Considered to be the first animated Soviet film, Soviet Toys was made by the acclaimed documentary film director Dziga Vertov. It is based on political caricatures by V. Deni which appeared in the newspaper “Pravda.” Russians refer to the ornaments on their New Year’s trees as “toys.” After the Revolution and the Civil War, Russia was in financial ruin. To jumpstart the economy, Lenin introduced the New Economic Policy, a form of limited capitalism. NEP successfully revived the economy, but there was much resentment among the party faithful of the NEP-men who became wealthy and lived lavishly. Irina Margolina (documentary filmmaker): Vertov did this film to advertise the production abilities of the new advertising agency/filmmaker Goskino, for whom he had just gone to work (the organization’s phone number and address appear in the film).