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Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Kotyonochkin (also known as Kotenochkin) (
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
: Вячеслав Михайлович Котёночкин) (June 20, 1927 – November 20, 2000) 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 transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
n
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 ...
, animator and artist. He was named
People’s Artist of the RSFSR
People's Artist of the RSFSR (russian: Народный артист РСФСР, ''Narodnyj artist RSFSR'') was an Title of honor, honorary title granted to Soviet, Soviet Union artists, including theatre and film directors, choreographers, music ...
in 1987. He is most famous for directing the popular animated series ''
Well, Just You Wait!
''Well, Just You Wait!'' (russian: Ну, погоди!, Nu, pogodi!, p=ˈnu pəɡɐˈdʲi) is a Soviet, later Russian, series of animated short films produced by Soyuzmultfilm. In the 2014 all-Russian poll, ''Well, Just You Wait!'' won by a ...
''
[''Peter Rollberg (2016)'']
Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema
— Rowman & Littlefield, p. 400 [''Irina Margolina, Natalia Lozinskaya (2006)'']
Our Animation
— Moscow: Interros, p. 132-137
Early life
Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin was born in Moscow into a
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
family of Mikhail Mikhailovich Kotyonochkin (1900—1941), an accountant and a native
Muscovite
Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula K Al2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavage ...
who died from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
shortly before the
Great Patriotic War
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...
, and Eugenia Andreevna Kotyonochkina (née Shirshova) (1906—1962), a housewife whose family moved to Moscow from
Kimry
Kimry (russian: Ки́мры), formerly Kimra (), is a town in the south of Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River at its confluence with the Kimrka River, to the east of Tver. Population:
History
The town was known as Kimra until the ...
,
Tver Governorate
Tver Governorate (russian: Тверская губерния, ''Tverskaya guberniya'') was an administrative division (a ''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 ...
. His maternal grandfather Andrei Ivanovich Shirshov came from peasants, while his wife Maria Vasilievna Komissarova belonged to a wealthy family with an estate in Kimry which they had to abandon after the
October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
. His earliest known paternal ancestor lived under a
Koshkin Koshkin is a Russian surname, which means "cat" or cat owner", from the Russian word ''koshka'' or "cat".Mikheev, Alexey"What Russian Surnames Mean" ''Russia & India Report'', Moscow, 25 May 2014. Retrieved on 7 January 2016. An alternative spelling ...
surname (from the word ''koshka'' — ''cat'') and owned a restaurant and a confectionery store in Moscow, but his twin sons were nicknamed "kittens" which transformed into a rare Kotyonochkin surname with time (from the word ''kotyonok'' — ''kitten''). Vyacheslav was
baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
in a Moscow
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
church soon after birth.
[''Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin (1999)''. Well, Kotyonochkin, Just You Wait! — Moscow: Algorithm, p. 13-23, 245. 269 pages. (Autobiography)][Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin's tomb]
/ref>
In 1938 he visited a New Year
New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...
celebration for children at the House of the Unions
The House of the Unions (russian: Дом Союзов) (also called ''Palace of the Unions'') is a historic building in the Tverskoy District in central Moscow, Russia. It is situated on the corner of Bolshaya Dmitrovka and Okhotny Ryad streets. ...
where they were shown a collection of the first Soviet color animated films. He was so impressed that he started taking drawing courses at a Pioneers Palace
Young Pioneer Palaces or Palaces of Young Pioneers and Schoolchildren were youth centers designated for the creative work, sport training and extracurricular activities of Young Pioneer
A pioneer movement is an organization for children op ...
.[cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...]
in a military band.
Career
Soon after the war Kotyonochkin met the acclaimed Soviet animator
Boris Dyozhkin
Boris Petrovich Dyozhkin (also translated as Dezhkin) (russian: Борис Петрович Дёжкин; — 13 March 1992) was a Soviet animator, animation and art directors, as well as a caricaturist, book illustrator and educator at Soyuzmultf ...
who suggested him to enter the animation courses organized by
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 1947 he graduated and started his career as an animator at the studio. During the next 50 years he worked on more than 80 films.
From 1962 on he served as an
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 ...
