Jiri Trnka

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Jiří Trnka (February 24, 1912 Plzeň - December 30, 1969 Prague) was Czech puppet maker, illustrator, motion-picture animator and film director, renowned for his puppet animations. He graduated from Prague School of Arts and Crafts. He created a puppet theater in 1936. This group was dissolved when World War II began, and he instead designed stage sets and illustrated books for children throughout the war. After the war ended, Trnka established an animation unit at the Prague film studio. Trnka soon became internationally recognized as the world's greatest puppet animator in the traditional Czech method, and he won several film festival awards. One animator called him "the Walt Disney of the East". He won an award at the Cannes Festival in 1946, just one year after he began working in film. His films were mostly made for an adult audience. Beginning in 1948, the communist Czech government began to subsidize his work, although this did not seem to affect the message or style of his work. He also created animated cartoons. He wrote the scripts for most of his own films. He died of heart trouble in 1969.

Český výtvarník a režisér animovaných filmů, ilustrátor, malíř a sochař. Jiří Trnka je spolu s H. Týrlovou a K. Zemanem tvůrce českého animovaného filmu.

Life

The animator, graphic designer, illustrator, painter, sculptor, stage and theater designer, and toy designer Jiří Trnka is together with H. Týrlová and K. Zeman the founder of the Czech animated film. Universally accepted values laced with kind humor were a significant component of his works, which combine the traditional with the modern. As a private person he never said much; he weighed every word. Children, his and the others, were the love of his life. He was an excellent reader of the human character and knew how to attract famous people. His physique was almost remarkable - a robust, stocky man with a uniquely sculpted head.

Trnka came from a lineage of diversified artists. At the age of eleven, Trnka started studying drawing under puppeteer Josef Skupa in Pilsen (Plzeň) and started giving puppet performances. Between 1929 and 1935, he studied under Professor Jaroslav Benda at the Prague-based Umělecko-průmyslová škola (now Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design), majoring in applied graphics. For almost a year he was running his own puppet show, Wooden Theater (Dřevěné divadlo), at the Rokoko theater in Prague.

In 1939 he grabbed the attention of the publishing world with his illustrations of the children's book Míša Kulička. In the same year, the National Theater in Prague (Národní divadlo) selected his bid for the stage design of Smetana's opera Libuše, and he started collaboration with Osvobozené divadlo.

In 1946 his animated film The Animals and the Robbers (Zvířátka a Petrovští) won an award at the Cannes Festival. Two years later, an offer came from the United States to teach film animation in university, but he turned it down, saying: "I cannot make little cowboys; I know how to make Czech peasants, and nobody in America is interested in those. I am local."

V příštích letech svět tleská jeho filmu Dárek, Trnka získává ceny v Bruselu, Paříži a Edinburghu, v britském tisku se objevuje článek s titulkem "Tento muž svrhl Disneyho z trůnu". Později se přeneslo těžiště jeho práce do filmu loutkového, jemuž dal vlastní život podle zákonů světa loutek. Režisér kreslených filmů (Zasadil dědek řepu, Liška a džbán, Císařův slavík, Árie prérie, Román s basou) a loutkových filmů (Špalíček, Bajaja, Veselý cirkus, Staré pověsti české, Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka, Dva mrazíci, Sen noci svatojanské, Kybernetická babička, Paní Husa). Autor (Zahrada) a ilustrátor dětských knih (J. Karafiát: Broučci, J. Horák: České pohádky). Zakladatel studia Bratři v triku, spolu s H. Týrlovou a K. Zemanem zakladatel českého animovaného filmu. Paralelně s tvorbou animovaného filmu vznikaly jeho malby (Zima, Skříň, Autoportrét), polychromované plastiky (Jaro, Podzim), barevné litografie, scénické návrhy a kostýmy.

Vytvořeno: 14.3.2000 Aktualizováno: 19.10.2005 Autor: -red- http://www.cojeco.cz/index.php?detail=1&s_lang=2&id_desc=99263&title=Trnka

Zpočátku navrhoval a vytvářel kulisy pro divadlo J. Skupy v Plzni, v době 2. světové války se zapojil do pražského divadelního života návrhy scén a kostýmů. Jeho první kreslené filmy (Zasadil dědek řepu, Zvířátka a Petrovští, Pérák a SS) zaujaly lyrickým líčením a poetickým výtvarným pojetím. Osobitou režijní koncepci rozvinul v loutkových filmech, v nichž volil snové a pohádkové náměty, které se staly východiskem k vyjádření poselství obecného i nadčasového významu (Špalíček, Císařův slavík, Árie prérie, Román s basou, Bajaja, Staré pověsti české, Dva mrazíci, Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka I, II, III, Sen noci svatojanské, Kybernetická babička, Ruka, Archanděl Gabriel a paní Husa a jiné). Autor knihy Zahrada, ilustrátor dětských knih (J. Karafiát Broučci, J. Horák České pohádky). http://osobnosti.profitux.cz/?typ=galerie&od=t&os=179


The early years of World War II Trnka spent working with director J. Frejka on the productions by Shakespeare, Plautus, and Klicpera. Along with Adolf Zábranský, he invented a new type of illustration for children, and it was around this period that he started illustrating books by novelist and children's writer František Hrubín. Karafiátovy BroučkyIn the middle of the war years, he produced the painting Czech Bethlehem (Český Betlém) as an expression of beauty, calm and peace.

In 1945, along with other animators, he founded the animated film studio Bratři v triku, and the film became his creative medium for the next twenty years. In 1946 he founded the puppet film studio and was joined by Karel Látal and Břetislav Pojar.

Po realizaci ploškového filmu Dva mrazíci se od roku 1956 věnoval knižní ilustraci (Pohádky tisíce a jedné noci, Andersenovy Pohádky), jež v jeho pojetí dostala rysy bohatosti a výpravnosti.

V roce 1961 opět ilustroval (Pohádky bratří Grimmů, Staré pověsti české). His films were frequently first recognized outside Czechoslovakia. Trnka attributed this to the fact that in Czechoslovakia, the poeticism and perhaps naiveté in his work was a common fare, whereas the West was inundated by somewhat tougher production. Moreover, he never thought that the fame was only because of the puppets; what is being said is what matters, not just the motion and attractiveness of the puppets. http://www.radio.cz/cz/clanek/81813

http://www.radio.cz/cz/clanek/85414 (audio by trnka)

Jan Werich was once visiting Trnka's studio and saw him painting the background?? on glass planes. Werich thought he was dreaming, so he came over and asked, "Excuse me, are you painting with both hands?" Trnka responded, "Well, not always, but those morons are not around and we are running out of time [children's movie project]." http://www.radio.cz/cz/clanek/82021


In 1967 he was appointed professor of Vysoké školy uměleckoprůmyslové, but failing health made it difficult and, eventually, impossible to work. He died in Prague at the age of 57.

V roce 1946 založil studio loutkového filmu, kam za ním přešli i jeho budoucí hlavní spolupracovníci Karel Látal a Břetislav Pojar. V roce 1947 natočil básnickou loutkovou suitu Špalíček, která se spolu s hudbou Václava Trojana stala vystižením národní představy o životě, štěstí, pokoji a práci. V roce 1948 natočil svůj první celovečerní loutkový film Císařův slavík. V roce 1950 po třech krátkých filmech Román s basou, Árie prérie a Čertův mlýn usiloval se svými animátory v pohádce Bajaja o skutečné loutkoherectví. Po pohádce O zlaté rybce s vtipným komentářem v podání Jana Wericha dokončil v roce 1952 Staré pověsti české, v nichž v dokonalé syntéze hereckého slova, hudby, děje a stylizovaných stroze modelovaných loutek vystihl monumentalitu a velebnost starých mýtů. V roce 1954 pracoval na krátkých filmech podle Haškových Osudů dobrého vojáka Švejka s komentářem Jana Wericha. Po realizaci ploškového filmu Dva mrazíci se od roku 1956 věnoval knižní ilustraci (Pohádky tisíce a jedné noci, Andersenovy Pohádky), jež v jeho pojetí dostala rysy bohatosti a výpravnosti. Podílel se v té době i na přípravě české expozice Expo 58 v Bruselu. V roce 1958 se vrátil k loutkovému filmu a pracoval na animátorsky náročné verzi Shakespearova Snu noci svatojanské. V roce 1961 opět ilustroval (Pohádky bratří Grimmů, Staré pověsti české). V roce 1964 natočil renesančně rozmarný film Archanděl Gabriel a Paní Husa a o rok později vyvrcholila myšlenkově závažným loutkovým filmem Ruka jeho řada filosofických snímků Vášeň a Kybernetická babička, jíž varuje před manipulací člověka stroji. V posledních letech života se kromě práce pro Expo 67 v Montrealu věnoval malbě a sochařské tvorbě, ale znovu i knižní ilustraci (Werichovo Fimfárum) a sám napsal a ilustroval půvabnou knížku Zahrada (1962), která byla i zfilmována. Je nositelem asi 50 ocenění z výstav, soutěží a filmových i výtvarných přehlídek. Trnkův přínos spočívá v osvobození českého, ale i světového kresleného a loutkového filmu z amerického vlivu a v prosazení velké výtvarné náročnosti a v poetickém ladění. Na jeho práci pak osobitě navazovali jeho dlouholetý spolupracovník Stanislav Látal, Václav Bedřich, Adolf Born, Zdeněk Smetana a celá řada dalších. V roce 1967 byl jmenován profesorem Vysoké školy uměleckoprůmyslové, ale nemoc mu ztěžovala a nakonec i znemožnila uměleckou práci. (Jan Pömerl)


