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Eduard Vasilievich Nazarov (russian: link=no, Эдуард Васильевич Назаров; 23 November 1941 – 11 September 2016) was a Soviet and Russian animator, screenwriter, voice actor, book illustrator and educator,
artistic director at the
Pilot Studio (2007–2016), vice-president of
ASIFA
The International Animated Film Association (French: ''Association Internationale du Film d'Animation'', ASIFA) is an international non-profit organization founded in 1960 in Annecy, France, by the best known animation artists of the time such as ...
(1987–1999) and a co-president of the
KROK International Animated Films Festival
The KROK International Animated Films Festival is an annual international animated film festival, and one of the main animation festivals in the territory of the former Soviet Union. It is held in Russia on even years and in Ukraine on odd years. ...
.
official website, 16 October 2016 He was awarded
People's Artist of Russia
People's Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: Народный артист Российской Федерации, ''Narodnyy artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii''), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the Russian Federation, is an h ...
in 2012.
Biography
Eduard Nazarov was born in a
bomb shelter
A bomb shelter is a structure designed to provide protection against the effects of a bomb.
Types of shelter
Different kinds of bomb shelters are configured to protect against different kinds of attack and strengths of hostile explosives.
Air ...
during the
Battle of Moscow. His parents were Russian engineers who met at the end of 1930s while studying at Moscow institutes. Nazarov's ancestors came from the
Bryansk Oblast
Bryansk Oblast (russian: Бря́нская о́бласть, ''Bryanskaya oblast''), also known as Bryanshchina (russian: Брянщина, ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Bryansk. As of th ...
and had a peasant background. He became engaged in painting since childhood and while in the 9th grade entered an art school where he got acquainted with
Yuri Norstein
Yuri Borisovich Norstein, PAR (russian: link=no, Ю́рий Бори́сович Норште́йн; born 15 September 1941) is a Soviet and Russian animator best known for his animated shorts '' Hedgehog in the Fog'' and '' Tale of Tales''. Sin ...
, his close friend since.
Yuri Norstein
Yuri Borisovich Norstein, PAR (russian: link=no, Ю́рий Бори́сович Норште́йн; born 15 September 1941) is a Soviet and Russian animator best known for his animated shorts '' Hedgehog in the Fog'' and '' Tale of Tales''. Sin ...
. ''All this would be funny...'' interview from The Art of Cinema magazine, 1991, p. 136—147
After three years in the Soviet Army Nazarov entered
Stroganov Institute. Simultaneously he started working at
Soyuzmultfilm
Soyuzmultfilm ( rus, Союзмультфи́льм, p=səˌjʉsmʊlʲtˈfʲilʲm , ''Union Cartoon'') (also known as SMF Animation Studio in English, Formerly known as Soyuzdetmultfilm) is a Russian animation studio based in Moscow. Launched in ...
in 1959 as an apprentice, self-educating, since he was too late for the animation courses. He worked as an artist-renderer, an art director's assistant under
Mikhail Tsekhanovsky and as an art director under
Fyodor Khitruk
Fyodor Savelyevich Khitruk (russian: Фёдор Савельевич Хитрук; 1 May 1917 – 3 December 2012) was a Soviet and Russian animator and animation director.
Biography
Khitruk was born in Tver (Russian Empire), into a Jewish ...
, most famously creating Winnie-the-Pooh for the
Soviet adaptation of the fairy tale.
Since 1973 he had been directing his own short films, often combining duties of an art director, screenwriter and voice actor. ''
Once Upon a Dog
''Once Upon, a Dog'' (''Once Upon a Time, There Lived a Dog'', russian: "Жил-был пёс" (''Zhil-byl Pyos'')) is a Soviet animated short film adapted from a Ukrainian folk tale.
The cartoon won the first place at the 1983 International Film ...
'' is generally considered his most prominent work; it was awarded the First Prize at the 1983
Odense International Film Festival
OFF - Odense International Film Festival is an Academy Award-Qualifying, week-long short film festival in Denmark. It takes place every year in the last week of August. The festival made its debut in 1975, making OFF the eldest film festival in De ...
and a Special Jury Award at the 1983
Annecy International Animated Film Festival
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...
. During the 2012
Open Russian Festival of Animated Film
The Open Russian Festival of Animated Films (russian: Откры́тый Росси́йский Фестива́ль Анимацио́нного Кино́) is an annual animation film festival held in Suzdal, Russia. It is devoted to professional ...
ceremony dedicated to
100 years of national animation the film headed the "Golden Hundred" list of the best national animated films. It also appeared at the 65th place of the Top 150 Japanese and World Animation list at the 2003 Laputa Animation Festival in Tokyo.
Between 1979 and 2000 Nazarov had been working at the
High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors
200px
The High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors (HCFDS) (russian: Высшие курсы сценаристов и режиссёров (ВКСР)) comprises a variety of optional post-graduate film school courses in Moscow, Russia. ...
as an educator. He also illustrated various books and magazines.
