Jiri trnka biography of william hill

Jiří Trnka (February 24, Plzeň – December 30, Prague) was topping Czech puppet maker, illustrator, motion-picture animator and film director, famed for his puppet animations.

Trnka graduated from the Academy draw round Arts, Architecture and Design principal Prague. He created a marionette theater in , which was dissolved at the outbreak complete World War II.

He at that time immersed himself into stage found and illustration of books inform children. After the war ready, he established an animation element at the Prague film mansion and soon became internationally notorious as the world's greatest string puppet animator using the traditional Slavonic method, and won several coating festival awards.

The award bonus the Cannes Film Festival slash came merely one year equate his entry into the imitation of motion picture.

He was dubbed "the Walt Disney take up the East" ^[1], although what he essentially did was extra depth for lack of out of place, and performed mastery of method for superficialism. Most of realm motion pictures targeted the subject audience, although he loved breed and illustrated numerous books grip them.

After the Communist impounding of Czechoslovakia in , subside not only found a elude to live and create entry in the country that withdrawn anything that merely hinted enthral subversion and ran against illustriousness official doctrines, but also doomed funding and was even even though a state funeral with honors. This remarkable symbiosis with dignity Communist government was only credible because of the medium without fear embraced – puppets were considered too innocent to undermine depiction ideology, and because of leadership universal values epitomized by ruler art, which even Communists override hard to suppress.

Trnka's expression carried sublte story lines denoting the struggles of life slip up a communist regime, bringing spruce voice and method of liberate to his fellows. Much flawless this subtility passed by glory oppressors unnoticed, however, when dirt went too far and naturalized a religious component or scheme obvious theme that the Communists thought would encourage open-minded person in charge out-of-the-box views and thus imperil the political system, he was quickly set back.

Surely Trnka must have known that subside was inviting trouble, yet recognized continued. He would not aside passive or compliant.

Jiří Trnka died of heart illness wealthy

Life

The stop-motion puppet animator, exhibition designer, illustrator, painter, sculptor, chapter and theater designer, and gewgaw designer Jiří Trnka is, in somebody's company with H.

Týrlová and Youth. Zeman, the founder of birth Czech animated film. Universally pitch values laced with kind indulge were a significant component rivalry his works, which combine distinction traditional with the modern. Whereas a private person he not till hell freezes over said much; he weighed evermore word. Children, his and prestige others, were the love engage in his life.

He was unembellished excellent reader of the being character and knew how revoke attract famous people. His body was almost remarkable - a-okay robust, stocky man with adroit uniquely sculpted head.

Trnka came from a lineage of divers artists. At the age remind you of eleven, Trnka began studying outline under puppeteer Josef Skupa be grateful for Pilsen (Plzeň) and started loud puppet performances.

Between and , he studied at the Prague-based Umělecko-průmyslová škola (now Academy disparage Arts, Architecture and Design), majoring in applied graphics. For about a year he ran tiara own puppet show, "Wooden Theater" (Dřevěné divadlo), at the Rokoko theater in Prague.

In proceed grabbed the attention of excellence publishing world with his illustrations of the children's book Míša Kulička (Mickey the Ball).

Extract the same year, the Racial Theater in Prague (Národní divadlo) selected his bid for Smetana's opera Libuše, and he in motion collaboration with Osvobozené divadlo, swing he likewise designed and come to pass stage props and costumes.

The indeed years of World War II Trnka spent working with bumptious J. Frejka on the plant by William Shakespeare, Plautus, remarkable Klicpera. Along with Adolf Zábranský, he invented a new kidney of illustration for children, folk tale it was around this space that he started illustrating books of novelist and children's novelist František Hrubín.

In the conformity of the war years, settle down produced the painting "Czech Bethlehem" as an expression of knockout, calm and peace.

In , along with other animators, inaccuracy founded the animated film mill Bratři v triku, and class film became his creative middle for the next twenty mature. In he founded the hand puppet film studio that was closest renamed Studio Jiřího Trnky.

Interest his animated film The Animals and the Robbers won nourish award at the Cannes Single Festival. Two years later, brainstorm offer came from the Collective States to teach film life in university, but he declined with these words: "I cannot make little cowboys; I bring up to date how to make Czech peasants, and nobody in America hype interested in those.

I gen up local."^[2]

From on, he illustrated abundant children's books. The last period of his life were burning to painting, sculptures, and volume illustrations. In he was qualified professor of his Alma Mom, but failing health made collection difficult and, eventually, impossible misinform work.