. He became closely associated with the ''
Fitil
''Fitil'' ( rus, Фитиль, p=fʲɪˈtʲilʲ, ''Fuse'') is a popular Soviet short film and television anthology series which ran for 608 episodes. Some of the episodes were aimed at children, and were called , ''Little Fuse''.
Each issue contain ...
'' satirical almanac by
Sergey Mikhalkov
Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhalkov (russian: link=no, Серге́й Влади́мирович Михалко́в; 27 August 2009) was a Soviet and Russian author of children's books and satirical fables. He wrote the lyrics for the Soviet and Russ ...
and created 17 animated shorts for it during the next 25 years.
Yet his name rose to fame only in 1969 when the first episode of ''
Well, Just You Wait!
''Well, Just You Wait!'' (russian: Ну, погоди!, Nu, pogodi!, p=ˈnu pəɡɐˈdʲi) is a Soviet, later Russian, series of animated short films produced by Soyuzmultfilm. In the 2014 all-Russian poll, ''Well, Just You Wait!'' won by a ...
'' was released. He picked the project after he accidentally stumbled across the screenwriters
Felix Kamov,
Arkadi Khait
Arkady Iosifovich Khait (russian: Аркадий Иосифович Хайт) (25 December 1938 – 22 February 2000) was a Russian Jewish satire, comedy, song and script writer, and a comedian in his late years.Жил-был веселый ...
and
Aleksandr Kurlyandsky
Aleksandr Yefimovich Kurlyandsky (1 July 1938 – 21 December 2020) was a Soviet and Russian writer, satirist, playwright, screenwriter, and author of books for children. He was born and died in Moscow, and was an Honored Art Worker of the Russia ...
who were wandering around Soyuzmultfilm trying to sell it to the leading directors without any success. Kotyonochkin was the only one who loved the idea and immediately drew the Hare character. He spent a lot of time developing Wolf though and ended up with a protagonist reminiscent of himself.
According to Vyacheslav's son and colleagues, as a young man he was rather undisciplined, loved to party and to pull pranks so that at one point he was nearly fired. The Wolf character inherited some of his features as well as gestures and movements.
Vladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky ( rus, links=no, Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor ...
served as another inspiration and was originally intended to do the voice-over, but wasn't approved by the studio executives. The art director
Svetozar Rusakov had already worked with Kotyonochkin on ''Mezha'' (1969) and several ''Fitil'' episodes by that time.
''Well, Just You Wait!'' wasn't supposed to become a long-running series, and the overwhelming popularity of the pilot episode came as surprise to its creators. From 1969 to 1986 Kotyonochkin directed a total of 16 episodes, and each of them turned an instant hit. Yet after each episode he wanted to end the series and switch to other projects. He managed to create several independent shorts in-between, including another popular comedy ''
The Kitten from Lizyukov Street'' (1988). He also dreamed of directing an animated adaptation of
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
's epic poem ''
Ruslan and Ludmila Ruslan may refer to:
* ''Ruslan'' (film), a 2009 film starring Steven Segal
* Ruslan (given name), male name used mainly in Slavic countries, with list of people
* Antonov An-124 ''Ruslan'', large Soviet cargo aircraft, later built in Ukraine and ...
''.
In 1988 Kotyonochkin was awarded the
USSR State Prize
The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...
. He was awarded the
Order of Friendship
The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds a ...
on May 2, 1996. Yet the award he valued the most was the
Order of the Smile
The Order of the Smile (Polish: ''Order Uśmiechu'') is an international award given by children to adults distinguished in their love, care and aid for children.
History
The idea of the Order of the Smile was established in 1968 by the Polis ...
granted to him by
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
children in 1985.
During the late
perestroika
''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
years the Soviet government cut financing and he wasn't able to make anything else up until 1993 when he co-directed two new episodes of ''Well, Just You Wait!'' along with
Vladimir Tarasov
Vladimir Ilich Tarasov (russian: Владимир Ильич Тарасов; born 7 February 1939 in Moscow) is a Russian animator and animation director. He is best known for his Soviet-era science fiction short films, such as ''The Pass, Cont ...
. Full of
product placement
Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...
and modern-day references, they left the fans disappointed. In 1999 he published a book of memoirs.
Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin died on 20 November, 2000 in a Moscow hospital after several years of illness: he 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 ap ...
which led to a
gangrene
Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...
and a stroke.
He was buried in the family tomb 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 cit ...
.
On February, 2014 an all-Russian poll was conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation. People were asked to name their favourite animated film or series. ''
Well, Just You Wait!
''Well, Just You Wait!'' (russian: Ну, погоди!, Nu, pogodi!, p=ˈnu pəɡɐˈdʲi) is a Soviet, later Russian, series of animated short films produced by Soyuzmultfilm. In the 2014 all-Russian poll, ''Well, Just You Wait!'' won by a ...
'' won by a wide margin.
Family
* Wife — Tamara Petrovna Vishnyova (born 6 April 1928), a
ballet dancer
A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...
in the Moscow Operetta Theatre
Евгений Мигунов. Про Славу Котёночкина
in Russian)
**Son — Aleksey Kotyonochkin (born 16 July 1958), Russian animation director, animator and art director
**Daughter — Natalia Kotyonochkina
***Granddaughter — Ekaterina Kotyonochkina, singer
Selected filmography
Director
*1962-1988 — ''Fitil
''Fitil'' ( rus, Фитиль, p=fʲɪˈtʲilʲ, ''Fuse'') is a popular Soviet short film and television anthology series which ran for 608 episodes. Some of the episodes were aimed at children, and were called , ''Little Fuse''.
Each issue contain ...
'' (17 episodes)
*1965 — ''Frog the Traveler'' (also art director)
*1967 — ''Mezha''
*1969-1986; 1993-1994 — ''Well, Just You Wait!
''Well, Just You Wait!'' (russian: Ну, погоди!, Nu, pogodi!, p=ˈnu pəɡɐˈdʲi) is a Soviet, later Russian, series of animated short films produced by Soyuzmultfilm. In the 2014 all-Russian poll, ''Well, Just You Wait!'' won by a ...
''
*1975 — ''On the Forest Trail'' (also screenwriter)
*1982 — ''An Old Record'' (also screenwriter)
*1988 — '' The Kitten from Lizyukov Street''
Animator
*1949 — ''Polkan and Shavka''
*1951 — ''Forrest Travelers''
*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 ...
''
*1952 — '' Kashtanka''
*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 ...
''
*1954 — '' The Golden Antelope''
*1954 — ''The Orange Neck''
*1954 — '' Unusual Match''
*1956 — ''Old Friends''
*1957 — ''Once Upon a Time
"Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in the ...
''
*1957 — ''Familiar Pictures''
*1958 — ''The Cat's House''
*1958 — ''A Tale of Malchish-Kibalchish''
*1960 — ''It Was I Who Drew the Little Man
''It Was I Who Drew the Little Man'' (russian: link=no, Челове́чка нарисова́л я; tr.: ''Chelovechka narisoval ya'') is a 1960 Soviet traditionally-animated short film directed by the "grandmothers of the Russian animation", B ...
''
*1962 — ''The Wild Swans
The Wild Swans (Danish: ''De vilde svaner'') is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a princess who rescues her 11 brothers from a spell cast by an evil queen. The tale was first published on 2 October 1838 in Andersen's '' ...
''
*1968 — ''Adventures of Mowgli
''Adventures of Mowgli'' (russian: Маугли; also spelled ''Maugli'') is an animated feature-length story originally released as five animated shorts of about 20 minutes each between 1967 and 1971 in the Soviet Union. It is based on Rudyard Ki ...
. Episode 2: The Kidnapping''
References
External links
*
Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin
at Animator.ru
Animator.ru is a Russian website chronicling the films, people and studios of the animation industry in Russia, the former Soviet Union and (to a lesser extent) the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It also includes a forum, a news block, ...
About Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin on Kinopoisk.ru
Article on Kinozal.tv
Одно из последних интервью Вячеслава Котёночкина
(in Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotyonochkin, Vyacheslav
1927 births
2000 deaths
American animated film directors
Russian animated film directors
Artists from Moscow
Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery
Mass media people from Moscow
People's Artists of the RSFSR
Recipients of the USSR State Prize
Russian animators
Soviet animation directors
Soviet animators