"The Overcoat" (, Shinel; sometimes translated as "The Cloak") is the title of a short story by Russian author Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842. The story and its author have had great influence on Russian literature, thus spawning the phrase attributed to Dostoevsky: "We all came out of Gogol's 'Overcoat'." The story has been adapted into a variety of stage and film interpretations. One of the most recent adaptations is by co-creators Morris Panych and Wendy Gorling, which included music by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich and was performed completely without words using dance and mime. [http://www.culturevulture.net/Theater9/Overcoat.htm

Critically-acclaimed animation director Yuriy Norshteyn has been slowly and labourously working on a (presumably) full-length animated film version of 'The Overcoat' since 1983. A couple of short, low-resolution clips from the project have been made available: and [http://www.pbs.org/weta/faceofrussia/timeline/quicktime/overcoat2.html.

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