Fyodor Khitruk
- Directing
- May 1, 1917 · Tver, Russian Empire
- December 3, 2012
Biography
Fyodor Savelyevich Khitruk (Russian: Фёдор Савельевич Хитрук; 1 May 1917 – 3 December 2012; Tver) was a Russian (and Soviet) animator and animation director. Khitruk was born in Tver (Russian Empire), into a Jewish family. He came to Moscow to study graphic design at the OGIS College for Applied Arts. He graduated in 1936 and started to work with "Soyuzmultfilm" in 1938 as an animator. From 1962 onwards, he worked as a director. His first film "Story of One Crime" was an immense success. Today, this film is seen as the beginning of a renaissance of Soviet animation after a two-decade-long life in the shadows of Socialist realism. Diverging from the “naturalistic” Disney-like canons that were reigning in the 1950-60s in Soviet animated cartoons, he created his own style, which was laconic yet multi-level, non-trivial and vivid. He is the director of outstanding animated short films including such classics as his social satire of bureaucrats, "Man in the Frame" (1966); the philosophic parable, "Island" (1973) about the loneliness of a man in modern society; the biographical film "A Young Man Named Engels – A Portrait in Letters" (1970), based on drawings and letters of young Engels; the parody "Film, Film, Film" (1968); and the anti-war film, "Lion and Bull" (1984). In April 1993, Khitruk and three other leading animators (Yuri Norstein, Andrei Khrzhanovsky, and Eduard Nazarov) founded SHAR Studio, an animation school and studio in Russia. The Russian Cinema Committee is among the share-holders in the studio. In 2008, he released a two-volume book titled "Profession of Animation". He is the grandfather of violin virtuoso Anastasia Khitruk. Khitruk lived in Moscow, where he died in 2012, aged 95.
Known for
Filmography
- Searching for the Lost Pochta · Archive footage
- Riding on a Broomstick · Screenplay
- Miracle Factory. Animation Director
- About Me · Animation Director
- Magia Russica
- About the Girl Who Found Her Bear · Animation Director
- Neighbours · Animation Director
- Masters of Russian Animation - Volume 3 · Director
- Masters of Russian Animation - Volume 2 · Director, Screenplay
- Masters of Russian Animation - Volume 1 · Director, Screenplay
- The Big Leap · Producer
- Mikhail Baryshnikov's Stories from My Childhood · Animation
- Dunno on the Moon · Consulting Producer
- Animated Soviet Propaganda · Self
- The Spirit of Genius - Fedor Khitruk and His Films · Self
- Attraction · Art Direction
- The Cow · Art Direction
- Three Novels · Writer
- The Lafertovo Poppycake Seller · Creative Director
- Kuth and Mice · Art Direction
- Wolfy · Art Direction
- Lion and Bull · Director, Writer
- The Cat in the Cap · Art Direction
- Olympians · Director, Screenplay
- O Sport, You Are Peace! · Animation Director
- One Day Before Our Era · Director, Screenplay
- Ikar and Sages · Screenplay, Director
- The Flight of Mr. Mc.Kinley · Animation Director
- I Give You a Star · Director, Writer
- Island · Screenplay, Animation
- The Love of Mankind · Animation
- Balance of Fear · Director, Art Direction
- Winnie-the-Pooh and a Busy Day · Director, Writer
- Winnie-the-Pooh Goes Visiting · Director, Screenplay
- A Young Man Named Engels – A Portrait in Letters · Director, Writer
- Winnie-the-Pooh · Creator
- Winnie-the-Pooh · Director, Writer
- Zigzag of Success · Animation Director
- Film, Film, Film · Director, Writer
- Othello-67 · Director, Screenplay
- Man in the Frame · Director, Writer
- The Tale of the Tsarevich and the Three Healers · Screenplay
- Boniface's Holiday · Director, Writer
- Little Stomper · Director, Writer
- Story of One Crime · Director
- Granny's Goat · Animation
- Family Chronicle · Animation
- Big Troubles · Animation
- The Key · Animation
- A Sober Sparrow · Animation
- It Was I Who Drew the Little Man · Animation
- Different Wheels · Animation
- Murzilka on the Satellite · Animation
- The Adventures of Buratino · Animation
- Soon There Will Be Rain · Animation Director
- At Exactly Three Fifteen ... · Animation
- The Boy from Napoli · Animation
- The Tale of Chapayev · Animation
- The Secret of the Far Away Island · Animation
- Petia and Little Red Riding Hood · Animation
- The Cat's House · Animation
- The Snow Queen · Animation
- Familiar Pictures · Animation
- Once Upon a Time · Animation
- Again, Deuce · Animation
- The Twelve Months · Animation
- Old Friends · Animation
- Adventures of Murzilka · Animation
- Girl in the Jungle · Animation
- The Enchanted Boy · Animation
- An Unusual Match · Animation
- What Kind of Bird Is This? · Animation
- Dog and Cat · Animation
- Stepan the Sailor · Animation
- A Hazel Tree Twig · Animation
- A Brave Hare · Animation
- The Snowman-Postman · Animation
- The Frog Princess · Animation
- An Arrow Flies Into a Fairy Tale · Animation
- The Orange Neck · Animation