Karel Zeman

Karel Zeman was born in Ostromef, in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, on November 3, 1910. He trained in advertising in Marseille, France, and worked there until 1936. Even then he was captivated by the possibilities of animation, and gave an idea in such a sense for the advertisement of a soup. Returning to what was already the Czech Republic, he continued to be professionally linked to the world of advertising, creating advertisements for companies such as the Tatra automobile company. His meeting with the animator Elmar Klos when he was working for the Bata shoe manufacturer would mark his future dedication to animated films, despite the fact that by then he had already started a family and settled in Brno.

Around AFIT, the center of gravitation of Czech animators, an institution founded in 1935, a great tradition was created in this field, which was connected with traditional puppets. Zeman’s first authorial work is usually placed in 1945 with Vanocni sen , a Christmas Carol. From there he took off with a series of five wordless shorts starring a frame-by-frame stop-motion animated puppet, Mr. Prokouk, unmistakable with his round bald head and his mustache. Another important short, a look at artistic creation with glass figurines whose title is already a declaration of principles, was Inspiration (1948), and shortly after came a feature film, King Labra .(1950), another story with dolls reminiscent of the classic tale of King Midas.

Starting in 1955, the period of maturity arrived, fantastic-type films that combined flesh and blood actors with animation, tricks that make Zeman’s cinema akin to that of the French pioneer Georges Méliès . Journey to Prehistory (1955) already drinks in the fantastic imagery of Jules Verne , author explicitly adapted in A Diabolical Invention (1958). More dazzling is The Baron Munchausen (1961), which adapts Gustave Doré’s imagery conceived for Gottfried August Bürger ‘s well-known work , with outstanding moments such as the crazy character riding a cannonball; evidently Terry Gilliamthis film was kept in mind when addressing the adventures of the baron.

With The Chronicle of a Jester (1964), Zeman takes to the top the possibilities of combining actors with surprising tricks, to deliver an ironic critique of vested interests in wars, with a formidable sense of picaresque. And The Stolen Airship (1967) once again shows the director’s great capacity for symbiosis with diverse influences, from Jules Verne to “art nouveau”.

Although in the 70s his works no longer had such an impact, the filmmaker is still active with works such as Sinbad the Sailor (1972) and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1977) . In 1980, the year he receives his country’s highest award, he delivers his last film, Karel Zeman for Children . In 1989, a few months before the Velvet Revolution, the filmmaker died in Zlín.