
Ion Popescu-Gopo was a Romanian animator and graphic artist, director and writer. He was one of the pioneers of Romanian animation films. He won the Short Film Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival in 1957 for his film “A Brief History“. The worldwide success achieved by “A Brief History” turned The Little Man into an iconic character, symbolizing the human race in its quest for knowledge and beauty”.
During his career, he would direct over 40 short and long films, mostly animated. He tried to create a style that would go against the Disney standards, by trying to emphasize mostly on the message he wanted to give to the audience. That’s why his characters are mainly in black and white, designed in simple lines.
Ion Popescu-Gopo was an active member of the Romanian Cinematography and his career expanded for almost 4 decades, until his death in 1989, a few weeks prior to the Romanian Revolution. He was the main responsible for the birth and progress of Animafilm, an animation studio which gave voice to several artists during those times.
From his filmography, we recommend you to search some of the following movies:
- A Brief History (1957)
- Seventh Art (1958)
- Homo Sapiens (1960)
- If I Were Harap Alb (1965)
- Maria, Mirabella (1981)
Here is an extract from his short film “A Brief History“: