Lolo

The premiere on Soviet television took place on January 1, 1986. In Japan, the trilogy was released in OVA format on March 27, 1988.

Lolo, the protagonist of the 1987 animated film The Adventures of Lolo the Penguin, is a mischievous and disobedient penguin who constantly gets into trouble, both funny and unpleasant. He is the son of Lala and Toto.

Antarctica. A small colony of Adélie penguins. The females hunt for fish, while the males build a nest and incubate the eggs. Many dangers await them, including snowstorms, predatory skuas, and killer whales. In the midst of this colony, a son named Lolo is born to the family of its leader. This Lolo is very curious. He wants to know everything, sticking his beak everywhere. Lolo has a best friend among the penguins—a little girl named Pepe, just like him. Lolo and Pepe are everywhere together. They meet a puppy named Don, who arrived in Antarctica with one of the Antarctic polar scientific expeditions. Then our heroes end up on a poaching vessel whose inhabitants are engaged in capturing penguins. The friends manage to escape the ship and free another man named Mac. Finally, they return home. Over the course of the trilogy, Lolo matures and eventually takes over as the leader of the pack, replacing her father, who died in a fight with poachers during a rescue mission for penguin chicks. Mac, meanwhile, leaves his friends in search of others like himself.

During a trip to Moscow in 1973, I was amazed to discover the animated films of great Russian masters. As a producer of children's feature films in Japan, I dared to propose a co-production of a full-length animated film to the Soviet side in 1980! Of course, I was very bold, extremely motivated by the idea of ​​making a beautiful film with Russian artists, and excited as a rocket launching into space! I chose a story that didn't in any way relate to either of our two countries, and I received a resounding "Okay!" from the representative of the body overseeing our project. Collaborating with the Russians was a true revelation for me and the Japanese team. Their approach had little in common with our experience of production in Japan: the division of tasks, storyboards, technological challenges of all kinds. Fujifilm even had to create a special negative so that the perforations would match those of Soviet films! Every day brought new surprises. Lolo's long journey ended in 1988, and during the eight years of work on this film, we witnessed all the political changes that shook the Soviet system at the time. It's worth noting that our film is the only animated film to be a joint production between Japan and the USSR.

The Adventures of Lolo the Penguin is an anime trilogy produced in 1987 jointly by the Soviet studios Soyuzmultfilm and Sovinfilm, and the Japanese companies Lifewalk Corporation and Aist Corporation. The film follows the adventures of two young Adelie penguins—a boy named Lolo and a girl named Pepe.