
Directing
Aleksandr Ptushko
Born 1900-04-19 · Lugansk, Lugansk uyezd, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire [now Luhansk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine]
Aleksandr Lukich Ptushko (Russian: Александр Лукич Птушко, 19 April [O.S. 6 April] 1900 – 6 March 1973) was a Soviet animation and fantasy film director, and a People's Artist of the USSR (1969). Ptushko is frequently (and somewhat misleadingly) referred to as "the Soviet Walt Disney," because of his prominent early role in animation in the Soviet Union, though a more accurate comparison would be to Willis H. O'Brien or Ray Harryhausen. Some critics, such as Tim Lucas and Alan Upchurch, have also compared Ptushko to Italian filmmaker Mario Bava, who made fantasy and horror films with similarities to Ptushko's work and made similarly innovative use of color cinematography and special effects. He began his film career as a director and animator of stop motion short films, and became a director of feature-length films combining live action, stop motion, creative special effects, and Russian mythology. Along the way he would be responsible for a number of firsts in Russian film history (including the first feature-length animated film, and the first film in color), and would make several extremely popular and internationally praised films full of visual flair and spectacle.
Acting credits
Behind the camera
6.9A seminary student on monastery holiday kills an old witch in a remote village. The hag then transforms into a beautiful young woman whose dying wish is for him to watch over her wake for three nights. With terrors occurring and his faith waning, he reads prayers on the overnight watch and tries to survive the supernatural encounters.
Viy
1967
5.8Pupils of the ordinary high school organize a “secret society” under the motto “Help the offended and weak, avenge widers and upstarts!” The new pioneer leader supports the children, and soon he manages to make the school life of the children truly fascinating.
My Friend, Kolka!
1961
6.2Four evil wizards succeeded to become young by using a time stolen from lazy kids. Now these kids who became seniors must act fast if they want to return to their real age.
A Tale of Lost Times
1964
6.4In the midst of the wedding party of Prince Ruslan and Ludmila, daughter of Prince Vladimir, the girl is kidnapped by the evil sorcerer Chernomor and the witch Naina. Three of her past suitors set out, as does Ruslan, to rescue Ludmila.
Ruslan and Ludmila
1972
6.4In the midst of the wedding party of Prince Ruslan and Ludmila, daughter of Prince Vladimir, the girl is kidnapped by the evil sorcerer Chernomor and the witch Naina. Three of her past suitors set out, as does Ruslan, to rescue Ludmila.
Ruslan and Ludmila
1972
5.1Paralyzed since birth, Ilya can only watch helplessly as his village is plundered by barbarians. But when a mysterious traveler arrives with a magic elixir that restores him to full health, Ilya begins an adventure to protect the village and the royal family from harm.
Ilya Muromets
1956
6.3When Assol was a little girl, she met a wizard who foretold that it will be a fine sunny day when a beautiful ship under scarlet sail would arrive and the noble prince would take her away to the world of her dreams where she will be loved and happy. The neighbours joked about her, children teased her, but Assol chose to believe in miracles and wait for her prince.
Scarlet Sails
1961
4.6Based on Finnish mythology; Lemminkäinen woos the fair Annikki and battles the evil witch Louhi. Louhi kidnaps Annikki to compel her brother to build for her a Sampo, a magical device that creates salt, grain, and gold. When Lemminkäinen fails to recover the Sampo, Louhi steals the sun, plunging the world into frozen darkness.
Sampo
1959
5.7In the old Russian city of Novgorod, the merchants are feasting in a gorgeous palace and Sadko is bragging that he can bring to their land a sweet-voiced bird of happiness. They laugh at him, but he is offered help by the Ocean King's daughter, who is mesmerized by Sadko's singing and is in love with him. The hero is destined to visit many lands in his search of the bird.
Sadko
1953
5.3A film combining live action and stop-motion animation about the adventures of the wooden boy Pinocchio and his friends - Pierrot, Malvina and Artemon the Poodle, about the mysterious golden key that opens the cherished door, about the good Papa Carlo and the evil Karabas-Barabas, Duremar, Basilio the Cat and Alice the Fox.
The Golden Key
1939
6.2Little Danila was the most inquisitive apprentice of old Prokopich, a famous stone-carving master. Like his teacher, the grown-up Danila has learned to feel the soul of his material and became an expert in handling rare precious stones found in the Ural Mountains. One day he met the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, a fairy who ordered for herself an unusual stone flower.
