Anatoly Petrov

Anatoly Alexeyevich Petrov (; 15 September 1937 – 3 March 2010) 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 (also known as graphical painting). A member of ASIFA, he was named Meritorious Artist of the RSFSR in 1989.

Start of career Petrov was born in Moscow. At the age of twelve he came into possession of a photographic plates folding camera, became engaged in photography and organized a home darkroom. While still a student he was distinguished for his artistic skills and the ability to work in various styles. Upon graduation Petrov and Barinova joined Soyuzmultfilm, simultaneously studying at the Moscow Polygraphic Institute (1959—1964).

Around the same time he was sent to Zagreb Film (Yugoslavia) for retraining as an animation director. Upon return in 1967 Petrov directed his first experimental short Hippopotamus (also known as The Singing Teacher) which was released as part of the Kaleidoscope-68 almanac in 1968. Drawn with pencil, it featured detailed three-dimensional characters with lifelike movements in an absurdist tale. From then on he started promoting his original ideas, always working as animator on his films.

Petrov studied world art and dreamed of bringing world-famous paintings to life. He developed a theory of the unity of visual arts and the art of animation. According to him, every famous artist required a new unique approach that would lead to stylistically different movements. That's where the idea for his next project came. The original team included Gennady Sokolsky, Leonid Nosyrev and Valery Ugarov who later made successful individual careers, but also regularly helped each other. The first episode Distracted Giovanni was directed by Petrov himself. Based on the fairy tale by Gianni Rodari about a distracted boy who literally fell apart, it was accused by the head of the State Committee for Cinematography Alexei Romanov for "using children's cinema as a polygon for abstract art propaganda". Nevertheless, the project turned very successful, becoming one of the few Soviet animated series that survived the dissolution of the Soviet Union and making it to the 21st century.

With the 1975 And Mother Will Forgive Me Petrov went on to implement the animation style he called photographics influenced by hyperrealism. He was survived by his wife Galina Barinova (born 1939) and their daughter Galina Petrova (1960–2016), also an artist and animator.

Selected filmography

Peter and the Little Red Riding Hood (1958) — animator Animated Crocodile № 3 (1960) — animator The Key (1961) — animator The Story of a Crime (1962) — animator Vovka in a Far Away Kingdom (1965) — animator Boniface's Holidays (1965) — animator There Lived Kozyavin (1966) — animator Kaleidoscope-68 (1968) — director, art director, animator Glass Harmonica (1968) — animator Happy Merry-Go-Round № 1-11 (1969-1980) — creator, director, art director, animator, screenwriter The Bremen Town Musicians (1969) — animator Karlson Returns (1970) — animator Ave Maria (1972) — animator Ratibor's Childhood (1973) — animator Prodelkin in School (1974) — director, animator And Mother Will Forgive Me (1975) — director, animator Mayakovsky Laughs (1975) — director of animated segments Polygon (1977) — director, animator At the Back-row Desk (1978-1985) — screenwriter Caliph Stork (1981) — screenwriter The Castle of Liars (1983) — screenwriter Heracles at Admetus (1986) — director, art director, screenwriter The Birth of Eros (1989) — director, art director, animator, screenwriter Daphne (1990) — director, art director, animator, screenwriter Salmaka the Nymph (1992) — director, screenwriter Jester Balakirev (1993) — screenwriter Polyphemus, Akid and Galatea (1996) — director, animator, screenwriter