Dušan Vukotić (7 February 1927 – 8 July 1998) was a Yugoslav and Croatian cartoonist, author and director of

animated film Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

s of Montenegrin descent. He is the best known member of the Zagreb school of animated films.

Biography

Vukotić was born in

Bileća Bileća ( sr-cyrl, Билећа) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 7,476 inhabitants, while the municipality has 10,807 inhabitants. History ...

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

to father Radovan Vukotić and mother Darinka Vučinić. His father Radovan was a

Royal Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the land warfare military service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally Kingdom of Serbs, ...

sub-colonel who got captured in the vicinity of Gornji Milanovac by the invading ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

'' force during the Nazi German

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was ...

, spending the remainder of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

prison camp. His mother Darinka was a daughter of Milutin Vučinić, Montenegrin army officer and one time

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. His paternal grandfather Mojaš "Kinjo" Vukotić who died during the 1912-1913 Siege of Scutari was serdar

Janko Vukotić Janko Vukotić ( sr-cyr, Јанко Вукотић; 18 February 1866 – 4 February 1927) was a Montenegrin serdar, general in the armies of the Principality and Kingdom of Montenegro in the Balkan Wars and World War I. Biography Vukotić was ...

's brother.

Career

In 1953, Vukotić became one of the founding members of

Zagreb Film Zagreb Film is a Croatian film company principally known for its animation studio. From Zagreb, it was founded in 1953. They have produced hundreds of animated films, as well as documentaries, television commercials, educational films and several ...

. He worked there for over four decades and directed cartoons such as '' Cow on the Moon''. He directed '' Surogat'' ("Ersatz"), which won an Oscar for best animated short for 1961, becoming the first foreign film to do so. Another of his films, ''Igra'' ("The Game"), was nominated for an Academy Award in 1964. After the 1960s, he rarely made short animated films, making three full-length movies - a fantasy tale for children, ''Sedmi kontinent'' ("The Seventh Continent", 1966), an action movie, ''Akcija Stadion'' ("Operation Stadium") about the resistance of

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

students to the Ustaša regime in 1941, and the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

/ horror parody ''Gosti iz galaksije'' ("Visitors from the Galaxy of Arkana", 1981). In 1963, he was a member of the jury at the 3rd Moscow International Film Festival.

Personal life

He also taught film directing at the Zagreb Academy for Dramatic Art from the founding of its Film department in 1967 until his retirement in the early 1990s. After 1973, he was a member of the

Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts ( Montenegrin and Serbian: Црногорска академија наука и умјетности, ''Crnogorska akademija nauka i umjetnosti''; ЦАНУ, ''CANU'') is the most important scientific inst ...

. In 1994 he received Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Festival of Animated Film -

Animafest Zagreb World Festival of Animated Film Zagreb ( hr, Svjetski festival animiranog filma), also known as Animafest Zagreb, is a film festival entirely dedicated to animated film held annually in Zagreb, Croatia. Initiated by the International Animated Fi ...

. At the time of his death, Vukotić was preparing a production of his new

movie, co-written by the Croatian science fiction writer Aleksandar Žiljak. Vukotić died in Krapinske Toplice near Zagreb at the age of 71.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vukotic, Dusan 1927 births 1998 deaths People from Bileća Croatian people of Montenegrin descent Croatian animators Croatian animated film directors Croatian animated film producers Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Montenegrin animated film directors Montenegrin animated film producers Montenegrin animators Montenegrin film producers Golden Arena winners Vladimir Nazor Award winners Members of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Croatian screenwriters 20th-century screenwriters Yugoslav animators