Blu-Ray BD50 x 2 / 1080p / 24fps
Region Free (A/B/C)
RRP: £29.99
Release Date: 10 August 2026
SRBD 105
Blu-Ray |
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Czech artist Jiří Trnka (1912–1969) is the internationally revered master of puppet animation. Creator of magical worlds, his films are triumphant experiments in the expressive possibilities of the art form. Often borrowing from Czechoslovak folklore, while inventing new and novel techniques in stop-motion cinematography, his work elevated the puppet film into a vehicle for epic drama and fantastical storytelling.
This set brings together two of Trnka’s most beloved features: his breathtaking collection of Bohemian myths, Old Czech Legends (1953), and his debut, The Czech Year (1947), a hymn to the Czech lands and the shifting seasons. These two groundbreaking animations fuse innovative camera techniques, spellbinding design, and expressive puppetry. Each film is an enchanting example of Trnka’s art, that helped turn post-war Czechoslovakia into a powerhouse of animation.
Jiří Trnka: Puppet Master presents Old Czech Legends and The Czech Year from glorious 4K restorations by the Czech National Film Archive, and includes a rare archival documentary on Trnka, short films by Trnka and fellow wrtiter and filmmmakerJiří Brdečka, video essays by Evan Chester, and a booklet with writing by authors and experts on Czechoslovak cinema Peter Hames and Jonathan Owen - and more!
• FIRST PRESSING LIMITED EDITION SLIPCASE
- strictly limited to 2000 copies only.
• Old Czech Legends (Staré pověsti české, 1953) and The Czech Year (Špalíček, 1947) presented from 4K restorations by the Czech National Film Archive.
• The Puppets of Jiri Trnka: A rare, award-winning 1955 Czech documentary on Trnka by Bruno Šefranka.
• Film historian Evan Chester’s video documentaries:
- A Beginner’s Guide to Jiří Trnka
- A Beginner’s Guide to Czechoslovak Animation
• The Hand (Ruka, 1965): Trnka's renowned, politically defiant animated short film.
• Badly Painted Hen (Špatně namalovaná slepice, 1963): the acclaimed animated short film by co-screenwriter of Old Czech Legends and regular Trnka collaborator, Jiří Brdečka.
• Trailer for The Czech Year.
• 32-page Booklet with writing by experts on Czechoslovak cinema Peter Hames and Jonathan Owen.
• New and improved English subtitle translations.
• Region free Blu-rays (A/B/C).
• World Premieres on Blu-ray.
Old Czech Legends
Directed by Jiří Trnka
Written by Jiří Trnka, Jiří Brdečka
Based on works by Alois Jirásek, Cosmas of Prague
Puppet Design and Art Direction - Jiří Trnka
Puppeteers - Břetislav Pojar, Bohuslav Šrámek, Zdeněk Hrabě,
Stanislav Látal, Jan Karpaš, Josef Kluge, F. Braun
Cinematography - Ludvík Hájek, Emanuel Franek
Editor - Helena Lebdušková
Music - Václav Trojan
Sound - Josef Zavadil, Emanuel Formánek, Emil Poledník,
Karel Mann, Antonín Jedlička
The Czech Year
Directed and written by Jiří Trnka
Puppet Design and Art Direction - Jiří Trnka
Animation - Bohuslav Šrámek, Břetislav Pojar, Zdeněk Hrabě,
Jan Karpaš, Stanislav Látal, Arnošt Továrek
Puppeteers - J. Reigrová, Václav Mervart, Jaroslav Zdrůbecký,
Josef Zdrůbecký, Karel Sobotka, Milena Neubauerová
Set Design - Jaroslav Zdrůbecký, František Braun,
František Horník, V. Braun, Karel Sobotka
Photographed by Vladimír Novotný, Emanuel Franek
Editors - Jiří Trnka, Helena Lebdušková
Music - Václav Trojan
Sound - Josef Zavadil
“Trnka - the name is the sum of childhood and poetry”
Jean Cocteau
“Trnka conveyed the drama and psychology of his characters through his figures’ body language, expressive lighting and camera movement... Trnka made films that had an enormous impact on the development of Czech animation, and he inspired the careers of generations of filmmakers and animators around the globe” Irena Kovarova
“[Trnka has] been as described as one of the foremost Czech artists of the 20th century, in any medium... Trnka’s work transcends any one medium – he was puppet-maker and puppet-master, painter, graphic artist, sculptor, stage and costume designer. It’s perhaps this ‘total vision’ that gives his work its own unique flavour and sensibility – a sense that his illustrations, with their lyrical use of landscape, have been given life. [...] In the grace and precision of movement, Trnka’s work often approaches an almost ballet-like aesthetic”
Peter Hames
The Czech Year (Špalíček):
“The first Czechoslovak animated feature film, Trnka’s The Czech Year showed admirable confidence in not going down the more typical route of tailoring its content to an international audience; instead, it stirred elements of various Czech myths and legends into a beguilingly eye-catching stew. And long before the Czechoslovak New Wave became a going concern in the mid-1960s, it was the country’s animated films that garnered most international attention, and no wonder”
Michael Brooke
“A kinetic visual symphony bursting with music and dance that celebrates the customs and folklore of the Czech people... Trnka’s extraordinary puppet work is a marvel to behold in this new digital restoration by the Czech National Film Archive, but equally impressive is his mastery of the cinematic language, with rhythmic montage editing and swooping camera movements creating a whirling dervish sense of dynamism”
The Harvard Film Archive
Old Czech Legends (Staré pověsti české:
“A treasure trove of Bohemian myths are brought to life by Trnka’s magical puppet work in this folkloric hymn to the Czech land, history, and people, which features a breathtaking climactic battle sequence worthy of Kurosawa”
Film at Lincoln Center
“Trnka tells the stories mostly through song, dance and action rather than dialogue, creating some intensely cinematic set-pieces. [...] Few animated features create such a deep sense of time, in that these ancient stories are the myths that still contribute to how Czechs see themselves, part of a rich and turbulent history that the modern-day country is built upon”
Czech Film Review
