- Old Czech Legends
-
Old Czech Legends Directed by Jiří Trnka Written by Screenplay:
Jiří Brdecka
Jiří Trnka
Book:
Alois JirásekMusic by Václav Trojan Cinematography Emanuel Franek
Ludvík HájekRelease date(s) 8 April 1953 Running time 91 minutes Country Czechoslovakia Language Czech Old Czech Legends (Czech: Staré pověsti české) is a 1953 Czechoslovak stop motion puppet animation film directed by Jiří Trnka. It was based on the 1894 book Ancient Bohemian Legends by Alois Jirásek.
After the completion of Bajaja in 1950, Trnka was celebrated by the communist regime of Czechoslovakia, and asked to make more films. He created a project to film Don Quijote, but it was rejected. Trnka decided to go back to illustrating children's books, but the government convinced him to make his next film based on a classical Czech book. Trnka initially didn't want to work on the project, but once he started for real, the results were astonishing.
The 91 minute film is a rather ambitious project that Trnka made possible thanks to his legendary mastery of puppets and animation. The complex story is filled with many characters and features complicated scenes both to stage and animate. His use of camera movements, lighting, set design, character design and animation and general storytelling made this a very influential movie in the history of animation.
Voice cast
- Růžena Nasková
- Zdeněk Štěpánek
- Eduard Kohout
- Václav Vydra
- Karel Höger
External links
- Old Czech Legends at the Internet Movie Database
- Jiri Trnka, Walt Disney of the East! - article @ Animation World Network (AWN)
- Jiri Trnka: an artist who turned puppets into film stars
- A frame of the movie
Springman & the SS · The Czech Year · The Emperor's Nightingale · Prince Bayaya · Old Czech Legends · A Midsummer Night's Dream
Categories:- Czechoslovak films
- Czech-language films
- Animated film stubs
- 1953 films
- Czechoslovak animated films
- Films directed by Jiří Trnka
- Stop-motion animated films
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.