Most of the animators above considered animation to be an interesting experiment or a way to document reality. But Władysław Starewicz considered animation to be an art form. The figure of Starewicz was shrouded in mystery at his time. He was very secretive. He didn't reveal the secrets of his dolls, he didn't have any followers, he worked with a very close group of people. Most works were made by him and his family members: his wife and daughters. He "revived" dead insects and created a mystification around himself. That's what one cinema critic said about him, "No, I won't go to Starewicz, … I don't want him to transform me into a stone or unleash his dwarfs, spirits…"
One of his films, Pierrot-artists (1907), shows two Pierott-dolls who draw a house, and then a woman comes out of the house. Eventually, all three start ballet-dancing together. Shiryaev's works were considered lost for a long time, just a few decades ago his animated films were rediscovered.
Starewicz – a tamer of insects