Czech animation has a long history of creativity and craft, whimsy and surrealism. Studios in Prague and Zlín produced a fascinating range of work encompassing stop motion, puppetry, cut-outs and drawn animation. Filmmakers like Karel Zeman and Hermína Týrlová also pioneered the combination of animation and live action in their work (Zeman’s Invention for Destruction being one of the more stunning examples of this). Alongside Zeman and Týrlová, Zdeněk Miler, Břetislav Pojar, and Jiří Trnka were major figures in animation from the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic-period this program focuses on: the “golden era” of the 1950s through the 1980s. But there were many other talented animators working alongside them: Josef Kluge, Václav Mergl, Vladimír Lehký and Libuše Čihařová, to name a few. The films selected for this program all feature the presence of objects—from lollipops to hands—that emit a mysterious aura. Such enigmatic objects remain a central element of Czech animation (just think of Jan Švankmajer and Jiří Barta) and whether joyful or ominous, they invite interpretation and the contemplation of how meaning shifts in relation to context.
Josef Kluge’s stop-motion animation How the Wanderer Laid an Egg (1968) repurposes kitchen tools and food to create a tale of adventure and imaginative rebirth that allows us to see everyday objects anew. Zdeněk Miler’s The Little Mole and the Lollipop (1970) similarly focuses on the mundane, as the little mole finds treasures in the trash left behind by careless children. As ever, the little mole is an adorable advocate for community awareness, kindness, and imaginative play. Jiří Trnka drew from his background in puppet theater to create engaging fairy tales, but his last film The Hand (1965) is a masterful allegory about artistic creation and restriction that offers a biting critique of power. The Crabs (1976), directed by Václav Mergl, also offers critique, examining the bizarre interface between science and weaponry, wherein strange creatures merge and transform in a rapid evolution of violent capabilities that quickly gets out of control. On the lighter side, Vladimír Lehký’s A Fluffy Bird (1966) offers two birds as sparring partners in the kind of animated series that became a staple of Czech television over the years (with Pik and Kvik, Bob and Bobek, and Pat & Mat). A Fluffy Bird follows the birds’ whimsical adventures as they cavort and explore a minimalist landscape wherein their curiosity and energy spurs on transformative fun. Finally, Libuše Čihařová’s intriguing Fairy Tale Planet (1986) mixes the genres of science fiction and fairy tale—something not commonly done! Astronauts land on a strange planet whose objects surprise them, and as the story progresses, its mystery resolves into a familiar story from childhood—a delightful juxtaposition of future and past.
Jennifer Lynde Barker