| The Overcoat | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Yuri Norstein |
| Screenplay by | Yuri Norstein Lyudmila Petrushevskaya |
| Based on | "The Overcoat" by Nikolai V. Gogol |
| Produced by | Yuri Norstein |
| Cinematography | Aleksandr B. Zhukovskiy Maksim Granik |
| Animation by | Yuri Norstein Francheska Yarbusova |
Running time | 65 minutes |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
The Overcoat (Russian: Шине́ль, Shinyél’) is an unfinished animated feature film that has been the main project of Russian director and animator Yuri Norstein since 1981. It is based on "The Overcoat" (1842), a short story by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol.
Around 25 minutes were completed by 2004.[1] The unfinished film has been shown publicly in several exhibitions of Norstein's work around the world and clips of it have been included in a few documentary films about Russian animation and culture. A Japanese theatrical documentary, Yuriy Norshteyn: Making The Overcoat, premiered in 2018.[2]
On March 13, 2007, Norstein stated that he planned to release the first 30 minutes of the film with a soundtrack into theatres by the end of 2007.[3] However, as of 2024, the film remains unfinished, and its production time of over 40 years is the longest for any animated motion picture in history.