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The Little Mole

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The Little Mole
Little Mole on hay bales
First appearance1956
Created byZdeněk Miler
Voiced byZdeněk Miler's daughters

The Little Mole (Czech: Krtek, Krteček) is a series of cartoons as well as the name of their title character, created between 1957 and 2002 by Czech animator Zdeněk Miler. The first short film premiered at the 1957 Venice Film Festival, where it won the award for the best directing achievement.[1] It also won the Venice Film Festival award in 1966 and the Zlín Film Festival award in 2002.[2] Since its inception, the cartoon has gained popularity worldwide, mainly in Europe and Asia.

History

Little Mole was first seen in 1956 in Prague, when Miler wanted to create a children's cartoon about how flax is processed. He wanted a strong Disney influence to the cartoon by choosing an animal for the leading role, and decided to pick a mole after stumbling over a molehill during a walk. The first film, called "Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel" ("How the mole got his trousers"), had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival in 1957, where it was awarded two Golden Lions. Production of further episodes started in 1963 and since then, around fifty episodes have been created.

The first episode of the cartoon was narrated, but Miler wanted the cartoon to be understood in every country of 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. Miler's daughters also became the bottleneck of the creation process as they were the ones who got to see the whole film first, thus Miler was able to decide whether the message of the movie was able to get to children or not.

The only episode where the mole talks is the first one.[3] In the United Kingdom, the cartoons were transmitted by the BBC with English narration by Colin Jeavons.[4] Book adaptations were also published in English.[5]

Developments

Andrew J. Feustel and Little Mole at a promotional event
Little Mole in a Prague shop
Little Mole on a Finnish VR commuter train

Inclusion on US Space Shuttle flight

On 16 May 2011, a plush toy of Little Mole was present on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour, where it accompanied the U.S. astronaut Andrew J. Feustel, whose wife is of Czech ancestry, on the STS-134 mission.[6][7][8] It is the first animated character sent into space.[9]

US toy market plans

In May 2012, Bloomberg announced that Apple Inc. planned to help Little Mole enter the $21 billion U.S. toy market for the first time.[10][11]

Mascot

Mole was the mascot for the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Prague, and was subsequently used to promote the Federation's Athletics for Children programme.[12]

3D adaptation

In 2016, China Central Television Animation and Little Mole a.s. (founded by Zdeněk Miler's granddaughter, Karolína Milerová) created a remake version called The Little Mole and Panda [cs]. Two series were filmed in 2016–2017; the project was cancelled in 2019.[13][14]

Alfa Romeo Racing partnership

On 23 May 2019, Alfa Romeo Racing, a Formula One team, announced Little Mole as the new team partner. Frédéric Vasseur, principal of the team, said that the goal of the partnership is to capture the imagination of hundreds of thousands of children and get them closer to the sport using Little Mole's big follower base all over the world. Mole's iconic figure is appearing on the sidepods of the cars for the rest of the 2019 season.[15]

Music

Music plays an important role in the cartoons, since the characters almost never utter more than emotional sounds, the most common of which is "Ahoj!" ("Hello" in Czech). The original series' music uses acoustic and electric musical instruments, rather than synthesized ones.