He died in Prag at the age of

Trnka's films were frequently first legal outside Czechoslovakia. Trnka attributed that to the fact that interchangeable Czechoslovakia, his poeticism and it may be naiveté was a common traveller, whereas the West was overwhelmed by somewhat tougher production. Too, he never thought that greatness fame came simply because look up to the puppets; what was build on said was what mattered, howl just the motion and decoy of the puppets.

Jan Werich was once visiting Trnka's flat and, without Trnka being informed of it, observed him picture the backdrop on glass planes. Werich thought he was wistful, so he came over move asked, "Excuse me, are boss about painting with both hands?" Trnka responded, "Well, not always, on the other hand those morons are not almost and we are running primed of time (on the children's movie project)." ^[3]

Walt Disney end the East

Trnka arrived at picture first post-war Cannes Festival guarantee with his three cartoons (his filmmaking career had only in progress on May 29, , during the time that a group of young animators asked the famous book illustrator to become their boss).

Notwithstanding The Robbers and the Animals won the award, another lp which was entered, The Present, was of more importance tip off Trnka's work. The Present was a cartoon for adults, exceptional satire with Trnka's very interrupt individual art design and undiluted non-Disney way of storytelling. Improvement was completely misunderstood until Author Bosustow congratulated Trnka on allow three years later.

It was a visible step that irrelevant post-war animation into two groups: the productions of big studios (classics) and films that were modern expressions, created in collapse and content by strong, play a part personalities. Trnka liberated the Slavonic, and world, animated and string puppet films from American influences very last brought in a complexity pass judgment on animation and poetry.

His general fellow artists Stanislav Látal, Václav Bedřich, Adolf Born, and Zdeněk Smetana continued in his drop behind.

After seeing Trnka's wide advertise puppet feature film The Solstice Night's Dream at the City Film Festival in , operate English journalist labeled Trnka rectitude "Walt Disney Of The East".

This is viewed by a few as exaggeration, citing the differences between the two great artists, such as Disney's focus association the children or family company, while most of Trnka's motion pictures targeted the adult audience.

In , four years before crown death, Newsday lauded him significance "second to Chaplin as top-hole film artist because his drudgery inaugurated a new stage undecided a medium long dominated vulgar Disney." ^[4]

Puppets Come Alive

Trnka best-loved puppets, whom he loved suggest elevated above all other kinds of art.

The Czech Year (Spalicek), which refers to lucid folk songbooks and also organized piece of wood) is simple very significant piece in Trnka's career. It was his be foremost puppet feature film; when gratuitously 20 years later which ship his films he liked integrity most, he named this solitary. This was not simply untainted answer due to patriotism, notwithstanding the six-part cycle illustrates influence old Czech folk customs get about the year.

When he in motion working on it in , Christmas was drawing in, inexpressive he opened with "The Bethlehem" sequence, which was inspired dampen his own painting. The entanglement of this first portion business the film was so fortunate that the cycle expanded forth six parts. The Czech Year was internationally acclaimed for blue blood the gentry beautiful, brilliant animation of tasteful and unembellished wooden puppets cope with music inspired by Czech people songs.

The Hand was Trnka's last, and some say honourableness greatest, film. An unforgiving civil allegory, different in content abide form, it strictly follows depiction story outline without developing be enthusiastic about detail. In the film, upshot artist, happy with his step, is making a pot look after his favorite plant, when spick giant hand appears and tell him to create a perceive of a hand, not notwithstanding him to make anything Resistance and disobedience take him to prison, where he equitable forced to give in, disapproval the cost of his scope and ultimately his life.

Picture same hand organizes the artist's state funeral, where all artists are honored. This darkly briny allegory on totalitarianism, which won the top prize at probity Annecy International Animation Festival, was banned in the Communist Czechoslovakia. When it was released, they dismissed it as a blame of the personality cult (Josef Stalin), but the general the population recognized the alarming allegory encourage human existence in a arbitrary society.

This was the final time that Trnka openly verbal what he thought about empress own inhumane totalitarian society. The Hand was one of nobleness first films that helped usherette in the Prague Spring. Notably, it predicted Trnka's own complete. When he died in Nov , he was awarded systematic state funeral with honors.

Matchless four months after his surround, The Hand was blacklisted, the sum of copies were confiscated by ethics secret police, and there was no screening for the consequent 20 years. This was though much the Communist government mattup intimidated by the seventeen-minute doll film.

Trnka took on spanking issues in the film Cybernetic Grandma.

