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Foreign television stations still successfully broadcast re-runs of the Czech animated series Kanga, Roo and Dingo the Dog, which first aired in 1995. Without using dialogue, the series is a playful and inventive take on humorous stories starring animals. Kanga, little Roo and a parrot live together in Australia. Their days would be perfectly ordinary if it weren’t for Dingo the Dog. Every day, he tries to kidnap little Roo and eat him. Dingo comes up with various plans to get his paws on little Roo, but every time, sometimes at the very last moment, Kanga sees through his plans and saves Roo. As it should be in proper slapstick, Dingo subsequently pays for his mischief, but only to the extent that he can be the villain again in the next episode. Ilja Novák adapted a story by Jaroslav Boček in his own distinct way, imprinted his unmistakeable artistic style in the series and created captivating slapstick for the youngest audiences.

While some animated fairy-tales are rather serious, scary and educational, others aim to entertain children, make them laugh and provide the relaxation. This programme includes such films, chosen with regard to the festival’s theme of humour in animation and, as is customary for us, quality.

Masters of animated comedy are represented by, for instance, Aardman Animations, makers of Shaun the Sheep and the popular Wallace and Gromit. The films are made using claymation; they play with various film genres and are full of original gags. Humour is definitely present in the Czech (Czechoslovak) fairy-tales included here. An utterly unique phenomenon is shown by the adventures of two clumsy tinkerers Pat and Mat – this programme includes one of the newer episodes. Witty, gentle humour is the trademark of the lesser-known fairy-tale How the Elephant Feared Vaccination, based on a story by Miloš Macourek.

Adventures and exciting new discoveries can be found everywhere. You just have to look!

Enjoy nine fun, colourful animated films brought to you by the interfilm Berlin distribution in cooperation with KUKI Young Short Film Festival Berlin.

From painting with snails to a magical magnifying glass; an enchanting bicycle race through a forest, pen friends in faraway places, crazy umbrellas and funny birds – these films tell of friendship, clever ideas and small challenges in hilarious, inventive and sweet ways. An unforgettable cinema experience – not just for kids!

Have you ever wondered what the bridge you are walking across has seen? Or what happens in the forest when you’re staring at the screen of your mobile phone during a walk? Specific poetics, various artistic approaches and allusions to the uneasy reality our heroes often have to face. Just like in the programme’s closing film The War that Changed Rondo, where peaceful beings are attacked by an evil force. But thanks to joint efforts and inventiveness their world, filled with flowers in bloom, is restored. This block of short films with no dialogue, made by young Ukrainian animators, was put together in collaboration with the Linoleum Animation Festival Kyiv.

While some animated fairy-tales are rather serious, scary and educational, others aim to entertain children, make them laugh and provide the relaxation. This programme includes such films, chosen with regard to the festival’s theme of humour in animation and, as is customary for us, quality.

Masters of animated comedy are represented by, for instance, Aardman Animations, makers of Shaun the Sheep and the popular Wallace and Gromit. The films are made using claymation; they play with various film genres and are full of original gags. Humour is definitely present in the Czech (Czechoslovak) fairy-tales included here. An utterly unique phenomenon is shown by the adventures of two clumsy tinkerers Pat and Mat – this programme includes one of the newer episodes. Witty, gentle humour can be found in an episode from the sporadically broadcast series The Kitten from Kocourkov. Jiřina Pěčová, editor of this humorous fairy-tale, is this year’s recipient of Anifilm’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Throughout her career, editor Jiřina Pěčová, the recipient of this year’s Anifilm Lifetime Achievement Award, has focused primarily on animated films for children. She has worked on many popular classic Czech (and Czechoslovak) Bedtime Stories. This programme presents a selection of several episodes of various Bedtime Stories complemented by the short film Kitchen Tales. You will find out how the Top-Hat Rabbits skate, how Firefly was born, how Amelia the Forest Sprite reversed a brook and how Sophie became a zoo manager.

Kitchen Tales is a short puppet film made by Vojtěch Domlátil, a graduate of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. In this original fairy-tale the kitchen of a forgetful grandma comes to life. Saltshaker, Sugarbowl and the rest are set to fix what she’s accidentally forgotten while the sulky rapper Tartar hides in the fridge.

