 The project was initiated by Soyuzmultfilm director Akop Kirakosyan (Akop Kirakosyan), who invited Shemyakin to the project; the idea of doing a film about E. T. A. Hoffmann's stories was Shemyakin's.Work began in 2001.It is the biggest project that the Soyuzmultfilm studio has worked on since the collapse of the Soviet Union.