The Substance of Czech Animation
© Enoch Allen
“Why is that?” I asked him.
“Because, this is the only country in the world that would settle for producing movies like “Freddy Got Fingered” and “Kung Pow! Enter the Fist", whereas the standards for quality are higher in other countries,” he replied.
Well, the guy does have a point. Czech animators hate dumbing down their material. Michaela Pavlatova, to use an obscure example, was nominated for an Oscar for her intelligent and insightful animated short, “Words, Words, Words”. But it was so . . . complicated!
“Words, Words, Words” is a refreshingly high-quality animated film that centers on the structure and nature of human relationships, from fantasy weddings to harsh reality. I believe that this is the only animated film created (including Japanese imports) that represents a wide, diverse range of subject matters. “Words, Words, Words” is representative of the kind of material that Czech animators cover.
Alluding to my earlier example, Prague (generally regarded as second-best to Hollywood, in terms of presenting quality films) doesn’t show just anything. They do not let their animators settle for mediocrity, unlike Hollywood. Czech animators--while somewhat forced to adhere to business logistics--always concentrate on the artistic quality of the project, and less attention is paid to such things like cost or materials.
Some Czech animators have learned to produce magnificent material on a nonexistent budget and little time. When the materials used to produce a film wears thin, these savvy animators increase the “substance” value of it. Case in point: Zdenek Miler’s “Krtek” (or, “little mole”) is so widely beloved in Europe (notably among Czech and Slovak children) that they affectionately--and nostalgically--refer to it as their version of “Mickey Mouse”. And it is--yet, these series of animated shorts featuring the red-nosed mole were made at very little cost to the studio. But it was the substance of these little films that attracted their audience. Miler was able to produce these shorts without sacrificing much style or substance.
Czech artists play an important role in global animation, being that animation directors from the U.S., Iraq, and even Japan (!) seek either their services or their expertise. Keep in mind, reader, that all this is happening as funding for Czech animation is on the decline, and Czech animators have resorted to developing minimalist projects that look as shallow as the budget they’re produced on. But amazingly, as was highlighted in the previous paragraph (utilizing Zdenek Miler’s “Krtek” as an example), even cheap Czech animation is high quality, because your attention is focused towards the narrative, and not on the style.
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