Lev Atamanov

Lev Atamanov (Russian: Лев Атаманов), born Levon Konstantinovich Atamanyan (Russian: Левон Константинович Атаманян, Armenian: Լեւոն Ատամանյան; 21 February [O.S. 8 February] 1905 – 12 February 1981), was a Soviet Armenian animation director.Atamanov was one of the foremost Soviet animation film directors and one of the founders of Soviet animation art. He is the director of famous classics of Soviet animation, such as the prize-winning fairy tales The Yellow Stork (Zhyoltyy aist) (1950), Scarlet Flower (Alenkiy tsvetochek) (1952), The Golden Antelope (1954), the full-length animation The Snow Queen (1957), and the modern satirical tale The Key (1961). In his works Lev Atamanov subtly conveyed the national coloring of fairy tales and combined romantic elation in images of positive characters with warm and kind humor.

Atamanov was one of the most respected Soviet animators and is regarded as one of the greatest artists in the history of animation. He was named People’s Artist of the RSFSR in 1978.In a 2021 interview Hayao Miyazaki cited Atamanov's 1957 film The Snow Queen as a seminal influence on his work and his favorite film.