Dutch Text: ›The Story of the Kolobok‹
directed and animated by James M. Boekbinder
Netherlands 2002
The film is based on the Russian folk story ›Kolobok‹, about a
roll that runs away to keep from being eaten. In the film, the
forest has been replaced with the Soviet subway, where the
animals all have menial jobs. The concept art, storyboards and
backgrounds developed the style of all of the environments
and settings in the film. All of these were executed in ink
and watercolor, full-sized renderings. In addition, a complete,
start-to-finish color design was created in advance to make a
perfect match between digitally created elements and handcreated
elements. The film won a prize for Best Debut Film at
the Message to Man Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, 2003,
and the Grand Prix at the International Animation Festival in
Vilnius, Lithuania, 2004. Tatyana Yassievich did art direction,
color design, and more than 700 background paintings for this
film.