Roman Abelevich Kachanov (russian: link=no, Роман Абелевич Качанов; 25 February 19214 July 1993) was a Soviet
animator who worked primarily in the
stop-motion animation technique. He directed the popular series of films about
Cheburashka
''Cheburashka'' (russian: links=no, Чебурашка, a=ru-Cheburashka.ogg, p=tɕɪbʊˈraʂkə), also known as ''Topple'' in earlier English translations, is a fictional character created by Soviet writer Eduard Uspensky in his 1965 child ...
: ''
Gena the Crocodile
Gena the Crocodile (russian: links=no, Крокодил Гена, Krokodil Gena) is a fictional friendly crocodile in the series of animation films '' Gena the Crocodile'', '' Cheburashka'' and ''Shapoklyak'' by Roman Kachanov (Soyuzmultfilm stu ...
'', ''
Cheburashka
''Cheburashka'' (russian: links=no, Чебурашка, a=ru-Cheburashka.ogg, p=tɕɪbʊˈraʂkə), also known as ''Topple'' in earlier English translations, is a fictional character created by Soviet writer Eduard Uspensky in his 1965 child ...
'', ''
Shapoklyak
Old lady Shapoklyak (russian: links=no, Шапокляк) is a popular villain from a story about Gena the Crocodile written by Russian writer Eduard Uspensky. Her first appearance in the movie was in the animated film '' Gena the Crocodile'' (1 ...
'' and ''
Cheburashka Goes to School
''Cheburashka Goes to School'' (russian: Чебурашка идёт в школу, Cheburashka Idet v Shkolu) is a 1983 Soviet animated film directed by Roman Kachanov.
Plot summary
Gena the Crocodile finds out that Cheburashka is unable to rea ...
''.
Life
Early years
Kachanov was born in 1921 in
Smolensk
Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...
. His mother was Haya Yakovlevna Kachanova; his father, Abel Mendelevich Kachanov, was a shoemaker.
His mother died in 1932, when he was 11 years old.
In spring 1939, Kachanov was called up for military service in the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
in the town of
Chkalovsky, near Moscow. This deployment separated him permanently from his father and his only, older sister Maria (both were killed in Smolensk during the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
).
After attending flying school in
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...
, Kachanov flew fighter planes as a
tail gunner
A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane.
The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun or a ...
. In 1940, the plane Kachanov was flying crashed. The pilot was killed; Kachanov was hospitalized with serious injuries.
In spring 1941, Kachanov entered the
Moscow State University of Railway Engineering.
From 1941 to 1945, he served in the
airborne forces as a parachute instructor and took part in special operations behind enemy lines. In 1945, due to Kachanov's war service he was promoted to sergeant.
Even before demobilization in 1946, he decided to work in cinema and transferred to service at the Ministry of Defence studio in the Bolshevo.
Career
After demobilization, Kachanov went to
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 ...
and studied animation. From 1947 to 1957 he worked as animator, assistant director and production designer for film directors and animators of the older generation: Dmitry Babichenko, Valentina and Zinaida Brumberg,
Lev Atamanov,
Ivan Ivanov-Vano
Ivan Petrovich Ivanov-Vano (russian: Иван Петрович Иванов-Вано; – 25 March 1987), born Ivanov, was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian animation director, animator, screenwri ...
and Vladimir Polkovnikov (whom Kachanov regarded as his
directing mentor).
In 1958, Kachanov and Anatoly Karanovich directed his first film, ''The Old Man and the Crane''. In 1959 he directed Nazim Hikmet's screenplay in ''Love Cloud'', which received awards at festivals in
Annecy,
Oberhausen and
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
. With assistant work in the past, directing these two films gave him the experience to later switch primarily to directing.
Kachanov's films
''The Mitten'', ''
Crocodile Gena
Gena the Crocodile (russian: links=no, Крокодил Гена, Krokodil Gena) is a fictional friendly crocodile in the series of animation films ''Gena the Crocodile'', ''Cheburashka'' and ''Shapoklyak'' by Roman Kachanov (Soyuzmultfilm studi ...
'' and ''
The Mystery of the Third Planet
''The Mystery of the Third Planet'' (russian: Тайна третьей планеты, ''Tayna tretyey planety''), aka ''The Secret of the Third Planet'' is a 1981 Soviet traditionally animated feature film directed by Roman Kachanov and produc ...
'' have become Russian classics.
[Directory of World Cinema](_blank)
Retrieved 2012-01-14.
''The Mitten''
In 1967 Kachanov's animated film, ''The Mitten'', received widespread international and domestic recognition. The first puppet animation in the
Soviet Union
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, ...
, it became a 20th-century international animation classic.
Trilogy: ''Gena the Crocodile'', ''Cheburashka'' and ''Shapoklyak''
These three films (and a fourth, 1983's ''
Cheburashka Goes to School
''Cheburashka Goes to School'' (russian: Чебурашка идёт в школу, Cheburashka Idet v Shkolu) is a 1983 Soviet animated film directed by Roman Kachanov.
Plot summary
Gena the Crocodile finds out that Cheburashka is unable to rea ...
'') created the animated characters of
Cheburashka
''Cheburashka'' (russian: links=no, Чебурашка, a=ru-Cheburashka.ogg, p=tɕɪbʊˈraʂkə), also known as ''Topple'' in earlier English translations, is a fictional character created by Soviet writer Eduard Uspensky in his 1965 child ...