Composers

Filmography

  • In 2000, a DVD collection was published under the English title The Adventures of the Mole.[16]
  • From 2002 to 2004, a set of 60 DVDs entitled "Nejlepších večerníčků" (Best Bedtime Stories) was released, some of which included Little Mole animations. Included in the list below are the DVD numbers for films in this set.
  • A DVD set with all 63 episodes called "приключения Крота" (Mole adventure) was produced for Russian audiences.
  • IMDB episode list
Episode English title Czech title Year Duration NV DVD #*
01. How Mole Got His Trousers Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel 1957 11:51 1
02. Mole and the Car Krtek a autíčko 1963 14:30 19
03. Mole and the Rocket Krtek a raketa 1965 08:40
04. Mole and the Transistor Set Krtek a tranzistor 1968 08:10 10
05. Mole and the Green Star Krtek a zelená hvězda 1969 07:30 10,1
06. Mole and the Chewing Gum Krtek a žvýkačka 1969 07:20 10
07. Mole in a Zoo Krtek v Zoo 1969 06:05 10
08. Mole as a Gardener Krtek zahradníkem 1969 06:55 10,1
09. Mole and the Hedgehog Krtek a ježek 1970 08:25 10
10. Mole and the Lollipop Krtek a lízátko 1970 08:00 10,1
11. Mole and the TV Krtek a televizor 1970 05:30 10
12. Mole and the Umbrella Krtek a paraplíčko 1971 07:10 10,1
13. Mole as a Painter Krtek malířem 1972 09:35 19
14. Mole and the Matches Krtek a zápalky 1974 05:30 19
15. Mole and the Music Krtek a muzika 1974 05:15 19
16. Mole and the Telephone Krtek a telefon 1974 05:25 19
17. Mole as a Chemist Krtek chemikem 1974 05:30 19
18. Mole and the Carpet Krtek a koberec 1974 05:40 19
19. Mole as Watchmaker Krtek hodinářem 1974 05:25 19
20. Mole at Christmas Krtek o Vánocích 1975 05:45 19
21. Mole as Photographer Krtek fotografem 1975 05:45 19
22. Mole and the Egg Krtek a vejce 1975 05:35 19
23. Mole and the Bulldozer Krtek a buldozér 1975 05:43 19
24. Mole in the Desert Krtek na poušti 1975 05:52 19
25. Mole and the Carnival Krtek a karneval 1975 05:25 19
26. Mole in Town Krtek ve městě 1982 28:31 33
27. Mole in a Dream Krtek ve snu 1984 28:09 33
28. Mole and the Medicine Krtek a medicína 1987 28:08 44
29. Mole as a Movie Star Krtek filmová hvězda 1988 27:47 44
30. Mole and the Eagle Krtek a orel 1992 28:05 50
31. Mole and the Clock Krtek a hodiny 1994 28:04 50
32. Mole and the Coal Krtek a uhlí 1995 04:10 33
33. Mole and His Friends Krtek a kamarádi 1995 05:18 33,1
34. Mole's Weekend Krtek a víkend 1995 05:05 33
35. Mole and the Robot Krtek a robot 1995 05:00 33,1
36. Mole and the Celebration Krtek a oslava 1995 05:04 33
37. Mole and the Little Ducks Krtek a kachničky 1995 05:00 33
38. Mole and the Subway Krtek a metro 1997 05:00 44
39. Mole and the Mushrooms Krtek a houby 1997 04:28 44
40. Mole and the Little Mouse Krtek a myška 1997 05:19 44
41. Mole and the Little Hare Krtek a zajíček 1997 05:11 44
42. Mole and the Mother Krtek a maminka 1997 05:20 44
43. Mole and the Flood Krtek a potopa 1997 05:04
44. Mole and the Snowman Krtek a sněhulák 1998 05:09 44,1
45. Mole on Vacation Krtek a dovolená 1998 01:15
46. Mole and cottage Krtek a domek 1998
47. Mole and the chicks Krtek a tresne 1998
48. Mole and snail Krtek a šnek 1998
49. Mole and jewels Krtek a sperky 1998
50. Mole and tv Krtek a televize 1998
51. Mole and the Little Frog Krtek a žabka 1998
52. Mole and painter Krtek a malirem 1998
53. Mole and balloon Krtek a balonek 1998
54. Mole and box Krtek a krabice 1998
55. Mole and hat Krtek a klobouk 1998
56. Mole magician Krtek kouzelnik 1998
57. Mole and duck Krtek a kacenka 1998
58. Mole and the Flute Krtek a flétna 1999 05:05 50,1
59. Mole and the Spring Krtek a pramen 1999 05:33 50
60. Mole and the Grumbler Krtek a šťoura 1999 05:21 50
61. Mole and the Swallow Krtek a vlaštovka 2000 04:25 50
62. Mole and the Little Fish Krtek a rybka 2000 05:02 50
63. Mole and the Little Frog Krtek a žabka 2002 05:20 50,1

International broadcast

See also

References

  1. ^ "Animator Zdeněk Miler, creator of the famous Little Mole, born 100 years ago". Radio Prague International. 19 February 2021.
  2. ^ "iMDB.com". IMDb.[better source needed]
  3. ^ "O krtkovi pohádka online". Pohádkář.cz. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  4. ^ BBC Genome website – Radio Times listings
  5. ^ "Little Mole and Mother". Martinus.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  6. ^ Halousek, Milan (3 April 2011). "Into Space with Mole". Czech Space Office. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  7. ^ "Flying to Space with the Little Mole (Do kosmu s Krtkem)". Do kosmu s Krtkem. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  8. ^ Rousek, Leos (22 March 2011). "Space Shuttle Stowaway Is a Commie Mole". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Historie o Krtkovi". SouvenirPrague.com. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Apple to help Czech cartoon character Krtek enter U.S. market, Bloomberg reports". Yahoo Finance. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  11. ^ Ponikelska, Lenka (16 May 2012). "Apple Helps Czech Mole Enter $21 Billion U.S. Toy Market". Bloomberg. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  12. ^ "Thursday news briefing — Jan.8, 2015". Prague Post. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  13. ^ "Panda and Little Mole: Série a epizody". Kinobox.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  14. ^ NOHL, Radek. Spor o Krtečka se dotkne i Tvrdíkova čínského byznysu. Pohádka s Pandou je v ohrožení. Seznam Zprávy [online]. 25. 3. 2019 [cit. 28 May 2021]. Dostupné online.
  15. ^ "Little Mole goes from stars to cars with Alfa Romeo Racing". Sauber Group. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  16. ^ "DVD The Little Mole 1 – Karel Zeman Museum Shop". shop.karelzemanmuseum.com.
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