ainda Vasco Granja e a animação checa

Still Life of Animated Dogs, Paul Fierlinger (2001)


Zvahlav, Klara Kohoutova (2007)


Golem, Jiri Barta


Trik, Ondrej Svadlena


Reci Reci Reci, Michaela Pavlátová


Titanic, Lucie Stamfestova


Na tu svatbu, Vaclav Blin


Sleva, Petr Charvat


1001 Nights, Karel Zeman


Džin, Jan Balej


The history of a glorious era in Czechoslovak animated film did not begin to be written until after the Second World War. The most significant artists include Jiří Trnka, Karel Zeman and Hermína Tyrlová.
um artigo retirado na íntegra daqui. vale a pena visitar o original, pelos vários links.

"The nationalization of the film industry helped the rapid development of Czech animated film. Not less important for the development is the joining of the ranks by Jiří Trnka. Trnka had an extremely successful beginning to his work at Prague’s Atelier filmovych triku (Film Special Effects Studio, or AFIT).

In 1946, he won the main prize at Cannes for the film Zvířátka a Petrovští (The Animals and the People of Petrov – this film by an internationally unknown artist triumphed over such names in the world of animation as Walt Disney, Norman McLaren and Paul Grimault). In subsequent years, Trnka and his collaborators (who were later also very important figures in Czech film, such as Břetislav Pojár, Jiří Brdečka, Eduard Hofman and others) supplied a whole series of successful films.

The AFIT company was divided into a studio for puppet films, where Trnka worked, and a studio for animated cartoons – Bratři v triku. At the end of the 1940s, Jiří Trnka immediately made three animated feature films and several short films in record time. This was more than could be managed by anyone else in the world during that period. Trnka’s projects had a lot of state support for their success, even after the accession of the communist dictatorship.

In the 1950s, a number of successful films were produced in Trnka’s workshop such as Bajaja (1950), Staré pověsti české (Ancient Czech Myths, 1952), Sen noci svatojanské (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1959) and others. These earned Trnka the honor of being dubbed the Walt Disney of the East by the world’s film critics. Jiří Trnka’s last film, Ruka (The Hand), from 1965, is one of his most celebrated works.

Two of Trnka’s collaborators, Jiří Brdečka and Břetislav Pojár gained worldwide popularity. Jiří Brdečka applied himself to directing animated cartoons. Bretislav Pojar is another important figure in Czech puppet film. His first independent short film, O skleničku víc (A Drop Too Much, 1954) was an immediate international success (main prize at the Cannes festival). Pojár’s most famous films include a series about playful bears Pojďte pane, budeme si hrát (Come Sir, Let’s Play) and Zahrada (The Garden), based on books by the aforementioned Jiří Trnka. Since the 1990s, Břetislav Pojár has been head of the Animation Department at Prague’s FAMU school.

Another center of Czech animated film was located in Moravia. The central figures of the Zlín studios were Karel Zeman and Hermína Tyrlová. Incidentally, Tyrlova made her first films even before Jiri Trnka. Her films are primarily intended for a children’s audience. The most famous of these includes Vzpoura hraček (Toy Rebellion, 1948).

The films of Karel Zeman are celebrated for their inimitable poetic quality which derives from the combination of live actors with animated models and drawn backgrounds. Zeman created a series of feature-length films that combine live action and animation and are notable for their extraordinary special effects. The most renowned are Cesta do pravěku (Voyage to the Prehistoric Times, 1955), Vynález zkázy (A Deadly Invention, 1958) and Baron Prašil (Baron Munchausen, 1961). The artistically exceptional film Vynalez zkazy, based on the Jules Verne novel received the Grand Prize in Expo 58 in Brussels and the Grand Prize of the French Academy of Film.

In the 1970s Zeman returned to animated film and his love of fairy tales with Pohádky tisíce a jedné noci (Tales of Thousand and One Nights, 1974), Čarodějův učeň - Krabat (Sorcerer’s Apprentice, 1977) and Pohádka o Honzíkovi a Mařence (Tale of John and Mary, 1980).

Amongst other movies are Vanoční sen (The Christmas Dream,1946) which won the First Prize for the best puppet film in Cannes. Exceptional Inspirace (Inspiration, 1948), in which Zeman exquisitely animated glass blown figurines, won major awards in Belgium, Canada and Uruguay.

Zdeněk Miler also originally started at the Zlín studios, but he soon relocated to the newly established Bratři v triku in Prague. Miler is the creator of the animated character Krteček, or the Little Mole, whose stories have become hugely popular, and not just in the Czech Lands. (Miler’s first film with Krteček, Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel, or How the Mole Got His Trousers, won the main prize at the Venice festival in 1957). Krteček has become one of the symbols of Czech animated film.

Another conspicuous figure at Bratři v triku was Josef Kabrt, who also came to Prague from Zlín. His most celebrated work is his participation in the French-Czech feature-film project La Planete Sauvage (1973), with graphic design by Roland Topor and direction by René Laloux.

A subsequent generation of celebrated distinctive artists is represented in puppet film – Lubomír Beneš, Jan Švankmajer and Jiří Barta. Lubomír Beneš had major international success with his puppet variation on the themes of the classic tale of King Midas, Král a skřítek (The King and the Goblin, 1980). The slapstick series of bedtime stories A je to (Well Done!, generally known as Pat and Mat in English) also won audiences’ hearts.

Jan Švankmajer originally came to film from his work at Laterna magika where he collaborated on projects poetically combining acting, dance and film. He is known as a filmmaker with one of the most original film styles around, which carries distinct traces of surrealism. He made his first films in the 1960s and is today one of the most famous living makers of animated films, even beyond the borders of the Czech Republic.

Jiří Barta’s most striking feat is Krysař (The Pied Piper, 1985), a puppet film on the old German legend adapted by Czech writer Viktor Dyk.

The grace with which the makers of animated films managed to overcome the pitfalls and constraints of the totalitarian regime is astonishing. It was undoubtedly a huge battle. Many projects could not be realized. Others were censored, denounced or banned. Nevertheless, the light of so many extraordinary works shone through everything. To this day, many are jewels in the treasury of the world’s film heritage. Successes abroad helped filmmakers such as Trnka, Pojár, Zeman, Švankmajer and others make films according to their own ideas.

One advantage of nationalized cinematography under communism was the major financial support from the state, which Czech animated film was deprived of after the fall of communism and the subsequent privatisation of the film industry.

At present, only a limited number of animated films are being produced. Filmmakers who have managed despite this to assert themselves not only on the Czech scene but on the international stage as well include Jan Švankmajer (Něco z Alenky, or Alice, 1992; Lekce Faust, or Faust, 1996), the director of puppet films Aurel Klimt, the total animation experts Pavel Koutský – e.g. Curriculum vitae (which won a Golden Bear at the Berlin Festival) and Michaela Pavlátová – her film Řeči, řeči, řeči (Words, Words, Words, 1992) was nominated for an Oscar.

An American Academy Award was won by another Czech, Jan Pinkava, who makes films at the American Pixar studio (a pioneer in the field of computer animation). He received the award for the short film Geri’s Game (1998).

Nevertheless, Czech animated film is not simply living off its illustrious tradition. It can still boast many talented and original artists, who are waiting for their opportunity to present the renowned art of Czech animation in the field of international film.

The competition of either czech or worldwide animated films Anifest can be experienced in Třeboň southern Bohemia each year. The festival is nowadays well recognized in Europe as well as worldwide. "