,
Crocodile Gena
Gena the Crocodile (russian: links=no, Крокодил Гена, Krokodil Gena) is a fictional friendly crocodile in the series of animation films ''Gena the Crocodile'', ''Cheburashka'' and ''Shapoklyak'' by Roman Kachanov (Soyuzmultfilm studi ...
and
old woman Shapoklyak, who entered Russian culture and are still referenced in audiovisual, pop-cultural and folkloric works.
''The Mystery of the Third Planet''
The animated cult SF film is based on a story by
Kir Bulychov
Kir Bulychev (russian: Кир Булычёв ''Kir Bulychyov 18 October 1934 – 5 September 2003) is a pen name of Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheiko (И́горь Все́володович Може́йко), a Soviet Russian science fiction writer, c ...
, "Alice's Journey".
Selected filmography
* 1952—''
The Night Before Christmas
''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', more commonly known as ''The Night Before Christmas'' and ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously under the title ''Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas'' i ...
'' (animator)
* 1952—''
The Snow Maiden
''The Snow Maiden'' (subtitle: A Spring Fairy Tale) ( rus, Снегурочка–весенняя сказка, Snegúrochka–vesénnyaya skázka, italic=yes ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composed ...
'' (animator)
* 1952—''
The Scarlet Flower
The Scarlet Flower (russian: Аленький цветочек, ''Alen'kiy tsvetochek''), also known as The Little Scarlet Flower or The Little Red Flower, is a Russian folk tale written by Sergey Aksakov. It is an adaptation of traditional fai ...
'' (assistant director, animator)
* 1955—''
The Enchanted Boy
''The Enchanted Boy'' (russian: Заколдованный мальчик, ''Zakoldovanyy malchik'') is a 1955 Soviet/Russia traditionally animated feature film directed by Vladimir Polkovnikov and Aleksandra Snezhko-Blotskaya. The film is an ada ...
'' (art director)
* 1958—''An Old Man and The Crane'' (director, screenwriter)
* 1959—''The Cloud in Love'' (director)
* 1960—''Little Masha and The Bear'' (director)
* 1961—''Novice'' (director)
* 1962—''The Injury'' (director)
* 1963—''How The House was built to The Kitten'' (director)
* 1964—''Alesha's Tales'' (director)
* 1964—''
A Little Frog Is looking for His Father
''A Little Frog Is looking for His Father'' (russian: Лягушонок ищет папу) is a 1964 Soviet stop-motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between ind ...
'' (director)
* 1965—''The Portrait'' (director)
* 1966—''The Granddaughter was lost'' (director)
* 1967—''
The Mitten'' (director)
* 1968—''Rivals'' (director)
* 1969—''
Crocodile Gena
Gena the Crocodile (russian: links=no, Крокодил Гена, Krokodil Gena) is a fictional friendly crocodile in the series of animation films ''Gena the Crocodile'', ''Cheburashka'' and ''Shapoklyak'' by Roman Kachanov (Soyuzmultfilm studi ...
'' (director, screenwriter)
* 1970—''The Letter'' (director)
* 1972—''
Cheburashka
''Cheburashka'' (russian: links=no, Чебурашка, a=ru-Cheburashka.ogg, p=tɕɪbʊˈraʂkə), also known as ''Topple'' in earlier English translations, is a fictional character created by Soviet writer Eduard Uspensky in his 1965 child ...
'' (director, screenwriter)
* 1972—''Mama'' (director)
* 1973—''Aurore'' (director, screenwriter)
* 1974—''
The Heron and the Crane'' (screenwriter)
* 1974—''
Shapoklyak
Old lady Shapoklyak (russian: links=no, Шапокляк) is a popular villain from a story about Gena the Crocodile written by Russian writer Eduard Uspensky. Her first appearance in the movie was in the animated film '' Gena the Crocodile'' (1 ...
'' (director, screenwriter)
* 1975—''The Inheritance of The Magician Bakhram'' (director, screenwriter)
* 1977—''The Last Petal'' (director, screenwriter)
* 1978—''Metamorphosis'' (director, screenwriter)
* 1981—''
The Mystery of the Third Planet
''The Mystery of the Third Planet'' (russian: Тайна третьей планеты, ''Tayna tretyey planety''), aka ''The Secret of the Third Planet'' is a 1981 Soviet traditionally animated feature film directed by Roman Kachanov and produc ...
'' (director)
* 1982—''The Magic Medicine'' (director)
* 1982—''About an Old Man, an Old Woman and Thiere Hen Ryaba'' (screenwriter)
* 1983—''
Cheburashka Goes to School
''Cheburashka Goes to School'' (russian: Чебурашка идёт в школу, Cheburashka Idet v Shkolu) is a 1983 Soviet animated film directed by Roman Kachanov.
Plot summary
Gena the Crocodile finds out that Cheburashka is unable to rea ...
'' (director, screenwriter)
* 1985—''
Two Tickets to India'' (director)
* 1985—''
Dereza'' (screenwriter)
* 1986—''The Miracles of Technology'' (director)
* 1989—''The Newcomer in The Cabbage'' (screenwriter)
See also
* Kachanov's son,
Roman Kachanov (film director), is a film director, screenwriter and actor.
References
External links
*
Profiles of Russian Animators
Profiles of Russian Animators
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kachanov, Roman Abelevich
1921 births
1993 deaths
People from Smolensk
Russian Jews
Russian animators
Russian film directors
Male screenwriters
Russian male writers
Films directed by Roman Abelevich Kachanov
Soviet animators
Soviet film directors
Stop motion animators
Soviet military personnel of World War II
Academic staff of High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors
People's Artists of Russia
Recipients of the USSR State Prize
Annie Award winners
Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery
20th-century Russian screenwriters
20th-century Russian male writers