http://osobnosti.unas.cz/#Ji%F8%ED%20Trnka

http://libri.cz/databaze/kdo20/search.php http://literatura.kvalitne.cz/trnka.htm

http://osobnosti.unas.cz/#Ji%F8%ED%20Trnka

Walt Disney of the East

Trnka arrived to the first post-war Cannes Festival in 1946 with his three cartoons (his filmmaking career had only begun on May 29, 1945, when a group of young animators asked the famous book illustrator to become their boss). Despite the fact that his fairytale cartoon The Robbers and the Animals won the festival, another film that was entered, The Present,was of more importance to Trnka's work. The Present, written by J. Brdecka, was a cartoon for adults — a satire with Trnka's very own individual art design and a non-Disney way of storytelling. This film was completely misunderstood until Stephen Bosustow congratulated Trnka on it three years later. It was a visible step that divided post-war animation into two groups: the productions of big studios (classics) and films that were modern expressions, created in form and content by strong, individual personalities. Trnka liberated the Czech and world animated and puppet film from American influences and brought in complexity of animation and poeticism. Among his followers were his long-term co-worker Stanislav Látal, Václav Bedřich, Adolf Born, Zdeněk Smetana.

After he saw Trnka's wide screen puppet feature film The Midsummer Night's Dream at the Cannes Film Festival in 1959, English journalist labeled Trnka "Walt Disney Of The East". This is viewed by some as an exaggeration, citing the differences between the two great artists such as Disney's focus on the children or family audience, while most of Trnka's films targeted the adult audience.

In 1966, four years before his death, Newsday lauded him as "second to Chaplin as a film artist because his work inaugurated a new stage in a medium long dominated by Disney."

Puppets Come Alive

Trnka preferred puppets, whom he loved and elevated above all other kinds of art. The Czech Year (Spalicek, which refers to illustrated folk songbooks and also a piece of wood) is a very significant piece in Trnka's career. It was his first puppet feature film, and asked twenty years later which of his films he liked the most, he answered The Czech Year. This was not an answer of a patriot, although the six-part cycle illustrates the old Czech folk customs around the year. When he started working on it in 1946, Christmas was drawing in, so he opened with "The Bethlehem" sequence, which was inspired by his own painting. The screening of this first portion of the film was so successful that the cycle expanded to six parts. The Czech Year was internationally acclaimed for the beautiful, brilliant animation of unpretentious and unembellished wooden puppets and music inspired by Czech folk songs.

The Hand was Trnka's last, and some say the greatest, film. An unforgiving political allegory, different in content and form, it strictly follows the story outline without developing lyrical detail. An artist, happy with his life, is making a pot for his favorite plant, when a giant hand appears and orders him to create a statue of a hand, not allowing him to make anything else. He resists and is sent to prison for disobedience. He is forced to give in, at the cost of his freedom and ultimately his life. The same hand organizes the artist's state funeral, where all artists are honored. This darkly humorous allegory on totalitarianism, which won the top prize at the Annecy International Animation Festival, was banned in the Communist Czechoslovakia. When it was released, it was labeled as a criticism of the personality cult (Stalin), but the general public saw in it an alarming allegory of human existence in a totalitarian society.

This was the first time that Trnka openly expressed what he thought about his own inhuman totalitarian society. The Hand was one of the first films that helped usher in the Prague Spring. Oddly, it predicted Trnka's own death. When he died in November 1969 (only 57 years old), he had a state funeral with honours. Only four months later, The Hand was blacklisted; all copies were confiscated by the secret police, and there was no screening for the next twenty years. This was how much the Communist government felt intimidated by the seventeen-minute puppet film.

Trnka took on modern issues in the film Cybernetic Grandma.

Story of the Bass Cello is based on Chekhov's story about a bass player whose clothes are stolen while he is bathing in the river. When he spots a beautiful maiden in the same predicament, he hides her in the case of his large double-bass.

Merry Circus is neither a puppet film nor a cartoon; movement is simulated by paper cutouts.

A Drop Too Much is a tragic tale of a motorcyclist who, on his way to meet his fiancée, stops at a tavern with disastrous consequences. Trnka was the art director of this warning against drink driving.

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

Emperor's Nightingaleis a puppet animation classic based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen featuring a nightingale who sings a song to the Emperor, emboldening him to revolt against the rigid protocol of his glittering yet shallow world. The Washington Post described it as "a lost classic happily found again" and the Wired magazine found it to be "one of the most stunningly beautiful animated films ever released" and "a masterpiece of filmmaking and a production that elevates the art form to new heights." http://www.rembrandtfilms.com/jiritrnka.htm

Three short adaptations of Jaroslav Hasek's famous classic The Good Soldier Schweik have won the heart of all Czechs and Slovaks, but he was still looking for an internationally reknown classic story where he could address the entire world through his art. He was a Renaissance man born in the wrong time and the wrong place.

