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0THE FATHER OF UZBEK ANIMATION - PETROV AND SALIMOV (60TH ANNIVERSARY OF UZBEK ANIMATION)
Mirzamukhamedova M.
Candidate of Arts Sciences, Leading researcher of Institute of Art Studies of the Academy of
Sciences of Uzbekistan https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13636617
Abstract. Cartoon workshop was organized in 1964 as department of Uzbek cinema studio. The 1st cartoon film was "In a square 6x6". The film director was Salimov D.I., the film artist was Petrov Y.S. This article is about creation of the 1st puppet film in Uzbekistan and authors of the film.
Keywords: animation, metaphor, allegorical image, genre, parody, cartoon film, animation technology.
It is a well-known fact that the development of animation in Uzbekistan began in the mid-1960s with the puppet film "In a square 6x6 " (1965). The creators of this film, artist Yuri Sergeevich Petrov and director Damir Ismoilovich Salimov, using puppet technology, began working on the first puppet cartoon based on ancient folk art traditions of puppet art, when there was no experience and traditions in this area.
It is acknowledged that Yu. S. Petrov acted as a scriptwriter, production designer, puppeteer and decorator for this film. The puppet allegorical film "In a square 6x6" was created in the style of a parody of foreign westerns, adventure and detective films, on a topic that was relevant for its time.
Moreover, the multiplication is a unique profession in which unique talents work. Animation is a complex art that requires constant creative searches, and it is impossible to imagine it without the participation of artists. The creators who have made a great contribution to the formation of this art are also artists.
In animation cinema, the artist is one of the leading forces. In any period and wherever the development of animation is associated with the creativity of active and enterprising artists. Therefore, reproduction began, first of all, with the creation of cartoons.
It is a well-known fact that the American U.Disney is one of the leading animators in this field, having begun his career in the 20s of the last century. His creative discoveries, rhythm, harmony of movements in films, the ability to "revive" characters attracted the attention of world animators. Artists have always sought to learn from him and imitate him. Perhaps, therefore, there are facts that in our republic in recent years attempts have been made to develop this deposit. For example, in the issue of the newspaper "Pravda Vostoka" from January 20, 1935, the following information was recorded: "The first pictures in Uzbekistan were created in 1925. It was said that until 1934 year, there were 18 full-length feature films, 42 social propaganda and scientific-technical films, 6 war films, 2 anniversary chronicles, 2 animated (picture) films were created, and soon the first children's film "Sword" will be released" [1].
It is still unknown the names, authors and time of creation of two animated (illustrative) pictures in this message. But the fact that the first scenes of the first children's film "Sword" (1935) begun with drawing-multiplication allows us to assume that in those years there was an experiment in this area.
There is the revival of animation drawing in Uzbekistan dates back to the 1970s. The Russian director V. Arsenyev created the first animated feature film "Brave Sparrow" (1969).
In 1936, the "Soyuzmultfilm" studio was established in Moscow, where primarily animated films were produced. The collaboration of children's poets and writers with Russian animation brought great success. However, the process of forming Soviet-era animation was halted due to the war, and regarding the studio's evacuation to Uzbekistan, N. Venger and S. Ginsburg wrote in their article "Drawn Films": "The large 'Soyuzmultfilm' studio in the country is evacuated to Samarkand, where it was not possible to create conditions for creative work due to the lack of a production base. Due to difficulties in organizational work, animation was unable to fully realize its potential during the war years. The explorations from the years before the war were successfully continued after the 'Soyuzmultfilm' studio returned from evacuation." [2; 171].
As for puppet animation, for the first time in the history of cinematography, the technique of creating puppet films, its artistic principles were created in Russia in the 1910s by director and cameraman V. Starevich, later his experience was forgotten and the work began again. One of the iconic films in Russian puppet production was the film "New Gulliver", created in 1935 by director A. Ptushko. However, the beginning of World War II, as already mentioned above, delayed the development of this art, which was just progressing.
The beginning of animation in Uzbekistan officially marked the beginning of the puppet film "In a square 6x6" (1965). At this time, animation ideologically and artistically grew on a global scale and became an independent art form, research in the field of creating puppet films was still ongoing. The beginning of Uzbek animation with the creation of puppet films was due to the connection with the historical traditions of puppet art, the national peculiarity of Uzbek people, ancient folk art, and this was a natural situation.
The development of Uzbek animation is associated with the name of its founders - the director of the first puppet cartoon Damir Salimov and the artist Yuri Petrov. In the March issue of the magazine "Kino" for 1966 in the article "To revive the dolls ..." by Yu.S. Petrov the following is written: "Enthusiasm and great interest in the new work forced the enthusiast (Yu. S. Petrov - M. M.) to change the profession of a film artist to a post-order cartoon artist, which was not so easy ... "[3]. At a time when this sphere was not yet developed in Uzbekistan, this enterprising person took on many creative and organizational tasks.
In an interview with Damir Salimov on September 4, 2013 [4], the director spoke about the history of the creation of this film, artist Yu.S. Petrov. He said that Petrov was very interested in the industry and even went to Moscow to the «Soyuzmultfilm" studio and brought a 200-page technical manual and instructions for creating cartoons.
The creation of this film began with studying the capabilities of the puppet. Conventionality, plasticity of the puppets' movements, freedom of the event in space and time opened up enormous opportunities for this type of animation. At the same time, it was clear that it was impossible to move forward without studying the rich experience of literary genres, fine art, sculptural experience and folklore. It is characteristic that Uzbek animation began not with the screen adaptation of fairy tales, which are a traditional genre, but with the interpretation of a topical theme of its time - the use of chemical advances in the fight against cotton pests. The conventionality of the character and the environment did not allow us to describe this theme and understand that the event was taking place on Uzbek soil.
