Wednesday 5 December 2012

Spokojnoj Nochi, Fyodor Khitruk

A bit of a gloomy start to December. First we have the (final) death of the Dandy (my copy of the big fat farewell issue's still in the post, but it sounds like a good read), now I've learnt that Russian animation-man Fyodor Khitruk has left the planet at the ripe old age of 95.

It's a good age to live to, so it's not a "tragic" loss, but it's a loss all the same. In fifty years he made over a hundred films, and won even more awards. Here's several of them for the sake of enjoyment:

Story of One Crime (1962)




Man in the Frame (1966)




Film, film, film (1968)




Winnie-the-Pooh (1969)




Island (1973)




Lion and Ox (1983)



RIP to him. The planet's running out of talented folk at an alarming rate.

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for refreshing some of my childhood memories, I had completely forgotten how excellent some of those Russian films were. Russians produced some amazing animation in the 70s and 80s. Quite a few films come to mind that I would strongly recommend :)

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    1. Absolutely, even going beyond the likes of Fyodor there, and the living genius that is Yuri Norstein.

      Ruslania's a good source for Russian animation DVDs, if ever you're after any.

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  2. Definitely seen Island and Lion & Ox, but the other films are new to me....Love that version of Winnie The Pooh!

    R.I.P. Mr. Khitruk

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    1. The whole of the Russian animation scene is just enormous - I wasn't even fully aware of it until Channel 4 showed Norstein's Hedgehog In The Fog back in 1999. Constantly finding "new" classics!

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  3. Christ, he did all of those?

    Dave Brubeck's died, too. This is a sad day for vibrancy.

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    1. Brubeck too? Bah.

      The "YourDailyCartoon" blog's got a good post regarding him.

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  4. When I was at school we watched a very gory Russian animated version of Macbeth (no doubt perfect grist for the mill in the Soviet era, all those royals going power-mad and killing each other) which has stuck with me for a long time. I need to do some reading up!

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