to ask for help.

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

http://www.kinokultura.com/2009/23r-babka.shtml

[s6b.livejournal.com]

Ummm, okay ... thanks for the link.
I don't understand how this addresses your hubby's interest in understanding what's being said in the cartoon however.
A little poking around indicates that the cartoon's DVD should come with three other audio tracks besides Russian.
Unfortunately, the other tracks are Lithuanian, Estonia, and Latvian and so it would still appear to me that you need a human translator to come up with something that your hubby can understand.