His last film ''Martynko'' (1987) was made during
perestroika and banned for four years because Nazarov refused to change the name of the cartoon princess Raisa. Censors saw her as a satire on the First Lady of the Soviet Union
Raisa Gorbacheva
Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva (russian: link=no, Раи́са Макси́мовна Горбачёва Romanized ''Raisa Maksimovna Gorbachyova'', , Титаренко; 5 January 1932 – 20 September 1999) was a Soviet-Russian activist and phi ...
despite all characters were borrowed directly from the fairy tale of the same name by
Boris Shergin
Boris Viktorovich Shergin (russian: Бори́с Ви́кторович Ше́ргин; 28 July 1896, Arkhangelsk – 31 October 1973, Moscow) was a Russian and Soviet Pomor writer and folklorist.
Biography
Shergin grew up in the Pomor culture in ...
. Around the same time Nazarov left Soyuzmultfilm, stating that it turned into "something between an isolation ward full of choking gas and a
Cancer Ward
''Cancer Ward'' (russian: links=no, italics=yes, Раковый корпус, Rakovy korpus) is a semi-autobiographical novel by Nobel Prize-winning Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Completed in 1966, the novel was distributed in Russia t ...
".
In 1988 he was awarded the
Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR The Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR was an annual State Prize established by the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR in 1965. Three Vasilyev Brothers prizes were awarded annually from 1966 until 1990 for cinematographic works of all kinds ( ...
. Between 1987 and 1999 he served as a vice-president of
ASIFA
The International Animated Film Association (French: ''Association Internationale du Film d'Animation'', ASIFA) is an international non-profit organization founded in 1960 in Annecy, France, by the best known animation artists of the time such as ...
.
During the 1990s he directed commercials and hosted a number of television shows dedicated to Russian and world animation. In 1991 he became a co-president of the
KROK International Animated Films Festival
The KROK International Animated Films Festival is an annual international animated film festival, and one of the main animation festivals in the territory of the former Soviet Union. It is held in Russia on even years and in Ukraine on odd years. ...
, along with
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 ...
. In 1993 he co-founded the SHAR animation school-studio along with
Andrei Khrzhanovsky
Andrei Yurievich Khrzhanovsky (russian: Андрей Юрьевич Хржано́вский; born 30 November 1939 in Moscow) is a Soviet and Russian animator, documentary filmmaker, writer and producer known for making art films. He is the fath ...
,
Yuri Norstein
Yuri Borisovich Norstein, PAR (russian: link=no, Ю́рий Бори́сович Норште́йн; born 15 September 1941) is a Soviet and Russian animator best known for his animated shorts '' Hedgehog in the Fog'' and '' Tale of Tales''. Sin ...
and
Fyodor Khitruk
Fyodor Savelyevich Khitruk (russian: Фёдор Савельевич Хитрук; 1 May 1917 – 3 December 2012) was a Soviet and Russian animator and animation director.
Biography
Khitruk was born in Tver (Russian Empire), into a Jewish ...
where he worked until his death.
In 2004 Nazarov joined the
Pilot Studio in their ''
Mountain of Gems'' project, a grand government-backed TV series that combined efforts of many animators; between 2004 and 2015 they produced around seventy 13-minute shorts based on various traditional fairy tales of different Russian and former Soviet regions. In addition to art direction, Nazarov also co-wrote screenplays and did voice-overs to some of them. After the sudden death of
Alexander Tatarsky
Alexander Mikhailovich Tatarsky (russian: Александр Михайлович Татарский; December 11, 1950 – July 22, 2007) was a Soviet and Russian animation director, screenwriter, animator, producer, artist, co-founder and a ...
in 2007 he turned into an
artistic director of the studio.
Nazarov suffered from
diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...
for many years and had to undergone a surgery late in his life, losing one of the legs. He continued teaching students through
Skype
Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...
.
Eduard Nazarov died on 11 September 2016 and was buried at the
Vagankovo Cemetery
Vagankovo Cemetery (russian: Ваганьковское кладбище, Vagan'kovskoye kladbishche), established in 1771, is located in the Presnya district of Moscow. It started in the aftermath of the Moscow plague riot of 1771 outside the ci ...
in Moscow.
Eduard Nazarov's tomb
/ref> He was survived by his wife Tatiana.
Selected filmography
*''Boniface's Holiday'' (1965) – animator
*''Passion of Spies
''Passion of Spies'' (russian: Шпионские страсти, ''Shpionskiye strasti'') is a 1967 Soyuzmultfilm's animated black-and-white film directed by Yefim Gamburg. It parodies spy and detective fiction clichés and got a status of a cu ...
'' (1967) – voice actor (all characters, uncredited)[Film, Film, Film
''Film, Film, Film'' (Russian: ''Фильм, фильм, фильм'') is a 1968 Soviet satirical animated short film directed by Fyodor Khitruk. Encyclopedia of Domestic Animation, p. 688
Made as a parody of the Soviet movie industry, this nearl ...]
'' (1968) – assistant art director
*''