Aleksandr Ptushko
Director, Writer, Producer
April 19, 1900 — March 6, 1973 (72 years)
Aleksandr Lukich Ptushko (Russian: Александр Лукич Птушко, 19 April [O.S. 6 April] 1900 – 6 March 1973) was a Soviet animation and fantasy film director, and a People's Artist of the USSR (1969).
Ptushko is frequently (and somewhat misleadingly) referred to as "the Soviet Walt Disney," because of his prominent early role in animation in the Soviet Union, though a more accurate comparison would be to Willis H. O'Brien or Ray Harryhausen. Some critics, such as Tim Lucas and Alan Upchurch, have also compared Ptushko to Italian filmmaker Mario Bava, who made fantasy and horror films with similarities to Ptushko's work and made similarly innovative use of color cinematography and special effects.
He began his film career as a director and animator of stop motion short films, and became a director of feature-length films combining live action, stop motion, creative special effects, and Russian mythology. Along the way he would be responsible for a number of firsts in Russian film history (including the first feature-length animated film, and the first film in color), and would make several extremely popular and internationally praised films full of visual flair and spectacle.
Ptushko is frequently (and somewhat misleadingly) referred to as "the Soviet Walt Disney," because of his prominent early role in animation in the Soviet Union, though a more accurate comparison would be to Willis H. O'Brien or Ray Harryhausen. Some critics, such as Tim Lucas and Alan Upchurch, have also compared Ptushko to Italian filmmaker Mario Bava, who made fantasy and horror films with similarities to Ptushko's work and made similarly innovative use of color cinematography and special effects.
He began his film career as a director and animator of stop motion short films, and became a director of feature-length films combining live action, stop motion, creative special effects, and Russian mythology. Along the way he would be responsible for a number of firsts in Russian film history (including the first feature-length animated film, and the first film in color), and would make several extremely popular and internationally praised films full of visual flair and spectacle.
Known For
Filmography
| 1972 | |
| 1967 | |
| 1967 | |
| 1964 | |
| 1961 | |
| 1959 | The Day the Earth FrozeOn Plex |
| 1956 | The Sword and the DragonOn Plex |
| 1953 | SadkoOn Plex |
| 1949 | |
| 1946 | |
| 1939 | |
| 1935 |
| 1972 | |
| 1967 | Viy · as Screenplay |
| 1967 | |
| 1962 | |
| 1938 | |
| 1936 | |
| 1935 |
| 1988 | Skazochnyy mir Aleksandra Ptushko · as Self (archivefootage) |
| 1967 | Viy · as Art Direction |
| 1961 | My Friend Kolka · as Art Director |
| 1946 | The Stone Flower · as Production Designer |
| 1945 | Teremok - A Small Tower Hut · as Supervising Director |
| 1945 | Telephone · as Supervising Art Director |
| 1944 | Zoya · as Visual Effects Director |
| 1944 | Moscow Skies · as Visual Effects Director |
| 1943 | In the Name of the Motherland · as Visual Effects Director |
| 1943 | Novgorodtsy · as Visual Effects Director |
| 1942 | We Will Come Back · as Visual Effects Director |
| 1942 | Lad from Our Town · as Visual Effects Director |
| 1939 | The Golden Key · as Visual Effects Director |
| 1936 | Capt. Grant's Family · as Cinematographer |
| 1936 | Capt. Grant's Family · as Visual Effects Director |