The animator of the films about the cat Leopold and the mammoth died

The cartoonist Vyacheslav Nazaruk, known as the creator of a number of famous characters of the Soviet cartoons studio “Soyuzmultfilm”, died. He was, in particular, an artist-director of the cartoons “Mama for a Mammoth”, “Little Raccoon”, “Once a Cowboy, Two Cowboys”, a series of films about the cat Leopold.

Nazaruk was 81 years old, the editor-in-chief of “Soyuzmultfilm” Sergey Kapkov reported his death. The cause of death is not given. Farewell to the artist will be held in Moscow.

“After the closure of the animation studio on television, he received an invitation to the USA to the Disney studio, where he gave lectures on the theory of drawing, painting and composition. In recent years, he painted paintings dedicated to the events of ancient Russian history,” Kapkov wrote. Among the artist’s works, in particular, a triptych about “Words about Igor’s regiment”.

Cartoons about the cat Leopold were published from 1975 to 1987, for which Nazaruk received the USSR State Prize in 1985 (together with screenwriter Arkady Hait and director Anatoly Reznikov).