Alexander Mikhailovich Tatarsky (russian: Александр Михайлович Татарский; December 11, 1950 – July 22, 2007) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

animation director An animation director is either the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or television, and animated segment for a live action film or television show, or the animator in charge of co ...

, screenwriter, animator, producer, artist, co-founder and

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the

Pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

studio.

Merited Artist of the Russian Federation Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...

(2000). Laureate of the

State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation, officially translated in Russia as Russian Federation National Award, is a state honorary prize established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates ...

(1998).''Sergey Kapkov (2006)''.

Encyclopedia of Domestic Animation The ''Encyclopedia of Domestic Animation'' (russian: Энциклопедия отечественной мультипликации; transliterated ''Entsiklopediya otechestvennoy multiplikatsiyi'') is a collection of biographies and filmographie ...

, p. 632-633

Biography

Tatarsky was born in Kiev into a family of Jewish origin. His father Mikhail Semyonovich Tatarsky worked in circus and wrote gags for such clowns as

Oleg Popov Oleg Konstantinovich Popov (russian: Олег Константинович Попoв, 31 July 1930 – 2 November 2016) was a Soviet and Russian clown and circus artist. People's Artist of the USSR (1969). Early life Popov was born on 31 July 19 ...

and

Yuri Nikulin Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin (russian: Юрий Владимирович Никулин; 18 December 1921 – 21 August 1997) was a Soviet and Russian actor and clown who starred in many popular films. He is best known for his roles in Leonid ...

who was a close family friend."Sasha was a Jew, I'm not"

Igor Kovalyov Igor Adolfovich Kovalyov (russian: Игорь Адольфович Ковалёв; born 17 January 1954) is a Ukrainian-born Russian animator, director and educator, co-founder of Pilot — the first private animation studio in the Soviet Union. Fr ...

's interview at

Echo of Moscow Echo of Moscow (russian: links=no, Эхо Москвы, translit=Ekho Moskvy) was a 24/7 commercial Russian radio station based in Moscow. It broadcast in many Russian cities, some of the former Soviet republics (through partnerships with local ra ...

, July 28, 2007 (in Russian) In 1974 Alexander graduated from the Kiev Institute of Theatre and Cinema and in 1975 he finished 3-year animation courses at

Goskino Goskino USSR (russian: link=Yes, Госкино СССР) is the abbreviated name for the USSR State Committee for Cinematography (Государственный комитет по кинематографии СССР) in the Soviet Union. It w ...

. From 1968 to 1980 he worked at

Kievnauchfilm Kievnauchfilm (russian: Киевнаучфильм), also Kyivnaukfilm ( uk, Київнаукфільм, translit=Kyïvnaukfil′m), translated as Kyiv Science Film, was a film studio in the former Soviet Union located in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR. Alt ...

under the director

David Cherkassky David Yanovich Cherkassky ( uk, Давид Янович Черкаський, translit=Davyd Yanovych Cherkas'kyi; 23 August 1932 – 30 October 2018) was a Soviet and Ukrainian animated film director and screenwriter. He made several animation pict ...

as an artist and animator. Among his works of that time was ''

Adventures of Captain Wrongel ''Adventures of Captain Wrongel'' (russian: Приключения капитана Врунгеля, translit. ''Priklyucheniya kapitana Vrungelya'') is a 1976-1979 Soviet Cutout animation-Traditional musical adventure animation comedy miniserie ...

''. During the studies he met

who became his close friend and a co-author on many projects.animation stand An animation stand is a device assembled for the filming of any kind of animation that is placed on a flat surface, including cel animation, graphic animation, clay animation, and silhouette animation. Traditionally, the flat surface that the a ...