Tuesday is my son's 21st birthday. As well as a present of much-needed money (he is at university, need I say more) we are giving him a dvd of cartoons featuring the Mole (Krtek) – a character created by Czech animator Zdeněk Miler. The little mole first appeared in 1957 in a film called How the Mole Got His Trousers and Miler went on to create some fifty more short cartoons about his little black hero. Krtek remains an important part of Czech childhood, as is demonstrated by the fact that Moles in all shapes and sizes can be bought in toyshops the length and breadth of the Czech Republic. One suspects the toys are bought by and for adults as well - my son discovered him when he was no longer a child, but then anyone can appreciate the character and the animation.I don't think the Mole ever made it to British television - I don't understand why the BBC didn't snap him up. It is a shame because he is old enough to have been part of my childhood as well as my son's. There are lots of Krtek cartoons on Youtube, here's one of my favourites.
10 comments:
The little mole did make it to the BBC. It was shown, I think, in the 80s but only briefly.
Ah well, I'm showing my age again. I was too old to know and too young to have a small child.
Do you know anyplace online where I could buy Krtek items? I am in the U.S., and would prefer an English-speaking website. Let me know if you can think of anything--thanks!
Maggie
maggiecasper@gmail.com
In response to the last comment I suggest you check out http://www.czech-shop.com
It's in the UK and has paypal.
yes, the mole did appear on the BBC , but can anyone throw some light on "Boris the Bold". I think is was Czech and from the 1970s. I cannot find any existing pictures or detailed information about this and people are beginning to think I made this up! any information and especially pictures would be great.
janice
jmk43@msn.com
How the Mole Got His Trousers was shown several times on BBC TV. I thought it delightful and have been trying to get a DVD or video but with no success. It does not seem to be featured in collections of the mole. Any idea where I mght get one ?
Bryan
Hi!
The Mole (Krtek) dvds are available in here:
http://tsekkitavaraa.valmiskauppa.fi/krtek-the-little-mole-dvds-c-33_42.html
Czech original DVDs with Krtek - Little Mole - can be purchased on CzechSouvenirs.com (they have original Krtek plush toys, bedlinen with Krtek etc.).
I can confirm that Mole was shown on UK television in the mid 1980s. As a small child I was terribly upset by "the Mole in Town" one Christmas. It's the bit where the Mole and his friends are given a toy mole, which promptly walks onto a tram and is gone forever. It must have been that I found the idea of presents disappearing a bit too much at that time of year.
I have remembered it for 30 years without knowing what it was. This evening I tracked it down with the help of search engines. It is a lovely piece of work. On rewatching it, I find that my mental picture of the toy walking into the tram was pretty much 100% accurate. I am pleased to say that this time I managed not to freak out, however.
Whether the animators would have been happy that the message I took away as a small child was "you should really hang on to manufactured goods", I can only guess the answer would be "no".
I absolutely remember this as simply "Boris" on 1970's TV, it was virtually silent with some music and some very quiet talking (in Czech I presume). Perhaps the BBC keeps it quiet because they didn't have permission to screen it?
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