Story of the Bass Cello is based on Anton Chekhov's story about a bass artiste whose clothes are stolen make your mind up he is bathing in glory river.

When he spots regular beautiful maiden in the by a long way predicament, he hides her assume the case of his relaxed double-bass.

Merry Circus is neither a puppet film nor top-notch cartoon; movement is simulated brush aside paper cutouts.

A Drop Very Much is a tragic narrative of a motorcyclist who, impeach his way to meet circlet fiancée, stops at a local with disastrous consequences.

This was a warning against drinking topmost driving.

Song of the Prairie is a parody of significance Wild West, where the rod rules the roost, timidity has no place, and love blossoms at first sight.

Emperor's Nightingale is a puppet animation exemplary based on the story rough Hans Christian Andersen featuring on the rocks nightingale who sings a trade mark to the Emperor, emboldening him to revolt against the difficult protocol of his glittering up till shallow world.

The Washington Post described it as "a gone classic happily found again" advocate the Wired magazine found smash into to be "one of position most stunningly beautiful animated big screen ever released" and "a jewel of filmmaking and a run that elevates the art organization to new heights." ^[5]

Three sever connections adaptations of Jaroslav Hašek's acclaimed classic The Good Soldier Schweik have won the heart female all Czechs, but he was still looking for an internationally reknown classic story where filth could address the entire false through his art.

Trnka was a Renaissance man, born lay into enormous talent in many dissimilar areas, but in the unjust time and the wrong toy chest.

The wide screen puppet earmark film The Midsummer Night's Dream, an adaptation of Shakespeare's exert, voicing Trnka's opinions and estheticism of the puppet film, abortive both at home and afar.

It was a universally accustomed story with a carefully planned screenplay (co-writer J. Brdečka), epigrammatic puppet animation with little argument and sporadic narration. Trnka not ever allowed lip-synch; he thought performance was barbaric for puppets - as works of art - to be treated in that manner. Music was always preferable to the spoken word.

Lighten up often discussed his projects be regarding the composer V. Trojan, in the past he began working on loftiness screenplay. When the musical total was composed ahead of say publicly animation and he liked simulate, he would change the ‚lan arrangement to fit the meeting.

The reception of The Solstice Night's Dream was a pleasant disappointment for Trnka; he confidential worked for years on bin.

Days and nights were dead beat shooting, with the crew dead to the world in the studio. It expense him his health. Animation chronicler Edgar Dutka ascribes the botch to the picturesque yet tangled story, which was lost questionable the critics as well chimp audience. Trnka was strongly criticized at home for creating l'art pour l'art (Art for Art's Sake) and thus lost set be in contact with with the working class.

Unwind shot the film with three parallel cameras because he frank not believe in "compositions outlandish through a mailbox slot." ^[6]

Symbiosis with Communist Censorship

After the Communistic takeover of post-war Czechoslovakia pitch February 25, , which step by step prompted many artists and noticeable figures into exile, Trnka exist himself for the most useless items not only unrestrained in monarch creative genius but also support financially, for even the Communists enjoyed his work.

They thought honourableness puppet stories were for children; therefore, they did not watch any harm, and they upfront not censor or blacklist wellnigh any of them. Only parts of the film Spring, featuring a Christian procession, jaunt The Legend of St. Prokop were banned on grounds elder religious propaganda until the have a view of s.

When Trnka finished excellence national fairytale Bajaja in , he was greatly honored unwelcoming the regime.

On the beat hand, when he wanted study adapt Don Quijote in , the government barred the undertaking, having found it too cultured. There always existed two sides to the government's 'generous' paw.

Instead of Don Quijote, no problem was pressed to create customary myths in The Old European Legends. Trnka was not at the outset interested in doing this. Significant would have rather quit mode of operation at the studio and touched back to illustrating children's books, but he gave the end a second thought and what ensued was a film challenge strong and brilliant scenes, unconditional character animation, and superb concerto, more in the way short vacation Leos Janacek than Bedřich Composer.

This project proved Trnka's producer skills; however, he was right: such a topic had trim very limited audience. Even Czechs did not appreciate a filmed version of the history which they had to learn parallel with the ground school.

The Studio of Jiří Trnka

Along with fellow animators, Trnka in established a small glove puppet film studio (renamed The Bungalow of Jiří Trnka), where puppets would "move on the screen".^[7] Here "active dreaming" – unornamented blending of imagination and ode with invention and realism, occurred, resulting in the classic chirpy puppet films, rarely shot gone in the world.

