Animation Theatre: Jiří Barta

26th November 1948- Present

Fig. 1 Jiří Barta

Jiří Barta is a Czechoslovakian stop-motion animator who has won many awards for his fresh and inventive work. He is known for combining real-life and stop motion into his animations and for his sculpted character quality especially when he is at work with wood to produce his pieces. He has however also worked with cut outs in his early work, perhaps his colour take on Lotte Reiniger’s work. He has truly made his mark on animation; adjusting it to his tastes just look at the contrasting techniques of his early work such as ‘Disc Jockey’ (1980) and his later work ‘In the Attic’ (2009).

Fig. 2 Disc Jockey

Barta shares a lot in common with fellow Czech animator Jan Švankmajer in that his work is

highly fantastical and relates to child tales and stories. Where Švankmajer did his own adaptation of

‘Alice in Wonderland’, Barta takes ‘The Pied Piper of Hameln’ to add his mark to. His work is also in

ways highly surreal such as strange objects moving across the screen for no reason what so ever.

However, unlike Švankmajer, Barta is more optimistic with his work for example, there could be this

big mayhem filled event unfolding but by then end Barta has tried to include a somewhat moral

solution. That is something that makes him stand out; he gets his messages across through evocative

and shocking imagery but then closes with scenes that are more cheerful and upbeat. ‘Like

Svankmajer, Barta leans towards the grotesque in his imagery; sound is heavily emphasized,

whether it is blood sloshing or a guttural, nonsensical tongue, providing a tactile quality to his

characters and their universe.’ (Jediny: 2007) What with the lack of dialogue in his animations this

vivid imagery is complementary to Barta’s style of storytelling. He lets images do the talking rather

than relying on a real voice, the voices of the characters are heard through their design and sets. In a

way this is better for the stories Barta tells because it allows the audience their own interpretation

of any messages Barta may be telling rather than being fed it through direct noise.

Yes morals play a major role in Barta’s work but he has such a unique way in applying them

which is perhaps why his version of ‘The Pied Piper of Hamlyn’ (1986) is so effective. He fills his

characters and stories with corrupt emotions but really feeds on the deterioration of society and

being civil with each other. It is as if he uses fantasy worlds to reflect on problems of our real one

allowing his audiences to be unbiased and take in an interpretation they wouldn’t normally allow

themselves. For example, the uncanny of elements in his ‘The Pied Piper of Hamlyn’ are metaphors

for the other side or the devil’s sins residing in us whereas, gentleness in elderly and young

represent hope for our race. A great scene showing Barta’s expressive way of telling his morals is

when two humans are angrily trying to barter. Their heads stretch out at each other and getting

redder, a striking contrast to how Disney interprets the morals of the Pied Piper and Ivana

Košuličová has picked up on Barta’s inspiration from the selfishness of our world. ‘In these films,

Barta creates mysterious horror worlds full of sinful, grasping humans who reflect the decay of

human society. Apocalypse for human kind comes from the uncanny beings… yet, there always

remains some hope: in elderly wisdom.’ (Košuličová: 2002)

Fig. 3 The Pied Piper of Hamlyn

Barta’s work serves a purpose of teaching us that the world as it is is disturbing and his

ideologies mixed in with his original character and set design, combination of animation techniques

and a range of camera work adds depth to highly ambitious works which overall have a huge impact

on the audience. Barta continues to engage whether it is through humour or deep serious thought

but no matter what he makes it his mission to take the level of his work above that of children’s

tales. ‘Revered as one of the world’s most significant figures in animation, Czech filmmaker Jiri

Barta has made a career fashioning stunningly gothic worlds of horror and fantasy that are

infused with sublime humour and intense moral examinations. Mixing the aesthetic traditions of

such artists as Gaudi, Kafka, Poe, Fritz Lang, The Brothers Quay and Jan Svankmajer, Barta’s films

are wondrous creations.’ (Unknown: 2009)

Bibliography

Jediny, Jenny, (2007) The Animation of Jiri Barta http://www.notcoming.com/features/jiribarta/

(Accessed 25/03/2012)

Košuličová, Ivana, (2002) The Morality of Horror

http://www.kinoeye.org/02/01/kosulicova01_no2.php (Accessed 25/03/2012)

Unknown, (2009) Cinema of the World http://www.worldscinema.com/2009/10/jiri-barta-labyrinth-

of-darkness-1978.html (Accessed 25/03/2012)

List of Illustrations

Fig. 1. Jiří Barta. [Online image].On bioillusion.com

http://www.bioillusion.com/data/pictures/perex/jiri-barta-165104681.jpg (Accessed 25/03/2012)

Fig. 2. Disc Jockey. [Online image].On notcoming.com

http://www.notcoming.com/animation/images/barta_design.gif (Accessed 25/03/2012)

Fig. 3. The Pied Piper of Hamlyn. [Online image].On dvdtalk.com

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/reviews/177/1158722964.jpg (Accessed 25/03/2012)