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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Putin and Medvedev in cartoon | Putin and Medvedev in cartoon |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin have been gently lampooned in a new year's cartoon broadcast on Russian TV. | Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin have been gently lampooned in a new year's cartoon broadcast on Russian TV. |
| Animated figures of Russia's president and prime minister are shown dancing in Moscow's Red Square and singing a duet about 2009. | Animated figures of Russia's president and prime minister are shown dancing in Moscow's Red Square and singing a duet about 2009. |
| President Medvedev is depicted playing an accordion while Mr Putin beats a tambourine against his bottom. | President Medvedev is depicted playing an accordion while Mr Putin beats a tambourine against his bottom. |
| Channel One television broadcast the cartoon after Mr Medvedev's official new year address. | Channel One television broadcast the cartoon after Mr Medvedev's official new year address. |
| The ditty was featured in a special episode of Mult Lichnosti (a play on the Russian for "cult of personality") - a biweekly show poking fun at public figures. | |
| The two-and-a-half-minute cartoon, with surprisingly true-to-life voices, has surprised Russians used to serious depictions of their leaders. | |
| The duet jauntily refers to events in the past year, such as the failed attempt by a consortium including Russian bank Sberbank to buy Opel from General Motors, and the construction of Russia's Nord Stream gas pipeline. | |
| 'Be careful' | |
| With fireworks exploding above the Moscow skyline in the background, Mr Medvedev's character performs a dainty leap for which he is congratulated by the prime minister, who is then lauded for his own little jump. | |
| Their ditty gently mocks the power-play between them since Mr Medvedev took over the Russian presidency from Mr Putin in 2008. | |
| "I just did my second New Year's greeting to the nation," says Mr Medvedev proudly at one stage, to which Mr Putin replies: "I've done it nine times, you know." | |
| They poke fun at the EU and US, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko and even make a reference to historic corruption within Russia's bureaucracy. | |
| Konstantin Ernst, Channel One's director, said the Russian leaders were being added to the regular cast of Mult Lichnosti, the New York Times reported. | |
| "We have to be careful," he told the newspaper. "You can insult someone in show business, because a person like that is selling himself, and does not answer for anything else. | "We have to be careful," he told the newspaper. "You can insult someone in show business, because a person like that is selling himself, and does not answer for anything else. |
| "Whereas the president and prime minister also represent the work they do." | "Whereas the president and prime minister also represent the work they do." |
| Mult Lichnosti also features other world leaders. One episode of the cartoon shows Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko inflating balloons with natural gas diverted from a Russian pipeline. | Mult Lichnosti also features other world leaders. One episode of the cartoon shows Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko inflating balloons with natural gas diverted from a Russian pipeline. |
| Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili is seen eating his own tie. | Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili is seen eating his own tie. |
| And US President Barack Obama is depicted endlessly bouncing a basketball up and down. | And US President Barack Obama is depicted endlessly bouncing a basketball up and down. |