В Союзе с мультфильмами. О связи времени и кино, о судьбах и мультипликации
Edition : Boslen, 2026
Langue : Russian
Period :
1920 - 1995
To mark the 90th anniversary of the Soyuzmultfilm studio, the Boslen publishing house presents a book by Sergei Kapkov titled *In Union with Cartoons: On the Connection Between Time and Cinema, Fates, and Animation*.
The book covers the history of the origins and development of Russian animation: from the early steps of Soviet animation—through the war, the Thaw, and the Era of Stagnation—to Perestroika and the birth of independent studios in the 1990s. It is a living history of the country, traced through the book's subjects—the people who created masterpieces of Russian animation. They arrived at Soyuzmultfilm from diverse backgrounds: cinema or theater, factory floors or literary circles, having experienced the Great Patriotic War on the front lines or on the home front. Yet for each of them, animation proved to be not merely a job, but a true calling that defined their lives.
A diplomat and political officer, Viktor Smirnov was a key figure in Soviet animation. In the 1930s, appointed director of the American branch of Amkino, he studied cutting-edge Western animation technologies in depth at the studios of Walt Disney and the Fleischer brothers.
He personally approached Walt Disney to share his technological secrets. Disney met with them and gave the Soviet side samples of celluloid, tracing paper, and a description of the assembly line production process.
The figures featured in this book include animation artist Elena Khludova, Soviet producer Viktor Smirnov, children's book illustrator Vladimir Suteev (beloved by generations), cinematographers Mikhail Druyan and Nikolai Voinov, the country's first female animation cinematographer Elena Petrova, playwright Mikhail Volpin, director Leonid Nosyrev, actor and director Ivan Ufimtsev, and many others. A separate chapter is dedicated to the veterans—Soyuzmultfilm employees who served during the Great Patriotic War.
Sergei Kapkov has arranged the stories of the people who built Soyuzmultfilm in chronological order. The life of the country unfolds before us through the eyes of the book’s protagonists, as well as those of their children and grandchildren.
Those who lived in the USSR will inevitably be reminded of their own families and the life of that era, while younger readers will find it fascinating to learn about the people who lived and worked on those very streets—navigating the same everyday challenges as the rest of the country—and who created the animated films that shaped generations and are still watched by children today.
This book was produced in collaboration with the Soyuzmultfilm studio.
Subjects :
Animation, Film studios, History of Russian cinema,
