Fyodor Khitruk
Personal Info
Known for
Directing
Gender
Male
Birthday
1917-05-01
Day of Death
2012-12-03 (95 years old)
Place of Birth
Tver, Russian Empire
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.
Known For
Acting
(2014)
Searching for the Lost Pochta
as Archive footage
(2005)
(2004)
(1997)
(1997)
Animated Soviet Propaganda
as Self - Contributor
Crew
(2011)
Riding on a Broomstick
Screenplay
(2005)
About Me
Animation Director
(2002)
About the Girl Who Found Her Bear
Animation Director
(2002)
Neighbours
Animation Director
(2000)
(2000)
Masters of Russian Animation - Volume 1
Screenplay, Director
(2000)
Masters of Russian Animation - Volume 2
Director, Screenplay
(1995)
Attraction
Art Direction
(1989)
The Cow
Art Direction
(1986)
Three Novels
Writer
(1986)
Lafertovskaya Makovnitsa
Creative Director
(1985)
Wolfy
Art Direction
(1985)
Kuth and Mice
Art Direction
(1984)
The Cat in the Cap
Art Direction
(1984)
Lion and Bull
Director, Writer
(1982)
Olympians
Director, Screenplay
(1981)
O Sport, You Are Peace!
Animation Director
(1977)
One Day Before Our Era
Director, Screenplay, Writer
(1976)
Ikar and Sages
Screenplay, Director
(1975)
Escape of Mr. McKinley
Animation Director
(1974)
I Give you a Star
Director, Writer
(1973)
Island
Screenplay, Animation, Director
(1973)
Balance of Fear
Director, Art Direction, Writer
(1972)
Winnie-the-Pooh and a Busy Day
Director, Writer
(1972)
The Love of Mankind
Animation, Animation Director
(1971)
Winnie-the-Pooh Goes Visiting
Director, Screenplay
(1970)
A Young Man Named Engels – A Portrait in Letters
Writer, Director
(1969)
Winnie-the-Pooh
Director, Writer
(1968)
Zigzag of Success
Animation Director
(1968)
Film, Film, Film
Director, Writer
(1967)
Othello-67
Director, Screenplay
(1966)
Man in the Frame
Director, Writer
(1965)
(1965)
Boniface's Holiday
Director, Writer
(1964)
Little Stomper
Director, Writer
(1963)
Granny's Goat
Animation
(1963)
Story of One Crime
Director
(1961)
The Key
Animation
(1961)
Family Chronicle
Animation
(1961)
Big Troubles
Animation
(1960)
Different Wheels
Animation
(1960)
It Was I Who Drew the Little Man
Animation
(1960)
A Sober Sparrow
Animation
(1960)
Murzilka on the Satellite
Animation
(1959)
The Adventures of Buratino
Animation
(1959)
At Exactly Three Fifteen ...
Animation
(1959)
Soon There Will Be Rain
Animation Director
(1958)
The Secret of the Far Away Island
Animation
(1958)
Petia and Little Red Riding Hood
Animation
(1958)
The Tale of Chapayev
Animation
(1958)
The Boy from Napoli
Animation
(1958)
The Cat's House
Animation
(1957)
Familiar Pictures
Animation
(1957)
Again, Deuce
Animation
(1957)
Once Upon a Time
Animation
(1957)
The Snow Queen
Animation
(1956)
Old Friends
Animation
(1956)
Adventures of Murzilka
Animation
(1956)
Girl in the Jungle
Animation
(1956)
The Twelve Months
Animation
(1955)
The Enchanted Boy
Animation
(1955)
Dog and Cat
Animation
(1955)
What Kind of Bird Is This?
Animation
(1955)
An Unusual Match
Animation
(1955)
A Brave Hare
Animation
(1955)
The Snow Postman
Animation
(1955)
Stepan the Sailor
Animation
(1955)
A Hazel Tree Twig
Animation
(1954)
The Frog Princess
Animation
(1954)
A Dangerous Prank
Animation
(1954)
An Arrow Flies Into a Fairy Tale
Animation
(1954)
The Orange Neck
Animation
(1954)
On the Forest Stage
Animation
(1954)
A Goat-Musician
Animation
(1953)
Magic Store
Animation
(1953)
Flight to the Moon
Animation
(1953)
(1953)
A Naughty Kitten
Animation
(1953)
Brave Pak
Animation
(1952)
The Scarlet Flower
Animation
(1952)
Sarmiko
Animation
(1952)
Validoob - Fell Oak
Animation
(1952)
Kashtanka
Animation
(1951)
(1951)
The Night Before Christmas
Animation
(1951)
Forest Travellers
Animation
(1951)
The High Hill
Animation
(1951)
Friends-Comrades
Animation
(1950)
The Robust
Animation
(1950)
When Christmas Trees Light Up
Animation
(1950)
The Magic Treasure
Animation
(1950)
Fox the Builder
Animation
(1950)
(1949)
The Lion and the Hare
Animation
(1949)
The Miraculous Bell
Animation
(1949)
Geese-Swans
Animation
(1949)
Ambulance
Animation
(1949)
A Cuckoo and a Blackbird
Animation
(1948)
The Magic Carpet
Animation
(1948)
The Flower with Seven Colours
Animation
(1948)
Little Gray Neck
Animation
(1948)
The Hunting Rifle
Animation
(1940)
Bear Cub
Animation
(1940)
Favourite Characters
Animation
(1939)
The Friends from Taiga
Animation
(1939)
Uncle Stepa
Animation
(1938)
Fyodor the Hunter
Animation
(1938)
Ivashko and Baba-Yaga
Animation
(1938)
Tale of the Good Umar
Animation