Anna Vilenskaya in Amsterdam 26 November 2026

Anna Vilenskaya is a musicologist, lecturer, and advocate for classical and contemporary music. She has a knack for explaining complex topics in a simple, engaging,and humorous way, helping listeners hear music in a new light and understand how it works. 

Topic: Music from Cartoons: Art for Adults or Marketing to Children? A Debate Between Anna Vilenskaya and Natasha Panfilova
Natasha Panfilova is a marketer, a master’s program instructor in Paris, and the author of a blog with an audience of 200,000 people. She discusses marketing and behavioral responses without being a bore—drawing on observations, research, and data, all delivered with humor and entertainment.

Cartoons have been around for over a century and have evolved alongside marketing, popular culture, and pop music. Why do some of them become part of the childhood of several generations, while others are quickly forgotten? Is it all down to the music, the story, or cynical marketing?

Using examples from *Frozen*, *Shrek*, and Soviet cartoons, we’ll explore why kids are singing “Let It Go,” how the music from *Shrek* creates a fairy-tale atmosphere for a story with adult themes, why Disney films are so upbeat, and why Soviet cartoons often sound so touching and melancholic.

We’ll try to answer the main question: what makes a cartoon successful—the music, the story, or the marketing? Anya will talk about the work of composers, Natasha will discuss the role of marketers, and listeners will be able to vote on whose contribution was more important.