As an experiment, it was shown that this modern fairy tale film interprets the human world in allegorical images. The film very successfully created such puppet characters as a beetle, a worm, a May beetle and an ant. The authors achieved the naturalness of their actions and the exaggeration of some human qualities in each of them.
Human behavior and conduct are shown in the form of insects, and this film, created as a parody of foreign westerns and adventure-detective films, vividly expresses the idea through the effective use of visual means of animation. It showed that even the most topical topics can be expressed in the art of multiplication.
When the film is ready, suitable parody music is selected for it. At this moment, a telegram comes from Moscow that a specialist is coming to help the team. The finished film is shown to the editor, who comes to help. The specialist really liked the film, who highly appreciates the work of the creative team. Soon the puppet film "In a square 6x6" was recognized at the all-Union level and awarded a first-degree prize. After this, Moscow experts began to call Petrov and Salimov "the father of Uzbek animation".
In the same interview, director D. Salimov spoke about the history of the creation of this film and the peculiarities of animation: "It turned out that "animating" dolls in a cartoon is a completely different and very difficult matter than in the theater. "[4].
The success of the puppet cartoon "In a square 6x6" inspires D. Salimov and Yu. Petrov to further work. Now the two creators turn to folklore and create a puppet film "The Magic Box" (1966) based on the famous Uzbek folk tale "Zumrad va Kimmat". This film, promoting such high human qualities as kindness, hard work, modesty and morality, can be called a step forward in Uzbek film production. After this, special music for Uzbek cartoons started to be written for each one. D.I. Salimov and Yu.S. Petrov, who stood at the origins of Uzbek language animation and made a great contribution to its development, will forever remain in the history of cinema.
Yu.S. Petrov is an artist who made a great contribution to the development of Uzbek animation. This is one of the most popular puppet cartoons of the 1960s and 1970s, in cartoons such as "The Girl and the Star" (1970), "The Fox and the Bird" (1971), "The Secret of Kakku" (1972), "The Finger Brothers" (1973), "Hasil" (1973), "The Magic Bow" (1975), "The Crash of Harmsel" (1976), "Brave Boys" (1976) he worked as an artist of dolls and cartoons. Also Yu.S. Petrov is a screenwriter and artist of the puppet film "Amazing Adventure" (1966), screenwriter and director of the animated film "Bear on a Walk" (1970), director and artist of the animated film "Deceived Deceivers" (1977), the director of the cartoon "Turtle Boy" (1978) (together with S. Murodkhodjaeva).
It is recognized that D.I. Salimov, who laid the foundations of Uzbek animation as a director, created both multimedia and feature films. He participated as a director and screenwriter in the creation of feature and multi-part films at the Uzbekfilm studio. Director of numerous films: "In a Square 6x6" (1965), "The Magic Chest" (1966), "The Fox and the Bird" (1971), "The Drop" (1984), "The Balcony" (1970), "The Secret of Kakku" (1972), "The Golden Watermelon" (1977), "The Poor Girl and the Stupid Prince" (1981), "Flying Yumronzig" (1983, together with V. Zhirnov), screenwriter and director of puppet and animated films, "Uzungulok Dost" (1979), author of scripts for the puppet cartoons "Kurash" (1980), "Mouse Queen" (1983).
Uzbek animation gained great fame thanks to the new art form started by the Honored Artist of Uzbekistan, State Prize laureate Damir Ismailovich Salimov and Yuri Sergeevich Petrov.
In conclusion, it can be said that the development of Uzbek animation is connected with the development of various technologies. Uzbek animation, which began with puppetry, mastering drawing, modeling, plasticine, computer technologies and became an independent art, received recognition at international film festivals.
The animated film "It is raining pleasantly" (directed by N. Tolakhodjaev, 1984) received the main prize of the Leipzig International Film Festival "Golden Dove" and the "Silver Mikeldi" prize at the international festival held in Bilbao, Spain (1985).
"The History of Billiards" (directed by M. Makhmudov) was recognized as one of the best puppet films created in the art of world animation at the international film festival held in Ankara in 1992, and took 3rd place. "The Nightingale" (editor and director M. Makhmudov) was awarded the first prize - "Golden Fish" at the International Festival of Children's Animated Films held in Moscow in 1999.
The animated film "Potter" (directed by D. Vlasov) received the gold prize as the best philosophical film at the 2005 International Animated Film Festival held in Tehran.
It was established in 1964 at the Uzbekfilm studio, the animation workshop was transformed into the "Association of Puppet and Animated Cinema" in 1978. Since June 2018, by the decision of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the "Animation Film Studio" began to operate as a state unitary enterprise. In this area, the State Institute of Art and Culture of Uzbekistan and the National Institute of Art and Design named after Kamoliddin Behzod began to train specialists.
It is noteworthy that the tradition laid down 60 years ago by the fathers of Uzbek animation - Petrov and Salimov, is today being adapted and enriched by creators of the new generation in the era of new technologies.
REFERENCES
1. Pravda Vostoka newspaper. January 20, 1935.
2. N. Venger, S. Ginzburg. "Drawn films" / "History of Soviet cinema", Volume 3, Moscow, "Iskusstvo" publishing house, 1975, ul. 171.
3. "So that the dolls come to life..." // "Kino". March 1966.
4. Author's interview with director Damir Salimov. September 4, 2013.
