
Władysław Starewicz
Directing
Biography
Władysław Starewicz (Russian: Владисла́в Алекса́ндрович Старе́вич; August 8, 1882 – February 26, 1965) was a Polish-Russian stop-motion animator notable as the author of the first puppet-animated film The Beautiful Leukanida (1912). He also used dead insects and other animals as protagonists of his films. Following the Russian Revolution, Starevich settled in France. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ladislas Starevich, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For

Mary and Eva are best friends, although they couldn't be more different. Armand, Mary's fiancee, falls in love with the seductive Eva, who is busy becoming a revue star. When Eva fails and loses her money, Armand tries to help her out.
Eva and the Grasshopper

In the kingdom of animals, Master Fox is used to trick and fool everyone. So the King, the Lion, receives more and more complaints about him. He orders that Master Fox is arrested and brought to him.
The Tale of the Fox

No description available.
The Tale of the Sleeping Princess and the Seven Knights

Alcoholism and its Ill-Effects was considered to be one of the most popular science propaganda (or educational) films produced in Russia before the revolution of 1917. Alexander Khanzhonkov, the most prominent Russian film producer of that era, financed a special department dedicated to non-fictional cinema, despite the fact that such films were not commercially successful. Unfortunately, not a single copy of the film has survived to the present day. All that remains are 12 frames, which were used by Izvolov to create this reconstruction. He also used extracts from critical reviews, published at the time of the film’s release, to produce a soundtrack.
Alcoholism and Its Consequences

The Bug Trainer explores Starewitch’s creative ideas and concepts of his work, along with opinions from film critics and other animation directors to help us understand why he is considered one of the greatest creators of the animation world.
The Bug Trainer

A Father Christmas ornament climbs down from a decorated tree, and goes to the forest. There he creates and decorates a Christmas tree for the forest creatures. He then invites all the insects, along with a friendly frog, to come and enjoy the gifts he has prepared, and to celebrate Christmas.
The Insects' Christmas

An ant works to prepare for winter while a drunken grasshopper plays his violin and dances away his time. When the snow arrives, the grasshopper pleads with the ant for shelter and is turned away to die.
The Grasshopper and the Ant

A jilted husband takes his revenge by filming his wife and her lover and showing the result at the local cinema.
The Cameraman's Revenge
Jeannot, a young boy living in the countryside with his mother and grandfather, ventures into the forest at night to pick a fern flower before the cock crows.
The Fern Flower

A toy stuffed dog has just been sewn together when it hears a young child ask for an orange. The child's mother explains that they have no money, and so she cannot buy any oranges. The dog is then packed up along with a box full of other toys to be sold, but it soon winds up in the street. The dog picks up an orange from a curb side stand, and hopes to take it home to the child. But that night, before the dog can get back to the child's home, it must face a series of strange and frightening adventures.
The Mascot

Based on the story by Pushkin. Pretty young Parasha is living with her widowed mother. Parasha diligently takes care of many household tasks, but she also enjoys flirting with the guards's officers who pass by her window, and she has one particular favourite. One day, Parasha's mother asks her to hire a cook, and to do so as cheaply as possible. Parasha and her beau soon see a way to use this situation to their own advantage.
The Little House in Kolomna

The film tells the story of Judas and Satan wandering the world in search of a virgin who could become the mother of the new Evil.
Maiden's Mountains
Two animated fables by La Fontaine "The Old Lion" ("Le lion devenu vieux") and "The Lion and the Gnat" ("Le Lion et le Moucheron").
Two fables by La Fontaine

Based on Gogol's story. It is Christmas Eve, and the town witches’ son, a blacksmith, seeks an honest marriage to his love who wishes for a pair of shoes fit for the Tsarina. A mischievous devil is trapped into providing service to the smith.
The Night Before Christmas

The Mascot and his wife are on an island. When going out to fish, Mascot ends up being enchanted by a mermaid.
The Mascot and the Mermaids

This film captures a stage production at Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, accompanied by the choir of Moscow Synagogue. Brothers Isaak and Borukh are both in love with Sarra, but Sarra chooses Isaac and they got married. However, Sarra could not conceive for ten years, and their Rabbi tells them that according to Jewish law, they must divorce. Isaak's parents push him to sign the divorce paper, then their Rabbi drops the divorce paper to Sarra's feet. She tells Isaac about her grief, and Isaak commits suicide. Soon after-wards, Sore realizes that she is pregnant, but she is now single.
Sorrows of Sarah

The first behind-the-scenes documentary in the film industry, from the making of a camera (Debrie) to studio shooting and directing, including animation techniques. Pierre Chenal meets André Rigal who executes, in his workshop, a series of freehand drawings. These sketches are then ground in a coffee grinder, from which a cartoon on film emerges. In Champigny, Alain Saint-Ogan and his host are working on Zig et Puce and developing Alfred the penguin's first steps. In Fontenay-sous-Bois, Ladislas Starewitch presents his future stars. Pierre Chenal described his film as follows: “I had designed to shoot a documentary in which I would show how a film is made in order, at the same time, to learn it myself. "
Paris Cinéma

The film is a delightful tale of a spoiled wedding between child's toys which shows Starewicz's typical style of making amusing films appropriate for children without much sentimentality. As in many of his other films, his daughter Nina plays the role of the child.
Babylas' Marriage

In the night, at the top of a big clock, three little automatons come to life in turn: an agile monkey, a pretty dancer and an acrobatic jester, driven by clever mechanisms. Nina, the clockmaker's little girl, begins to dream. She is a little street singer. And a ballerina in love with a little tin soldier. And a princess in search of her beautiful knight lost in the enchanted forest. From burglary to castle attack, from mermaid to dragon, the adventure never stops... like the hands of a clock.
Tales of the Magic Clock

A man is increasingly unnerved by a mysterious portrait. Based on a story by Nikolai Gogol, the film is thought to have run about 45 minutes long, but only an 8 minute fragment is known to have survived.