Joško Marušić, born in Split on March 27, 1952, is a Croatian author of animated films, caricaturist, illustrator and university professor.
Joško Marušić was born in Split in 1952, where he graduated from the classical high school, and after that, from the Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb in 1975. An architect by education, he is engaged in caricature, comics, illustrations, literature, film production, theory of animation, and was even a famous TV personality with his own TV show, but his true love and the focus of his work is art animation. He is considered one of the most important authors of the Zagreb School of Animated Films. His films won a great number of awards at the most important animated and short film festivals – often Grands Prix and other major awards: Annecy, Oberhausen, Ottawa, Zagreb, London, Miami, Chicago, Tampere, Brussels, Melbourne, Madrid, Rotterdam, Belgrade.
He was also art director of the animation studio at Zagreb Film from 1987 to 1989, and again from 1992 to 1998. From 1992 to 1998, he was art director of the Zagreb World Festival of Animated Film (known as Animafest Zagreb). He was a member of numerous film juries, founder of some animated film schools and visiting professor at several European universities as well. He was the author of the inaugural concept and program, and, in 1999, also the founder and first principal of the Animation and New Media Department (as an entirely new department) at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb. His texts and articles on theory and history of animation were published in books, almanacs and film journals. He illustrated about thirty course books and picture books for kids, for which he won the most prestigious national awards. He is continuously publishing cartoons in magazines and in daily newspapers. He had three solo exhibitions of coloured ink drawings. He wrote several books: some on cartoons, autobiographical essays, illustrated literary-historical work, specialized books on animation. He won the highest national award in culture: medal Order of Danica Hrvatska (figure of Marko Marulić).
His films won a great number of awards at most important animated film festivals – often Grands Prix and other major awards.Famous theorist and critic on animation Giannalberto Bendazzi selected his film „I Love You, too...“ (1991) for „The Tour of Animation in 84 Films – Jewels of a Century“, his selection of best films in the history of animation (Annecy, 2000).