The programme titled Adventures of Mischievous Animals includes a popular Finnish series that has been broadcast by Czech Television, so children may have already seen it. The programme is intended for the youngest children; the stories are humorous, simple and have no dialogue.

Pikkuli is a playful series that stars a small, carefree bird. His stories need no words and are presented in rich colours in a way even the smallest children understand. The series is based on books for children by the same authors.

Directors: Metsämarja & Antti Aittokoski, Finland, 2015 

The story behind the film Even Mice Belong in Heaven began in 2010 when director and graphic artist Denisa Grimmová came up with the idea to adapt Iva Procházková’s successful book into a puppet film. Its originality lies, among other things, in its approach to death, which the author can present to children with ease and playfulness.

The creative team approached the book with great ambitions, screenwriters added plotlines and characters and this Czech production became a co-production between four countries. After almost ten years of preparation, development, filming and post-production, viewers can look forward to a thrilling adventure set predominantly in the afterlife. Two animals, considered by their close friends to be weirdoes and outsiders, Quickfeet the mouse and Whitebelly the fox, have an accident and run into each other in animal heaven. Despite being arch-enemies in life, together they set out on a journey to overcome old sorrows, find a new beginning and develop an eternal friendship. The film offers not only an original story full of intense emotions but also an unforgettable spectacle enhanced by the puppet design, decorations, setting and meticulous animation.

In addition to the programme block The Adventures of Mischievous Animals put together for younger children, Anifilm has created a block for older children composed of foreign adventurous series with action heroes or perhaps even superheroes. These series are modern and progressive, and Czech Television has recently started broadcasting them. The graphic artist of the quirky French series Sardine in Outer Space is the renowned comics artist Joann Sfar. The series is an adaptation of his comics (previously, his successful comic books The Rabi’s Cat and Little Vampire were adapted into feature films). The block also includes single episodes from the action-packed, thrilling and artistically inventive series The Minimighty Kids and Moka’s Fabulous Adventures. The first one teaches you how to love yourself and the second recounts the adventures of a crocodile prince, the future ruler of the savannah.

 

For many Anifilm visitors, the series Lux and Delux, following the adventures of two not very capable astronauts, brought to us in the form of a news report from their home planet, Xylophonia, is a surprising discovery. Due to its Dadaist humour, ironic perspective and elaborate visual style, we could classify it as a predecessor of series like Adventure Time. The story was created by ‘Cimrmanologists’ Jiří Šebánek and Jaroslav Pacovský, graphic artist Petr Poš and director Ilja Novák, the famous rebel from Ostrava. The characters were voiced by František Filipovský and Luděk Sobota, among others. Songs by jazzman Karel Velebný are sung by Jana Kratochvílová as Galaxy Masox. The production of the series, comprising 13 episodes, started in 1983 but it was delayed because of various complications related to the communist era, including censor intervention. The production eventually took 9 years and the series premiered in 1992, after the Velvet Revolution. This block includes the first six episodes.

Director: Ilja Novák, Czechoslovakia, 1992, 6 x 8 min 

For many Anifilm visitors, the series Lux and Delux, following the adventures of two not very capable astronauts, brought to us in the form of a news report from their home planet, Xylophonia, is a surprising discovery. Due to its Dadaist humour, ironic perspective and elaborate visual style, we could classify it as a predecessor of series like Adventure Time. The story was created by ‘Cimrmanologists’ Jiří Šebánek and Jaroslav Pacovský, graphic artist Petr Poš and director Ilja Novák, the famous rebel from Ostrava. The characters were voiced by František Filipovský and Luděk Sobota, among others. Songs by jazzman Karel Velebný are sung by Jana Kratochvílová as Galaxy Masox. The production of the series, comprising 13 episodes, started in 1983 but it was delayed because of various complications related to the communist era, including censor intervention. The production eventually took 9 years and the series premiered in 1992, after the Velvet Revolution. This block includes the first six episodes.

Režie / Director: Ilja Novák, Československo / Czechoslovakia, 1992, 6 x 8 min