Fyodor Khitruk

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.

Cast

The Spirit of Genius - Fedor Khitruk and His Films
Self
Searching for the Lost Pochta
Archive footage
Miracle Factory. Animation Director
Unknown
Animated Soviet Propaganda
Self - Contributor
Magia Russica
Unknown

Crew

One Day Before Our Era
Director, Screenplay, Writer
Winnie-the-Pooh and a Busy Day
Director, Writer
Winnie-the-Pooh Goes Visiting
Director, Screenplay
Winnie-the-Pooh
Director, Writer
Masters of Russian Animation - Volume 3
Director
Othello-67
Director, Screenplay
Olympians
Director, Screenplay
Island
Screenplay, Animation, Director
The Tale of the Tsarevich and the Three Healers
Screenplay
The Robust
Animation
Fyodor the Hunter
Animation
The Frog Princess
Animation
The Enchanted Boy
Animation
When Christmas Trees Light Up
Animation
The Scarlet Flower
Animation
Dog and Cat
Animation
About Me
Animation Director
The Cow
Art Direction
The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights
Animation
Sarmiko
Animation
What Kind of Bird Is This?
Animation
Ikar and Sages
Screenplay, Director
The Magic Carpet
Animation
A Dangerous Prank
Animation
An Unusual Match
Animation
The Night Before Christmas
Animation
The Magic Treasure
Animation
The Lion and the Hare
Animation
Old Friends
Animation
About the Girl Who Found Her Bear
Animation Director
Bear Cub
Animation
The Flower with Seven Colours
Animation
Little Gray Neck
Animation
Fox the Builder
Animation
The Miraculous Bell
Animation
Geese-Swans
Animation
Validoob - Fell Oak
Animation
Magic Store
Animation
Ambulance
Animation
Forest Travellers
Animation
An Arrow Flies Into a Fairy Tale
Animation
Familiar Pictures
Animation
A Brave Hare
Animation
The Snow Postman
Animation
Again, Deuce
Animation
Once Upon a Time
Animation
Kashtanka
Animation
Flight to the Moon
Animation
The Crow and the Fox, the Cuckoo and the Rooster
Animation
The Orange Neck
Animation
Different Wheels
Animation
The Love of Mankind
Animation, Animation Director
The Snow Queen
Animation
The High Hill
Animation
The Key
Animation
Family Chronicle
Animation
It Was I Who Drew the Little Man
Animation
Big Troubles
Animation
The Secret of the Far Away Island
Animation
The Adventures of Buratino
Animation
Riding on a Broomstick
Screenplay
A Sober Sparrow
Animation
At Exactly Three Fifteen ...
Animation
Petia and Little Red Riding Hood
Animation
Murzilka on the Satellite
Animation
Stepan the Sailor
Animation
The Cat in the Cap
Art Direction
Balance of Fear
Director, Art Direction, Writer
The Tale of Chapayev
Animation
The Tale of the Fisherman and the Goldfish
Animation
Attraction
Art Direction
Adventures of Murzilka
Animation
Friends-Comrades
Animation
Wolfy
Art Direction
Neighbours
Animation Director
The Flight of Mr. McKinley
Animation Director
A Naughty Kitten
Animation
Zigzag of Success
Animation Director
Granny's Goat
Animation
Favourite Characters
Animation
The Boy from Napoli
Animation
On the Forest Stage
Animation
A Goat-Musician
Animation
A Cuckoo and a Blackbird
Animation
Ivashko and Baba-Yaga
Animation
Kuth and Mice
Art Direction
Tale of the Good Umar
Animation
Girl in the Jungle
Animation
Film, Film, Film
Director, Writer
Man in the Frame
Director, Writer
Story of One Crime
Director
I Give you a Star
Director, Writer
Little Stomper
Director, Writer
Boniface's Holiday
Director, Writer
Lion and Bull
Director, Writer
A Hazel Tree Twig
Animation
Three Novels
Writer
The Friends from Taiga
Animation
Lafertovskaya Makovnitsa
Creative Director
The Twelve Months
Animation
A Young Man Named Engels – A Portrait in Letters
Writer, Director
Masters of Russian Animation - Volume 1
Screenplay, Director
Masters of Russian Animation - Volume 2
Director, Screenplay
Brave Pak
Animation
The Cat's House
Animation
Uncle Stepa
Animation
O Sport, You Are Peace!
Animation Director
The Hunting Rifle
Animation
Soon There Will Be Rain
Animation Director
The Big Leap
Producer