The history of Russian animation is the visual art form produced by Russian animation makers. As most of Russia's production of animation for cinema and television were created during Soviet times, it may also be referred to some extent as the history of Soviet animation. It remains a nearly unexplored field in film theory and history outside Russia.
Soyuzmultfilm is a Russian animation studio based in Moscow. Launched on June 10, 1936 as the animated film production unit of the U.S.S.R.'s motion picture monopoly, GUKF, Soyuzmultfilm has produced more than 1,500 cartoons. Soyuzmultfilm specializes in the creation of animated TV series, feature films and short films. The studio has made animated films in a wide variety of genres and art techniques, including stop motion, hand-drawn, 2D and 3D techniques.
Garri Yakovlevich Bardin is a Soviet and Russian animation director, screenwriter, producer and actor best known for his experimental musical and stop motion films. He was awarded the 1988 Short Film Palme d'Or for the Fioritures cartoon and the Order of Honour in 2011.
Oleg Igorevich Kuvaev is a Russian-Israeli artist, designer and animator, known for his Masyanya flash-animated series. Since first appearing in the Russian Internet on October 22, 2001, "Masyanya" has become nearly a cult figure.
Hoffmaniada is a 2018 Russian stop motion-animated feature film from Soyuzmultfilm. The film is one of the first full-length puppet animated film in the recent history of the animation studio. The concept and the art design was done by Mikhail Shemyakin and is edited by Stanislav Sokolov and Veronika Pavlovskaya, written by Sokolov and Viktor Slavkin, and directed by Sokolov.
Alexander Mikhailovich Tatarsky was a Russian animation director, screenwriter, animator, producer, artist, co-founder and artistic director of the Pilot studio. Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (2000). Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1998).
Space Dogs is a 2010 Russian animated Adventure comedy historical drama film. The film is based on the Soviet space dogs Belka and Strelka, and honors the first animals who survived an orbital space trip, the Korabl-Sputnik 2 flight in August, 1960. In Poland it became the leader of the box-office on its first weekend, although in the United States it grossed poorly, making only $14,408 due to its limited release.
Pilot is a Russian animation studio based in Moscow. It was founded in 1988 by Alexander Tatarsky, Igor Kovalyov, Anatoly Prokhorov, and Igor Gelashvili, becoming the first private animation studio in the Soviet Union. They aimed at both auteur and commercial animation.
Mr. Freeman is a Russian animated web series named after its main character. The series appeared on YouTube on September 21, 2009 and got considerable popularity in Runet. The main content of the series is monologues which in a harsh manner criticize the lifestyle of modern everyman. As of July, 2019 there are 24 episodes published, with a total of 42 uploads to the channel. The total number of views is more than 76 million.
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Kotyonochkin was a Soviet and Russian animation director, animator and artist. He was named People’s Artist of the RSFSR in 1987. He is most famous for directing the popular animated series Well, Just You Wait! He was also active as a comic artist.
Voronezh Animation Studio is a Russian animation film, short film and television studio based in Voronezh. The studio specializes in the production of animated feature films, television shows and their distribution and promotion in the domestic and international markets. The studio was formed in 2007 from a company specializing in software development, multimedia and software localization. Originally founded under the name InlayFilm, it rebranded as Wizart Animation in 2012. In August 2022, the company changed its name to Voronezh Animation Studio.
Vitaly Pushnitsky is a Russian artist. He is considered one of Russia's leading contemporary artists. He is based in Saint-Petersburg, Russia and is internationally recognized as a painter, sculptor, graphic artist and as a creator of installations, art objects and multimedia.
Qumi-Qumi is an animated series created by Toonbox, best known for the Cut the Rope cartoons. From November 2012, it premiered on Multilandia (Multimania) and Carousel. On October 14, 2013, it began broadcasting on the channel STS. The series was developed with the financial support of the Government of Moscow, and since 2011 with the support of Film Foundation. It is based around a small comic book from 2005 that eventually made it into a small music video in 2007, and eventually into a full-fledged cartoon in 2011, Qumi-Qumi tells of three different tribes: the magic-based tribal Jumi-Qumi, the science-based capitalist Yumi-Qumi, and the militaristic and communistic Shumi-Qumi. Three young outcasts of each tribe, Juga, Yusi, and Shumadan, manage to break out of their social norms and become close friends. The speech of the characters is a gibberish language known as Tarabar peppered with Russian phrases. Many plots relate around Juga and Shumadan's crushes on Yusi and trying to interact with their respective tribes despite their own faults.
Toonbox is a Cyprus animation studio located in Paphos.
Boris Pavlovich Stepantsev was a Soviet and Russian animation director, animator, artist and book illustrator, as well as a vice-president of ASIFA (1972–1982) and creative director of the Multtelefilm animation department of the Studio Ekran (1980–1983). Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1972).
Gennady Mikhailovich Sokolsky was a Soviet and Russian artist, animation director, animator, art director and screenwriter at Soyuzmultfilm. Sokolsky took part in over 170 projects, including the Happy Merry-Go-Round animated series which he co-created with several friends. Member of ASIFA.
Igor Adolfovich Kovalyov is a Russian animator, director and educator, co-founder of Pilot — the first private animation studio in the Soviet Union. From 1991 to 2005 he worked at Klasky Csupo where he co-created Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and co-directed The Rugrats Movie. He currently serves as a creative producer at Soyuzmultfilm. Kovalyov is also known for his auteur films for which received multiple international awards, including three Grand Prizes at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
Anatoly Alexeyevich Petrov was a Soviet and Russian animation director, animator, artist and educator at VGIK known as the founder of the long-running anthology series Happy Merry-Go-Round and developer of the animation technique he called photographics. A member of ASIFA, he was named Meritorious Artist of the RSFSR in 1989.
Space Dogs: Return to Earth also known as Space Dogs: Tropical Adventure is a 2020 Russian 3D animated comedy fantasy family film written by Danil Trotensko, Artem Milovanov, Mike Disa, Olga Nikiforova, Viktor Strelchencko and directed by Inna Evlannikova. The film was produced by Moscow studios KinoAtis and Gorky Film Studio. The creators from one of Russia's first national 3D animation studio rejoined to continue to animate the latest adventure of the canine heroes, Belka and Strelka.
