Aleksandr Ptushko

Directing·Apr 19, 1900·Lugansk, Lugansk uyezd, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire [now Luhansk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine]

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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.

Film	Credit
The fairy-tale world of Aleksandr Ptushko1988 · self (archivefootage)	self (archivefootage)
Ruslan and Ludmila1972 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Viy1967 · Screenplay	Screenplay
The Tale of Tsar Saltan1967 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
The Day the Earth Froze1964 · Director	Director
A Tale of Lost Times1964 · Director	Director
The Sword and the Dragon1963 · Director	Director
The Magic Voyage of Sinbad1962 · Director	Director
Scarlet Sails1961 · Director	Director
My Friend, Kolka!1961 · Producer	Producer
Sampo1959 · Director	Director
Ilya Muromets1956 · Director	Director
Sadko1953 · Director	Director
Three Encounters1950 · Director	Director
The Stone Flower1946 · Director	Director
Batyr of the Steppes1942 · Director of Photography	Director of Photography
The Golden Key1939 · Director	Director
The Merry Musicians1938 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
The Dog and the Cat1938 · Writer	Writer
Small But Fierce1938 · Writer	Writer
The Tale of the Fisherman and the Goldfish1937 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
The Giant Turnip1936 · Writer	Writer
The Fox and the Wolf1936 · Writer	Writer
The New Gulliver1935 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Lord of Life1932 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
The Incident At The Stadium1928 · Actor, Director, Writer	Actor, Director, Writer