Jiří Trnka

Thomas Wilkowski & Richard Taggart

The Early Days

Born on February 24, 1912

Grew up in Bohemia (Czech Republic)

Began sculpting puppets from woodAttended the School of Applied Arts in Prague (1929-1935)

Life as an Illustrator

Moved on to illustrate many children's books

Most were geared toward Czech traditional stories

Completed over 130 works

Was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award for his works by the IBBY

InfluencesMuch of his work was affiliated with the

life under communist regimeThemes were subtle enough that the

government administration did not black list his work

However, some films were banned based on religious or other controversial topics

Based some animations on musical scores that he heard before creating the animation

Used mainly stop-motion puppet animationChanged lighting and framing of a scene to

project the illusion of changing emotions

1) Quote from Jiri Trnka: http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com/2011/12/im-your-puppet-puppet-film.html

Contributions to Animation

“Puppet films are truly unlimited in their possibilities: they can express themselves with the greatest force precisely when the realistic expression of the cinematographic

image often faces insurmountable obstacles.”1

Life as an AnimatorCreated a puppet theatre in 1936, but was

dissolved in WWIICo-founded Trick Brothers animation unitCreated some short films including:

Zasadil Dedek Repu (Grandfather planted a beet), 1945

Zviratka to Petrovsti (Animals and Bandits), 1946

Cirkus Veselý (The Merry Circus), 1951http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ehVfobr-Go The Hand, 1965

Felt that traditional animation was too limiting, so he moved into puppet animation

Feature FilmsŠpalíček (The Czech Year),

1947The Good Soldier Švejk

(adapted from the Czech novel), 1955

Sen noci svatojánské (A Midsummer Night's Dream), 1959 – Adaptation from Shakespeare’s work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjHklvgLaN4&feature=BFa&list=PLDD7126FC2923D924&lf=results_main

The Hand

The last work that Trnka produced

Was a political allegory, that criticized Joseph Stalin

Banned for 2 decades because it mocked the state of a totalitarian society.

The Hand Part 1 The Hand Part 2

Questions?

Sources"Jiri Trnka -- Walt Disney Of The East!” http://

www.awn.com/mag/issue5.04/5.04pages/dutkatrnka.php3

Jiri Trnka, New World Encyclopedia. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jiri_Trnka

Jiri Trnka at BFI Southbank in April 2012. http://www.close-upfilm.com/2012/03/jiri-trnka-at-bfi-southbank-in-april-2012/