Alexandra Snezhko-Blotskaya
Alexandra Gavrilovna Snezhko-Blotskaya (Russian: Александра Гавриловна Снежко-Блоцкая, February 21, 1909 in Volchansk, Russian Empire – December 29, 1980 in Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union) was a Soviet Russian animated films director. She was a longtime collaborator with Ivan Ivanov-Vano.
Biography
Snezhko-Blotskaya was born in Volchansk near Kharkov (modern Ukraine), before her family moved to Shatura, near Moscow. There she graduated from art studios of Ivan Rerberg and Ilya Mashkov.
Snezhko-Blotskaya started her film career as designer for Soyuzkinokhronika in 1932. Since 1936 she became a constant collaborator and aidee to Ivan Ivanov-Vano, a patriarch of Russian animation. She participated as a co-director in many of his films including famous The Humpbacked Horse and The Snow Maiden. Her first solo feature-length film was The Enchanted Boy (1955), based on The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Selma Lagerlöf.
Most of Snezhko-Blotskaya's films were fantasy based on folk tales and books by authors like Alexander Pushkin and Rudyard Kipling. In the 1970s she directed a series of five animated shorts based on Greek mythology.
She died in 1980 at the age of 71 at her home in Zheleznodorozhny, Moscow Oblast.
Filmography
Second unit director for Ivanov-Vano
- 1949 — Geese-Swans (Гуси-лебеди) - based on Russian folklore.
- 1951 — The Tale of the Dead Tsarevna and Seven Bogatyrs (Сказка о мёртвой царевне и о семи богатырях) - based on a poem by Alexander Pushkin.
- 1952 — Snegurochka (Снегурочка) based on a play by Alexander Ostrovsky.
Solo director
- 1954 — Orange Throat (Оранжевое горлышко) - based on a story by Vitaly Bianki.
- 1955 — The Enchanted Boy (Заколдованный мальчик) - based on a novel by Selma Lagerlöf.
- 1957 — Verlioka (Верлиока) - based on east Slavic folklore.
- 1958 — The Tale of Malchish-Kibalchish (Сказка о Мальчише-Кибальчише) - based on a story by Arkady Gaidar.
- 1959 — The Amber Castle (Янтарный замок) - based on Lithuanian folklore.
- 1961 — The Dragon (Дракон) - based on Vietnamese folklore.
- 1962 — The Wonderful Garden (Чудесный сад) - based on Kazakh folklore.
- 1963 — Barankin, Be a Human! (Баранкин, будь человеком!) - based on a story by Valery Medvedev.
- 1963 — Sun's Daughter (Дочь солнца)
- 1965 — Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (Рикки-тикки-тави) - based on a story by Rudyard Kipling
- 1967 — The Tale of the Golden Cockerel (Сказка о золотом петушке) - based on a poem by Alexander Pushkin.
- 1968 — The Cat Who Walked By Himself (Кот, который гулял сам по себе) - based on a story by Rudyard Kipling
- Films based on Greek mythology:
- 1969 — The Return from Olympus (Возвращение с Олимпа)
- 1971 — The Labyrinth (Лабиринт)
- 1971 — Argonauths (Аргонавты)
- 1973 — Perseus (Персей)
- 1974 — Prometheus (Прометей)