Dušan Vukotić ( Serbo-Croat

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

: Душан Вукотић; 7 February 1927 – 8 July 1998) was a Yugoslav and Montenegrin, with Croatian citizenship, cartoonist, author and director of

animated film Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

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

Biography

Vukotić was born in Bileća,

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

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 principal Army, ground force of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It existed from the establishment of ...

sub-colonel who got captured in the vicinity of

Gornji Milanovac Gornji Milanovac ( sr-Cyrl, Гoрњи Милановац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Moravica District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 23,109, while the population of the municipality is 38,985 (2022 census data). ...

by the invading ''

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

'' force during the Nazi German invasion of Yugoslavia, spending the remainder of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

prime minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. His paternal grandfather Mojaš "Kinjo" Vukotić who died during the 1912-1913 Siege of Scutari was serdar Janko Vukotić'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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

students to the Ustaša regime in 1941, and the

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

/ 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 1977, he was a member of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 1994 he received Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Festival of Animated Film -

Animafest Zagreb World Festival of Animated Film Zagreb (), best known as Animafest Zagreb, is a film festival entirely dedicated to Animation, animated film held annually in Zagreb, Croatia. Initiated by the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA), the e ...

. 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 Yugoslav screenwriters Yugoslav animators Members of the Central Committee of the 10th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia