Crimea and planned to create a Museum of Naval Glory there with a panoramic view, although this never happened. In addition he worked a lot as an artist and drew top-selling agitation posters. Late years Merkulov took part in the Great Patriotic War and on his return continued the art career. Only during the 1950s, he turned back to cinema. Between 1955 and 1965, he created animated sequences for many live action movies, including the science fiction film I Was a Satellite of the Sun (1959) and Grigori Aleksandrov's Russian Souvenir (1960). He also directed several propaganda animated shorts similar to those he had been involved back in the 1920s, such as Prosecute Bread Thieves! (1965), although there was no demand for it anymore. In addition he played episodic roles of Russian noblemen and landlords in historical dramas: his aristocratic appearance attracted film directors. Yuri Merkulov died in 1979 and was buried in the family tomb at the Novodevichy Cemetery. He was married to Antonina Vasilievna Merkulova whom he met in Crimea. They had a daughter Nina. Literature Cinema: Encyclopedic Dictionary // main editor Sergei Yutkevich (1987). — Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, p. 265 Olga Nesterovich (1971). Life in Cinema. Veterans about Themselves and Their Friends. — Moscow: Iskusstvo, p. 124 Yuri Merkulov (1928). Something about Bratishkin. — Soviet Screen № 49 Ivan Ivanov-Vano (1980). Frame After Frame. — Moscow: Iskusstvo, p. 17-23, 54-60 See also History of Russian animation References External links Yuri Merkulov at Animator.ru 1901 births 1979 deaths 20th-century Russian painters Russian animated film directors Artists from Moscow People of the Russian Civil War Russian animators Russian avant-garde Russian caricaturists Russian film directors Russian inventors Russian male actors Russian male painters Russian people of World War II Russian scenic designers Soviet animation directors Soviet animators Soviet documentary film directors Soviet inventors Soviet male actors Soviet painters Stop motion animators Vkhutemas alumni