Category: Animation

Aleksandr Petrov, Master of Painted Glass Animation

Today is the birthday of Aleksandr Petrov, the Russian animator born July 17, 1957, in the village of Prechistoye. He is known for his unique technique of creating animations from pastel oil paintings on glass, using his fingertips to paint for added texture. Petrov’s first animation was made in 1988, Marathon, and was a tribute …

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Soviet Film Wednesday: A Rainy Story

Inspired after seeing this at Soviet Visuals and Folklore Film Fest‘s #SovietFilmWednesday, this was the first Soviet film I shared a little over two years ago, and it is still one of my favorites. What can I say, I love rain and cats, and the illustrations are beautiful. A Rainy Story is about a cat who wanders …

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Soviet Film Wednesday: The Scarlet Flower

The Scarlet Flower (Аленький цветочек, Alenkiy tsvetochek) is a popular Russian folktale based on Sergey Aksakov’s rendition of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. Similar to the traditional tale, it begins when a merchant father, Stepan Yemelyanovich, asks his three daughters what gifts they would like from his travels. The oldest daughter, Gordeya, wishes for …

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Soviet Film Wednesday: The Little Mermaid

This wonderfully illustrated 1968 Russian animation is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. It begins with a Copenhagen tour guide’s introduction to Andersen’s story, which is not quite the same as the Disney version. As is usually the case, the older tale is much darker. Much of the imagery in this animation is also dark, yet …

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Soviet Film Wednesday: Children and Matches

Yuri Norstein gives us a clever, stylized public service message in this 1969 short cutout animation, Children and Matches.

Soviet Film Wednesday: Hedgehog in the Fog

Today we have another wonderful Yuri Norstein film, Hedgehog in the Fog.  Norstein is best known for this animation, as well as his Tale of Tales.  Hedgehog in the Fog was directed by Norstein, written by Sergei Kozlov, with music by Mikhail Meyerovich.  It was produced by Soyuzmultfilm in 1975. It is the story of a hedgehog and a bear cub who …

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Soviet Film Wednesday: Thank You

Thank You (Spasibo, Спасибо) is a hand-drawn 1973 animation directed by Vladimir Tarasov, who is best known for his Soviet science fiction films Contact (1978), Contract (1985), and The Pass (1988). In Thank You, a group of polite children take a field trip to learn about airplanes. Click the “cc” icon for subtitles.

From Aurora to Maleficent, Marc Davis Designed a Host of Disney’s Most Beloved Characters

Known as one of Disney’s “Nine Old Men” of core animators, artist and Imagineer Marc Davis was born on this day March 30, 1913 in Bakersfield, CA. With vivacious character illustrations, Davis inserted his humor in several Disney park attractions and designed many of Disney’s most beloved characters, including Snow White, Bambi, Thumper, Flower, Mr. Toad, …

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A Wintry Wednesday Ukrainian Lullaby

In solidarity with the people of the Ukraine and all of the brave Ukrainians and Russians opposing this war, may you find love and peace 🕊️ Instead of the usual Soviet Film Wednesday post, today I am sharing a Ukrainian lullaby as thoughts of the Ukraine weigh on my mind. This beautiful film was created as …

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Disney Legend Rolly Crump

Disney imagineer and animator Rolly Crump was born on February 27, 1930 in Alhambra, California. Inspired at the young age of three by the Disney Silly Symphony short, Three Little Pigs, Crump began drawing in 1933. He started working with Disney in 1952, doing “inbetweening” or “tweening” to provide the illusion of smooth movements between film frames. …

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