The wide screen puppet feature film The Midsummer Night's Dream, an adaptation of Shakespeare's play, voicing Trnka's opinions and estheticism of the puppet film, failed both home and abroad. It was a universallly known story with a carefully prepared screenplay (co-writer J. Brdečka), brilliant puppet animation with little dialogue and sporadic narration. Trnka never allowed lip-synch; he thought it was barbaric for puppets, being works of art, to be treated in this manner. Music was always preferred to the spoken word. He often discussed his projects with the composer (V. Trojan) before he began working on the screenplay. When the musical score was composed ahead of the animation and he liked it, he would change the animation arrangement to fit the music.

The reception of The Midsummer Night's Dream was great disappointment for Trnka; he worked for years on it. Days and nights were spent shooting, with crew sleeping in the studio. It cost him his health. Animation historian Edgar Dutka ascribes the fiasco to the picturesque yet intricate story, which was lost on the critics as well as audience. Trnka was strongly criticized at home for creating l'art pour l'art (Art for Art's Sake) and thus losing touch with the working class. He shot the film with two parallel cameras because he did not believe in "compositions seen through a mailbox slot." http://www.awn.com/mag/issue5.04/5.04pages/dutkatrnka.php3

Symbiosis with Communist Censorship

After the Communist takeover of the post-war Czechoslovakia on February 25, 1948, which gradually prompted many artists and prominent figures into exile, Trnka found himself for the most part not only unrestrained in his creative genius but also subsidized, for even the Communists enjoyed his work. They thought the puppet stories were for children; therefore, they did not see any harm, and they did not censor or blacklist almost any of them. Only two parts of the film Spring, featuring a Christian procession, and The Legend of St. Prokop were banned on grounds of religious propaganda until the late 1980s. When Trnka finished the national fairytale Bajaja in 1950, he was greatly honoured by the regime.

On the other hand, when he wanted to adapt Don Quijote in 1951, the government said no, having found it too cosmopolitan. There always existed two sides to the government's 'generous' hand. Instead of Don Quijote, he was pressed to create historic myths in The Old Czech Legends. Trnka did not want to. He would have rather quit working at the studio and gone back to illustrating children's books, but he gave the theme a second thought and what ensued was a film with strong and brilliant scenes, great character animation, and superb music, more in the way of Leos Janacek than Bedřich Smetana. This project proved Trnka's filmmaker skills; however, he was right: such a topic had a very limited audience. Even Czechs did not appreciate a filmed version of the history that they had to learn at school.

Jiří Trnka Studio

Along with fellow animators, Trnka in 1946 established a small puppet film studio (renamed The Studio of Jiří Trnka where puppets would "move on the screen". Here "active dreaming" — blending of imagination and poetry with invention and realism was put into practice, resulting in the classic animated puppet films, rarely shot elsewhere in the world. Not only puppet films but also commercials were made using superb animation techniques, wisdom, and moral values. The Czech puppet film remains the studio's focus. All technologies of animated film, including puppet animation, semi-plastic film, flat-surface film, pixilation (animation of objects), and the plasticine method are used. http://www.kratkyfilm.com/catalogue/kf/studiojt.htm

Works

  • The Robbers and the Animals (Zvířátka a petrovští) (1946)
  • Pérák a SS 13 minutes (1946)
  • Bethlehem (Betlém) - 10 minutes (1947)
  • The Legend of St. Prokop (Legenda o sv. Prokopu) 10 minutes (1947)
  • The Czech Year (Špalíček) (1947)
  • The Emperor's Nightingale (Císařův slavík) 71 minutes (1948)
  • Story of the Bass Cello (Román s basou) (1950)
  • Bajaja (1950)
  • The Old Czech Legends (Staré pověsti české), 91 minutes (1952)
  • Dva Mrazíci (1954)
  • The Good Soldier Schweik (Dobrý voják Švejk) (1954)
  • Cirkus Hurvínek 1955
  • The Midsummer Night's Dream (Sen noci Svatojánské) 75 minutes (1959)
  • The Passion (Vášeň) (1961)
  • The Cybernetic Grandma (Kybernetická babička) (1962)
  • The Garden (Zahrada) (1962)
  • The Archangel Gabriel and Lady Goose (Archanděl Gabriel a Paní Husa) - 28 minutes (1964)
  • The Hand (Ruka) 18 minutes (1965)
  • Merry Circus
  • A Drop Too Much
  • Song of the Prairie

In 1950, Árie prérie, and Čertův mlýn

References and further reading


External links

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