Not puppet films but also commercials produced here were marked because of superb animation techniques, wisdom, ahead ubiquitous moral values. The Slavic puppet film remains the studio's focus. All technologies of vigorous film, including stop-motion puppet spirit, semi-plastic film, flat-surface film, pixilation (animation of objects), and interpretation plasticine method are used.

^[8]

Selected Works

Animated films

• An Old Man Sowed the Beet (Zasadil dědek řepu) ()
• The Present (in or earlier )
• The Gift (Dárek) ()
• The Dart Man and SS (Pérák excellent SS) ()
• The Robbers and birth Animals (Zvířátka a petrovští) ()
• The Fox and the Pitcher (Liška a džbán) ()
• The Golden Fish (O zlaté rybce) ()
• A And above Old Man's Trading (Jak stařeček měnil až vyměnil) ()
• Two Round about Frosts (Dva Mrazíci) ()
• Why UNESCO (Proč UNESCO) ()
• The Bliss be a witness Love (Blaho lásky) ()

Full-length doll films

• The Czech Year (Špalíček) ()
• The Emperor's Nightingale (Císařův slavík) ()
• Bajaja ()
• The Old Czech Legends (Staré pověsti české) ()
• The Midsummer Night's Dream (Sen noci Svatojánské) ()

Short puppet films

• Song of the Prairie (Árie prérie) ()
• Story of high-mindedness Bass Cello (Román s basou) ()
• The Devil's Mill (Čertův mlýn) ()
• The Gingerbread House (Perníková chaloupka) ()
• The Good Soldier Schweik (Dobrý voják Švejk) I., II., essential III.

  ( and )

• A Crest Too Much (O skleničku víc)
• The Hurvinek Circus (Cirkus Hurvínek) ()
• Spejbl on the Track (Spejbl na stopě) ()
• Umbrella (Paraplíčko) ()
• The Passion (Vášeň) ()
• The Cybernetic Grandma (Kybernetická babička) ()
• The Archangel Archangel and Lady Goose (Archanděl Archangel a Paní Husa) ()
• The Hand (Ruka) ()

Other

• Bethlehem (Betlém) ()
• The Anecdote of St.

  Prokop (Legenda lowdown sv. Prokopu) ()

• Merry Circus (Veselý cirkus) ()
• Spring (Jaro)

Children's book ilustrations

• Vítězslav Šmejc: Mr. Bosek's Tyger (Tygr pana Boška) ()
• Jiří Menzel: Mickey the Ball in his Feral Forest (Míša Kulička v rodném lese) ()
• Jan Karafiát: The Beetles (Broučci) ()
• Helena Chvojková: Little Suzie's World Discoveries (Zuzanka objevuje svět) ()
• Jarmila Glazarová: Advent ()
• Wilhelm Hauff: Caravan (Karavana) ()
• Stories of nobility Grimm Brothers (Pohádky bratří Grimmů) ( and )
• František Hrubín: Repeat after us (Říkejte si ruthless námi) ()
• Jiří Horák: Czech Sprite Tales (České pohádky) ()
• Jiří Mahen: Twelve Fairy Tales (Dvanáct pohádek) ()
• Josef Kajetán Tyl: The Bagpiper of Strakonice (Strakonický dudák) ()
• Vítězslav Nezval: Things, Flowers, Animals, take Children (Věci, květiny, zvířátka out děti) ()
• Vladimír Holan: Bajaja ()
• František Hrubín: The Tales of Edition and One Nights (Pohádky tisíce a jedné noci) ()
• Hans Christly Andersen: Fairy Tales (Pohádky) ()
• Charles Perrault: Fairy Tales (Pohádky) ()
• František Hrubín: The Czech Year (Špalíček veršů a pohádek) ()
• Alois Jirásek: The Old Czech Legends (Staré pověsti české) ()
• Jiří Trnka: Garden (Zahrada) ()

Notes

References and Further Reading

• Bocek, Jaroslav, Jiri Trnka, artist contemporary puppet master. Prague: Artia Advertisement, , OCL:

• Bolliger, Max, Roseanna Hoover, Jiri Trnka, and Jan Karafiat.

  The Fireflies; a story. New York: Atheneum Publishers, OCLC:

• Grimm, Jacob, Wilhelm Grimm, H.C. Anderson, and Jiri Trnka. Favorite tales from Grimm and Andersen. New York: Exeter Books, , , OCLC: ISBN

External Links

All links retrieved August 1,