The Stone Flower
1946
6.8Driven from the court by her sisters' scheming, the young Tsarina is thrown into the sea in a cask with her infant son. Surviving the storm-tossed voyage, the mother and her now magically-adult son land on a remote island where he falls in love with a Swan Princess in human form, and longs for reunion with his estranged father, Tsar Saltan. Merchants come to the island with news of the tsar, and the prince sends word back to him, but the sisters continue their campaign of lies and trickery to keep them apart.
The Tale of Tsar Saltan
1967
6.8Driven from the court by her sisters' scheming, the young Tsarina is thrown into the sea in a cask with her infant son. Surviving the storm-tossed voyage, the mother and her now magically-adult son land on a remote island where he falls in love with a Swan Princess in human form, and longs for reunion with his estranged father, Tsar Saltan. Merchants come to the island with news of the tsar, and the prince sends word back to him, but the sisters continue their campaign of lies and trickery to keep them apart.
The Tale of Tsar Saltan
1967
NRAmerican-dubbed, re-edited version of the 1956 Soviet fantasy film Ilya Muromets. Produced by Roger Corman, it's shorter by 10 minutes, the names of crew members and characters are changed.
The Sword and the Dragon
1963
NRAmerican-dubbed, re-edited version of the 1953 Soviet fantasy film Sadko. Produced by Roger Corman's Filmgroup in 1962, it's shorter by 8 minutes, all music is removed, the names of characters are changed.
The Magic Voyage of Sinbad
1962
NRAnimated movie for children based on folk tales.
The Fox and the Wolf
1936
6.7Adaptation of Pushkin's fairy tales. The tale is about a fisherman who manages to catch a Golden Fish which promises to fulfill any wish of his in exchange for its freedom. The storyline is similar to the Russian fairy tale "The Greedy Old Wife" and the Brothers Grimm's tale "The Fisherman and His Wife".
The Tale of the Fisherman and the Goldfish
1937
6.7Adaptation of Pushkin's fairy tales. The tale is about a fisherman who manages to catch a Golden Fish which promises to fulfill any wish of his in exchange for its freedom. The storyline is similar to the Russian fairy tale "The Greedy Old Wife" and the Brothers Grimm's tale "The Fisherman and His Wife".
The Tale of the Fisherman and the Goldfish
1937
8.0About the struggle for a new way of life. One of the residents of an old, dilapidated house receives a new apartment. But he can’t sleep in his new place: there are no bedbugs. The average person decides to fix the matter. Soon the new apartment turns out to be cluttered with all the accessories of bourgeois life. Bedbugs immediately appear. "Enough!" — the announcer’s voice is heard. A strong whirlwind clears the apartment of rubbish, and the tenant himself is thrown into the bathtub.
Lord of Life
1932
8.0About the struggle for a new way of life. One of the residents of an old, dilapidated house receives a new apartment. But he can’t sleep in his new place: there are no bedbugs. The average person decides to fix the matter. Soon the new apartment turns out to be cluttered with all the accessories of bourgeois life. Bedbugs immediately appear. "Enough!" — the announcer’s voice is heard. A strong whirlwind clears the apartment of rubbish, and the tenant himself is thrown into the bathtub.
Lord of Life
1932
5.7Young boy dreams of himself as a version of Gulliver who has landed in Lilliput suffering under capitalist inequality and exploitation.
The New Gulliver
1935
5.7Young boy dreams of himself as a version of Gulliver who has landed in Lilliput suffering under capitalist inequality and exploitation.
The New Gulliver
1935
7.5The film consists of short stories about participants of the Great Patriotic War, who returned from the front and entered a peaceful life. The heroes of the tape are fellow soldiers: Major Kornev, formerly a domain engineer; petty officer Samoseev, in the future chairman of the collective farm; senior lieutenant Rudnikov expects an Arctic expedition, and lieutenant Bela Mukhtarova will go with a party of geologists to the East.
Three Encounters
1950
NRAmerican-dubbed, re-edited version of the 1959 Soviet-Finnish fantasy co-production Sampo. Produced by Roger Corman, it's shorter by almost 30 minutes, the names of crew members and characters are drastically changed and key plot scenes are removed.
The Day the Earth Froze
1964


