Ion Popescu-Gopo (; 1 May 1923 – 28 November 1989) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n graphic artist and animator, but also writer,

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

, and actor. He was born in

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 o ...

. He was a prominent personality in the Romanian cinematography and the founder of the modern Romanian cartoon school. He was, together with

Liviu Ciulei Liviu Ciulei (; 7 July 1923 – 24 October 2011) was a Romanian theater and film director, film writer, actor, architect, educator, costume and set designer. During a career spanning over 50 years, he was described by ''Newsweek'' as "one of the b ...

and Mirel Ilieșiu, one of the few Romanian film artists who won an award at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

in the 20th century. His film, " Scurtă Istorie" (''A Brief History''), won the ''

Short Film Palme d'Or The Short Film Palme d'Or (french: Palme d'Or du court métrage) is the highest prize given to a short film at the Cannes Film Festival. Since the creation of the Cinéfondation La ''Cinéfondation'' is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes ...

'' for best short film in 1957. His 1965 film, ''

The White Moor ''The White Moor'' ( ro, De-aș fi... Harap Alb) is a 1965 Romanian fantasy film directed by Ion Popescu-Gopo. It was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival where Popescu-Gopo won the award for Best Director. Taken from an old ...

'', was entered into the

4th Moscow International Film Festival The 4th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 5 to 20 July 1965. The Grand Prix was shared between the Soviet film ''War and Peace'' directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and the Hungarian film '' Twenty Hours'' directed by Zoltán Fábri. Ju ...

, where he won the award for Best Director. In 1969 he was a member of the jury at the

6th Moscow International Film Festival The 6th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 7 to 22 July 1969. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Cuban film '' Lucía'' directed by Humberto Solás, the Italian film '' Serafino'' directed by Pietro Germi and the Soviet film '' ...

. In 1977 he was a member of the jury at the

10th Moscow International Film Festival The 10th Moscow International Film Festival was held 7-21 July 1977. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Hungarian film ''The Fifth Seal'' directed by Zoltán Fábri, the Spanish film '' El puente'' directed by Juan Antonio Bardem and the Sovie ...

. In 1983 he was a member of the jury at the

13th Moscow International Film Festival The 13th Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; ab ...

. Ion Popescu-Gopo attended (but never graduated from) the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest. He also attended animation courses in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. He made

Maria, Mirabela ''Maria, Mirabela'' is a live-action/animated film jointly produced by Romanian and Soviet movie studios. The Romanian premiere took place on December 21, 1981 in Bucharest, The Soviet premiere took place on March 3, 1982 in Moscow. ''Maria, ...

, which is a Romanian-Russian co-production. His career started as a designer and cartoonist in 1939, publishing caricatures and editorial cartoons in newspapers. 1949 brought his debut in the film industry with "Punguța cu doi bani" (Bag with two coins). Since 1950 he started working for Studioul Cinematografic București (Cinematographic Studio Bucharest) in the animation department, that later broke into a separate animation studio, Animafilm. His most known cartoon character is a little black and white man sometimes referred to as "

Gopo's Little Man Gopo's Little Man (Romanian: ''Omuleṭul lui Gopo'') is a humanoid character that appears in most of Ion Popescu-Gopo's animation films. History and symbolism The Little Man first appears in ''A Brief History'' (1956), an animation film telling ...

" after his creator. Later in his life Popescu-Gopo confessed that he tried to start an "anti-Disney rebellion". Unable to surpass

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's animation characters in color and beauty, Popescu-Gopo tried to be more profound in message and substance and simplify the form and techniques used. Unlike Disney's cartoon characters, Popescu-Gopo's cartoon characters were black and white, designed in simple lines. Ion Popescu-Gopo died in Bucharest on 29 November 1989, just weeks before the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred ...

. He suffered a heart attack while trying to push his car, stuck in snow, into his garage. His death was the first step into the downfall of the Romanian animation studios Animafilm, which later suffered from financial issues after the 1989 revolution.

References

External links

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Ion Popescu-Gopo in agenda.liternet.ro (Romanian)
1923 births 1989 deaths Artists from Bucharest Film people from Bucharest Romanian animators Romanian male actors Romanian film directors Romanian animated film directors Romanian caricaturists Romanian cartoonists Romanian comics artists 20th-century Romanian male actors {{comics-artist-stub