Fyodor Khitruk
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.
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (47)
Searching for the Lost Pochta
as Archive footage
2014
Riding on a Broomstick
Screenplay (Writing)
2011
Miracle Factory. Animation Director
2005
About Me
Animation Director (Visual Effects)
2005
Magia Russica
2004
About the Girl Who Found Her Bear
Animation Director (Visual Effects)
2002
Neighbours
Animation Director (Visual Effects)
2002
Masters of Russian Animation - Volume 3
Director (Directing)
2000
Masters of Russian Animation - Volume 2
Director (Directing)
2000
Masters of Russian Animation - Volume 1
Director (Directing)
2000
The Big Leap
Producer (Production)
1998
Animated Soviet Propaganda
as Self - Contributor
1997
The Spirit of Genius - Fedor Khitruk and His Films
as Self
1997
Attraction
Art Direction (Art)
1995
The Cow
Art Direction (Art)
1989
Three Novels
Writer (Writing)
1986
Lafertovskaya Makovnitsa
Creative Director (Art)
1986
Kuth and Mice
Art Direction (Art)
1985
Wolfy
Art Direction (Art)
1985
Lion and Bull
Director (Directing)
1984
The Cat in the Cap
Art Direction (Art)
1984
Olympians
Director (Directing)
1982
O Sport, You Are Peace!
Animation Director (Visual Effects)
1981
One Day Before Our Era
Director (Directing)
1977
Ikar and Sages
Screenplay (Writing)
1976
The Flight of Mr. McKinley
Animation Director (Visual Effects)
1975
I Give you a Star
Director (Directing)
1974
Island
Screenplay (Writing)
1973
The Love of Mankind
Animation (Visual Effects)
1973
Balance of Fear
Director (Directing)
1973
Winnie-the-Pooh and a Busy Day
Director (Directing)
1972
Winnie-the-Pooh Goes Visiting
Director (Directing)
1971
A Young Man Named Engels – A Portrait in Letters
Director (Directing)
1970
Winnie-the-Pooh
Director (Directing)
1969
Zigzag of Success
Animation Director (Visual Effects)
1968
Film, Film, Film
Director (Directing)
1968
Othello-67
Director (Directing)
1967
Man in the Frame
Director (Directing)
1966
The Tale of the Tsarevich and the Three Healers
Screenplay (Writing)
1965
Boniface's Holiday
Director (Directing)
1965
Little Stomper
Director (Directing)
1964
Story of One Crime
Director (Directing)
1963
Granny's Goat
Animation (Visual Effects)
1963
Family Chronicle
Animation (Visual Effects)
1961
Big Troubles
Animation (Visual Effects)
1961
The Key
Animation (Visual Effects)
1961
A Sober Sparrow
Animation (Visual Effects)
1960
