Nataliia Lebedeva

(*2001, TI)

What is the first animated film you remember seeing and what special impact did it have on you?

I grew up in Eastern Europe, where I was exposed to a considerable amount of Soviet animation during my childhood. Its often bizarre and surreal undertones left a lasting impression on me. Choosing a single work that had the greatest impact is therefore no easy task. Titles such as Last Year's Snow Was Falling, with its remarkable plasticine morphing sequences, or the Soviet adaptation of Winnie-the-Pooh, with its distinctive crayon-like backgrounds and catchy songs, immediately come to mind.

However, I believe the work that most strongly influenced my artistic style and made me realize that animation could be much more than children's entertainment was Treasure Island by David Cherkassky. It is truly a masterpiece. Although made for children, it is filled with adult humor and innuendo. The film cleverly combines live-action footage with animation to reduce production costs and save time. As an animator, I later came to appreciate just how effective and practical this approach was. The film's rough inking style, grotesque character designs, intense close-ups, crazy transitions and switch of perspectives had a great influence on how I imagine, draw, and animate things. The pirate characters, each with their own eccentric quirks, from Billy Bones' catastrophic sneezing fits to Doctor Livesey's unsettling smile and iconic laugh, along with the film's highly exaggerated animation for comedic effect, shaped my understanding of what animated cinema can be.

As a result, I came to value strong character design, irony, compelling storytelling, unexpected twists, and attention to detail in any film, animated or otherwise.