Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Kotyonochkin (also known as Kotenochkin) (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Вячеслав Михайлович Котёночкин) (June 20, 1927 – November 20, 2000) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

animation director An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated or television film, or an animated segment for a live-action film or television show. Alternatively, the animation direct ...

, animator and artist. He was named

People’s Artist of the RSFSR People's Artist of the RSFSR (, ''Narodnyj artist RSFSR'') was an Title of honor, honorary title granted to Soviet, Soviet Union artists, including theatre and film directors, actors, choreographers, music performers, and orchestra conductors, wh ...

in 1987. He is most famous for directing the popular animated series '' Well, Just You Wait!''''Peter Rollberg (2016)''
Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema
— Rowman & Littlefield, p. 400 ''Irina Margolina, Natalia Lozinskaya (2006)''
Our Animation
— Moscow: Interros, p. 132-137 He was also active as a comic artist.

Early life

Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin was born in Moscow into a

family of Mikhail Mikhailovich Kotyonochkin (1900—1941), an accountant and a native

Muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula KAl2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavage y ...

who died from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

shortly before the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

, and Eugenia Andreevna Kotyonochkina (née Shirshova) (1906—1962), a housewife whose family moved to Moscow from

Kimry Kimry (), formerly Kimra (), is a town in the south of Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River at its confluence with the Kimrka River, to the east of Tver. Population: History The town was known as Kimra until the beginning of the 20 ...

Tver Governorate Tver Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 until 1929. Its seat was in Tver. The governorate was lo ...

. His maternal grandfather Andrei Ivanovich Shirshov came from peasants, while his wife Maria Vasilievna Komissarova belonged to a wealthy family with an estate in Kimry which they had to abandon after the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

. His earliest known paternal ancestor lived under a Koshkin surname (from the word ''koshka'' — ''cat'') and owned a restaurant and a confectionery store in Moscow, but his twin sons were nicknamed "kittens" which transformed into a rare Kotyonochkin surname with time (from the word ''kotyonok'' — ''kitten''). Vyacheslav was

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

in a Moscow Orthodox church soon after birth.''Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin (1999)''. Well, Kotyonochkin, Just You Wait! — Moscow: Algorithm, p. 13-23, 245. 269 pages. (Autobiography)Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin's tomb
/ref> In 1938 he visited a New Year celebration for children at the

House of the Unions The House of the Unions (, also called ''Palace of the Unions'') is a historic building in the Tverskoy District in central Moscow, Russia. It is situated on the corner of Bolshaya Dmitrovka and Okhotny Ryad streets. History The first building ...

where they were shown a collection of the first Soviet color animated films. He was so impressed that he started taking drawing courses at a

Pioneers Palace Young Pioneer Palaces or Palaces of Young Pioneers and Schoolchildren were youth centers designated for the creative work, sport training and extracurricular activities of Pioneer movement, Young Pioneers (primarily in the Young Pioneers (Sovi ...

.cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

Early life

Career

Family

Selected filmography

Director

Animator

References

External links