Chronicle of development of animation technologies

Chronicle of the most important events in animation history, from various gadgets of XIX century (and earlier!), creating illusion of animated drawing, up to computer technologies on service of animation from the end of XX century.

 

Alexei ORLOV. Animation of the third Millenium: light breezing. Mosaics from eight films arranged as notes and conversations.

Survey of animated cartoons, made in the latest years in CIS and Baltic countries. Also following: excerpts from interviews with animators Alexandre Petrov, Elizaveta Skvortsova and Dmitry Geller.

 

Alexandre PETROV: “I cannot say becoming smarter with every new film”.

Alexandre Petrov is the first Russian animator, awarded with OSCAR (for his “The Old Man and the Sea”). In the interview, taken when preparing his personal exhibition in the Cinema Museum (it opened during XXIII Moscow International Film Festival) Petrov tells of his tutors and impressions, which drove his creation.

 

 

Fedor KHYTRUK – Andrei KHRZHANOVSKY: Conversations under blue Moon.

Patriarch of domestic animation Fedor Khytruk in the row of conversation tells his colleague Andrei Khrzhanovsky about his career, which he started as designer. Interlocutors recall of brilliant Russian animators – from Boris Dezhkin up to Anatoly and Alexandre Petrov, reflect over impact of Walt Disney, secrets of professional mastery, poetics of animation and its closeness to classical literature.

 

 

Sergei EISENSTEIN. Notes on creation of Walt Disney.

Analytical study on Walt Disney, which was began by Eisenstein in September of 1940, originally had been meant for his book “The Method”. Through exemplifying of Disney animation Eisenstein planned to demonstrate the levels and measures of functioning of the rules of the art method as such. For the first time the main body of the “Disney” texts was published in: “Problems of synthesis in art culture” (Moscow, Nauka, 1985). Some related notes had not been included into the book and constituted the gist of the present publication.

 

Daniel KOTHENSCHULTE. ¡Que viva Disney!

As generally known,Eisenstein highly appraised Walt Disney creation. Much less is known about the influence of Disney animation upon Eisenstein films’ stylistics. This is the point of the German investigator.

 

Zigfried KRAKAUER. «Dumbo». A new film of Walt Disney.

Review firstly published in December, 1941 in “Neue Züricher Zeitung”, continues the row of publications by the noted German film theorist and sociologist.

 

 

Alexandre DERYABIN. Vertov and animation: romance never to occur

Dziga Vertov animation seldom draws attention of the researchers. The present article is devoted to his animation as a logical phase of his experimentation. The publication is supplemented by filmography and an archival document telling of distribution of the film “Soviet Toys”.

 

Khrisanf KHERSONSKY. Lecture on animation.

The noted prolific critic of 1920-30s Khrisanf Khersonsky is barely known as the supervisor of Experimental animation workshop of State Department of cinema (GUKF). Alongside with these activities he delivered a course of lectures at VGIK. One of them, abundant in rare and unknown facts concerning the dawn of domestic animation is presented here.

 

 

Alexandre KURS. A Tale of Tsar Durandai. Film script (animation).

Alexandre Kurs is a well-known in the 1920s journalist, executed on the sentence of the forged process in 1937. During his short life Kurs managed to create a lot: he was one of the first ringleaders of Soviet press, a critic and playwright. His works were highly appraised by Vladimir Mayakovsky and Boris Shklovsky. He cooperated with Lev Kuleshov, who screened his “Journalist” (“Your Acquaintance”) and “The Great Consoler”. The animator Ivan Ivanov-Vano adapted two his scenarios, one of which – “A Tale of Tsar Durandai” is published.

 

 

«Out of nowhere I am leaving for nowhere». Nikolai Khodatayev on the reason of his leaving animation.

Nikolai Khodatayev was one of the founders of domestic animation. In his letter, dated 1935, he discloses the unknown before reasons of his escape from cinema.

 

Kirill MALYANTOVICH. The way they were fighting against “cosmopolitans” at Soyuzmultfilm std.

 

Evgeny MIGUNOV. Am I a cosmopolitan?

Two memoirs on a meeting, held in 1948 at Souyzmultfilm studio along the reels of campaign against “cosmopolitism”.

 

 

Alexandre RAPPOPORT. Pulsing being. Notes on animation of Norman McLaren.

Creation of the Canadian director seen in the wide historical and cultural context.

 

Alexei ORLOV. AniFreud. Freudian symbolism in animation.

When analyzing some noted animated films the author wittily finds out Freudian symbols and motives. It is also noted, that remarkable masters are usually not interested  in Freud, psychoanalysis and symbolism as such, since they contain no artistic value.

 

 

Tomoko TANAKA. Psychological time in cinema of Yury Norstein.

The Japanese researcher juxterposes films by Yury Norstein and works of classical painting and drawings of a noted illustrator of children’s book Yury Vasnetsov and finds out some analogies between the two.

 

Raine PALDIS. Four films by Priit Pyarn.

Analysis of the latest films by the well-known Estonian animator.

 

 

Natalya NUSINOVA. Wizard of Fontenais

               – An hour of magics. In the studio of L. Starevich.

               – Nikolai ROSHCHIN. In the wonderful realm (A letter from Paris).

The author presents two articles about the immigrant period in the life of first Russian animator, discovered in the Russian immigrant journals of 1930s.

 

Alexandre ALEKSEYEV. Oblivion, or Remorse. Rememberances of the St Peterburg’s cadet.

2001 is the centenary of the outstanding Russian animator Alexandre Alekseyev, who was making films in France and Canada. An except from his diary tells of his childhood in Istanbul.

 

 

Georgy BORODIN. Gone with the wind. Catalogue of the rare and non-existent animation.

The first in Russian film history attempt at recapitulation of data about commercial and specially ordered animated reels, made at the Soyuzmultfilm std in 1960-80s. Also follows information about authors’ versions damaged by censorship.