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Fyodor Khitruk

Fyodor Khitruk

Director · 1917–2012 · Tver, Russian Empire

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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.

Directed 17

1980s

  1. 1984

    Lion and Bull

    Director

  2. 1982

    Olympians

    Director

1970s

  1. 1977

    One Day Before Our Era

    Director

  2. 1976

    Ikar and Sages

    Director

  3. 1974

    I Give You a Star

    Director

  4. 1973

    Island

    Director

  5. Balance of Fear

    Director

  6. 1972

    Winnie-the-Pooh and a Busy Day

    Director

  7. 1971

    Winnie-the-Pooh Goes Visiting

    Director

  8. 1970

    A Young Man Named Engels – A Portrait in Letters

    Director

1960s

  1. 1969

    Winnie-the-Pooh

    Director

  2. 1968

    Film, Film, Film

    Director

  3. 1967

    Othello-67

    Director

  4. 1966

    Man in the Frame

    Director

  5. 1965

    Boniface's Holiday

    Director

  6. 1964

    Little Stomper

    Director

  7. 1963

Visual effects 81

2000s

  1. 2005

    About Me

    Animation Director

  2. 2002

    About the Girl Who Found Her Bear

    Animation Director

  3. Neighbours

    Animation Director

1990s

  1. 1998

    Mikhail Baryshnikov's Stories from My Childhood

    Animation

1980s

  1. 1981

    O Sport, You Are Peace!

    Animation Director

1970s

  1. 1975

    The Flight of Mr. Mc.Kinley

    Animation Director

  2. 1973

    Island

    Animation

  3. The Love of Mankind

    Animation

1960s

  1. 1968

    Zigzag of Success

    Animation Director

  2. 1963

    Granny's Goat

    Animation

  3. 1961

    Big Troubles

    Animation

  4. The Key

    Animation

  5. 1960

    A Sober Sparrow

    Animation

  6. It Was I Who Drew the Little Man

    Animation

  7. Different Wheels

    Animation

  8. Murzilka on the Satellite

    Animation

1950s

  1. 1959

    The Adventures of Buratino

    Animation

  2. Soon There Will Be Rain

    Animation Director

  3. At Exactly Three Fifteen ...

    Animation

  4. 1958

    The Boy from Napoli

    Animation

  5. The Tale of Chapayev

    Animation

  6. The Secret of the Far Away Island

    Animation

  7. Petia and Little Red Riding Hood

    Animation

  8. The Cat's House

    Animation

  9. 1957
  10. Familiar Pictures

    Animation

  11. Once Upon a Time

    Animation

  12. Again, Deuce

    Animation

  13. 1956

    The Twelve Months

    Animation

  14. Old Friends

    Animation

  15. Adventures of Murzilka

    Animation

  16. Girl in the Jungle

    Animation

  17. 1955

    The Enchanted Boy

    Animation

  18. An Unusual Match

    Animation

  19. What Kind of Bird Is This?

    Animation

  20. Dog and Cat

    Animation

  21. Stepan the Sailor

    Animation

  22. A Hazel Tree Twig

    Animation

  23. A Brave Hare

    Animation

  24. The Snowman-Postman

    Animation

  25. 1954

    The Frog Princess

    Animation

  26. An Arrow Flies Into a Fairy Tale

    Animation

  27. The Orange Neck

    Animation

  28. A Dangerous Prank

    Animation

  29. On the Forest Stage

    Animation

  30. A Goat-Musician

    Animation

  31. 1953

    A Naughty Kitten

    Animation

  32. Magic Store

    Animation

  33. Flight to the Moon

    Animation

  34. Brave Pak

    Animation

  35. The Crow and the Fox, the Cuckoo and the Rooster

    Animation

  36. 1952
  37. Kashtanka

    Animation

  38. Sarmiko

    Animation

  39. Validoob - Fell Oak

    Animation

  40. 1951

    The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights

    Animation

  41. The Night Before Christmas

    Animation

  42. The High Hill

    Animation

  43. Friends-Comrades

    Animation

  44. Forest Travellers

    Animation

  45. 1950

    Fox the Builder

    Animation

  46. When Christmas Trees Light Up

    Animation

  47. The Robust

    Animation

  48. The Magic Treasure

    Animation

  49. The Tale of the Fisherman and the Goldfish

    Animation

1940s

  1. 1949

    Geese-Swans

    Animation

  2. The Miraculous Bell

    Animation

  3. Ambulance

    Animation

  4. The Lion and the Hare

    Animation

  5. A Cuckoo and a Blackbird

    Animation

  6. 1948

    The Hunting Rifle

    Animation

  7. The Flower with Seven Colours

    Animation

  8. The Magic Carpet

    Animation

  9. Little Gray Neck

    Animation

  10. 1940

    Favourite Characters

    Animation

  11. Bear Cub

    Animation

1930s

  1. 1939

    The Friends from Taiga

    Animation

  2. Uncle Stepa

    Animation

  3. 1938

    Fyodor the Hunter

    Animation

  4. Tale of the Good Umar

    Animation

  5. Ivashko and Baba-Yaga

    Animation

Wrote 18

1980s

  1. 1986

    Three Novels

    Writer

  2. 1984

    Lion and Bull

    Writer

  3. 1982

    Olympians

    Screenplay

1970s

  1. 1977

    One Day Before Our Era

    Screenplay, Writer

  2. 1976

    Ikar and Sages

    Screenplay

  3. 1974

    I Give You a Star

    Writer

  4. 1973

    Island

    Screenplay

  5. Balance of Fear

    Writer

  6. 1972

    Winnie-the-Pooh and a Busy Day

    Writer

  7. 1971

    Winnie-the-Pooh Goes Visiting

    Screenplay

  8. 1970

    A Young Man Named Engels – A Portrait in Letters

    Writer

1960s

  1. 1969

    Winnie-the-Pooh

    Writer

  2. 1968

    Film, Film, Film

    Writer

  3. 1967

    Othello-67

    Screenplay

  4. 1966

    Man in the Frame

    Writer

  5. 1965

    The Tale of the Tsarevich and the Three Healers

    Screenplay

  6. Boniface's Holiday

    Writer

  7. 1964

    Little Stomper

    Writer

Art department 5

1980s

  1. 1989

    The Cow

    Art Direction

  2. 1986

    The Lafertovo Poppycake Seller

    Creative Director

  3. 1985

    Wolfy

    Art Direction

  4. 1984

    The Cat in the Cap

    Art Direction

1970s

  1. 1973

    Balance of Fear

    Art Direction

Acted in 3

2010s

  1. 2014

    Searching for the Lost Pochta

    Archive footage

2000s

  1. 2005

    Miracle Factory. Animation Director

    Movie

  2. 2004

    Magia Russica

    Movie

Produced 2

1990s

  1. 1998

    The Big Leap

    Producer

  2. 1997

    Dunno on the Moon

    Consulting Producer

Created 1

1960s

  1. 1969

    Winnie-the-Pooh

    Creator

Appearances2

1990s

  1. 1997

    Animated Soviet Propaganda

    Self - Contributor

  2. The Spirit of Genius - Fedor Khitruk and His Films

    Self