| Birth Date: | 11 November 1900 |
| Birth Place: | Moscow, Russian Empire |
| Death Date: | 20 March 1983 (82 years) |
| Death Place: | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Nationality: | Russian |
| Known For: | The Snow Queen |
| Alma Mater: | Moscow Art Theater 1979-1982 Mayakovsky Theatre 1922-1983 Gostim 1920 - 1922 |
| Birth Name: | Maria Ivanovna Babanova |
| Awards: | People's Artist of the USSR |
Maria Ivanovna Babanova (Russian: Мария Ивановна Бабанова; 11 November 1900 – 20 March 1983) was a Soviet and Russian actress and pedagogue. She has been described as Vsevolod Meyerhold's greatest actress[1] and was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1954.
Babanova made her debut in Theodore Komisarjevsky's theatre in 1919. A year later, she joined Vsevolod Meyerhold's acting courses. Described as "a small, radiant, energetic actor",[2] Babanova captivated the Moscow public in Meyerhold's production of The Magnanimous Cuckold (1922).
The three leading players, Igor Ilyinsky, Maria Babanova and Vasily Zaichikov were so in harmony they became known collectively as 'Il-Ba-Zai'.[3] Babanova was viewed as the first great actress to emerge after the October Revolution. A typical review of her acting read as follows:[4]
Babanova's triumphs allegedly aroused the jealousy of Meyerhold's wife, Zinaida Reich. In 1927, Babanova was forced to leave Meyerhold's troupe, as major female roles went to Reich and she felt underemployed. Babanova excelled at the Mayakovsky Theatre in the roles of children and adolescents. She retired from acting in 1979 and died in 1983, aged 82.[5]
The eponymous character from the film of the same name was voiced by her. The animators took a new approach to drawing the Snow Queen. They emphasized the spectral presence of the Snow Queen by using the animation technique known as rotoscoping or "éclair" named after the table manufactured by the company of the same name. Éclair method used a epidiascope that would be fixed on one side of a furniture equipment provided by furniture company Éclair and the screen projector was fixed on the other side.[6] As one of the acclaimed actresses of Soviet Union, Maria Babanova and some of the other cast members were filmed as if the actors are in a live performance with makeup and costume. Then the film footage was transferred to celluloid with some corrections. The role of the Snow Queen would resemble the mannerisms and unique qualities of the actress as the film footage was translated into frame-by-frame drawings.[7] [8] Maria Babanova's voice was fitting for the character.