Photo: Yoav Cerralbo, The Korea Herald

 

An exhibition presenting the Korean public for the first time with the most well-known Czech animation film and children´s book character – Krtek, or Little Mole – was officially opened at National Library of Children and Yound Adults in Seoul (www.nlcy.go.kr) on November 30, 2010. After a short speeches by Ms. Lee Sook-Hyeun, Director of the host library and Mr. Jaroslav Olša, jr., Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Korea, a congratulatory remark was made by Mr. Woo Jin-Yung, Director of the National Library of the Republic of Korea. Around 100 people, including some twenty children, participated in the opening ceremony.

More than twenty big size illustrations of Krtek, some 30 books about Krtek in many languages and a selection of toys, games and utensils with Krtek motifs is presented. There is also a wider selection of children´s books published by leading Czech publishing houses Albatros (www.albatrosmedia.cz) and Brio (www.briopublishing.cz). The main object of the exhibition is the largest Krtek toy – 130 centimeters tall – made by Moravská ústředná Brno (www.mubrno.cz), which is a favourite for all visiting children to take a photo with. 

As only four of books about Krtek have been published in Korean, this exhibition might once more spark an interest in this world-wide famous Czech animation character.

An exhibition is open until mid-January 2011.

More about Krtek and his creator

„Krtek“, or „Krteček“ (The Mole or the Little Mole) is probably the most famous Czech animation character, which started his carreer as a „film star“, later on becoming a „literary hero“ as well. Beloved by at least five generations of Czech children, it is not loosing his appeal even now in the 21st century.

Krtek was born in 1956 in Prague, when his creator Mr. Zdeněk Miler was commissioned to make an educational film for children about a way how flax is processed. He was not happy with the script he was given and since he was strongly influenced by the animated films of Walt Disney, he looked for an animal as the main character. The idea of a mole came, when he stumbled over a mole hill during a walk. The first film called "Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel" ("How the mole got his pants") was released in 1956, and the cute main character won itself an enormous popularity in Czechoslovakia as well as in many Eastern European countries first, followed by the same success in the Western Europe in the late 1960s. It was even awarded a silver lion at Venice film festival. With more than 50 films with a mole as a main hero, „Krtek“  became a household name in many other countries, including Japan and Taiwan, where virtually all Miler´s films and books were released and published and are still in print.

In the first film, Krtek spoke. But Miler wanted his mole to be understood everywhere in the world so he decided to use his daughters as voice actors, reducing the speech to short non-figurative exclamations in order to express the mole's feelings and world perception. His daughters were also his test audience, who got to see the films first. Thus Miler could see whether his message resonated with children.

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The success of films with Krtek inspired the leading Czech publishing house Albatros, to transform his adventures into book form, as well. Starting in the 1970s, 14 Krtek books have been published, followed by 16 folding books for younger children, as well as approximately thirty other publications, including activity books aimed for supporting English-language education using the Krtek character.

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All of these books were originally published in Czech, but soon started appearing in numerous languages. Books with Krtek´s adventures are now widely available across the globe, but not only in Europe, but virtually all of Miler´s books have been published in Japan, Taiwan, PR China, with – as of now – only four available in Korean. 

Creator of Krtek – Mr. Zdeněk Miler - was born on Feb. 21, 1921 in Kladno just west of Czech capital Prague. He enjoyed painting as a child. His hobby developed when he joined the national graphic school in 1936. He later studied at the College of Arts and Crafts (Uměleckoprůmyslová škola) in Prague and in 1942 he began work at the cartoon studio Baťa in city of Zlín. There he learned the important practical skills relating to film production specializing in animated films. After the World War II, he started work at the biggest Czech cartoon company Bratři v triku where he rose up to the company´s director in the 1970s. He made about 70 films. In approximately 50 of them, the protagonist was his most famous creation, Krtek.

List of participating companies producing Krtek products

Albatros Media                       (www.albatrosmedia.cz)            books

Bobo                                       (www.bobo.cz)                          school utensils

D-C-fix                                           (www.dcfix.cz)                           self-adhesive pictures

Detoa                                      (www.detoa.cz)                         wooden toys

HM Studio                               (www.hmstudio.cz)                puzzles and toys

Moravská ústředna Brno         (www.mubrno.cz)                     toys and teddy-bears

Nakladatelství Akim                (www.akimnakladatelstvi.cz)  games

Wiky                                        (www.wiky.cz)                      toys and furniture

 

Photos: Ivana Bozděchová