Zdeněk Miler

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Zdeněk Miler (born February 21, 1921 in Kladno , Czechoslovakia ; † November 30, 2011 in Nová Ves pod Pleší near Dobříš ) was a Czech illustrator and cartoonist .

Life

Zdeněk Miler began studying at the State School of Graphics in Prague- Smíchov in 1936 and then studied photography at the Prague School of Applied Arts from 1939 to 1942 . In 1942 he started working in the animation studio of the Baťa concern in Zlín . There he learned the most important manual skills and specialized in animation films. After the Second World War , he moved to the animation company Bratři v triku and initially worked as a draftsman, director and author. He later became its director. From 1957 Miler drew the films with the little mole , which made him internationally known. He illustrated 40 children's books that sold more than five million times.

On October 28, 2006, Miler was awarded the Czech Medal of Merit by President Václav Klaus as an honor for his life's work. He used his earnings to buy a small house in a residential area in Prague. After he had to stop drawing in 2002, he lived for the last few years as a very old man in a retirement home in Nová Ves pod Pleší.

The little mole

Miler developed about 70 films. His most famous character, the little mole, plays the main role in around 50 of them. The idea came to him when he was commissioned to film a story for children in 1956. Since he didn't like the script and he was very much influenced by Walt Disney films, he looked for an animal that could take on the leading character in the film. He later explained his choice of animal species by stumbling over a molehill while walking one day and that gave him the idea of ​​using the mole as his figure.

In 1957 the first film How the Mole Got His Trousers was made (Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel) , which won a Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival . At first the mole spoke. But since Miler wanted his mole to be understood all over the world, he only gave him short exclamations later to express his feelings. He used the voices of his daughters. It was they who got to see the films first. That way, Miler could see whether his stories were getting across to the children.

How much Zdeněk Miler identified with the mole can be seen from a quote: "It took me a long time to grasp it, but when I draw the mole, I draw myself."

From the beginning, the mole was a huge success in Czechoslovakia and today the mole can be seen in over 80 countries. Since 1972, episodes of the mole have appeared regularly in the German show with the mouse .

The American astronaut Andrew Jay Feustel gave Zdeněk Miler a plush version of the little mole that he had with him on board the last Endeavor mission .

Miler had a fan page about the little mole closed in 2005 by his lawyer and the legal department of the WDR. In 2015, WDR extensively restored the film material and first broadcast the series in a new quality on the children's channel KIKA from New Year's Eve .

Filmography

The little mole

The grave of Zdeněk Miler in the Vysehrad cemetery in Prague

More movies

  • 1948: O milionáři, který ukradl slunce after Jiří Wolker (German: About the millionaire who stole the sun )
  • 1953: O kohoutkovi a slepičce (German: The cock and the hen )
  • 1958: Měsíční pohádka (German: A moon story )
  • 1959: Modrý kocourek (German: The Blue Boy )
  • 1960: Jak štěňátko dostalo chuť na med (German: How the puppy got an appetite for honey )
  • 1960: O štěňátku (German: About the little puppy )
  • 1960: Jak štěňátko chtělo malé pejsky (German: How the puppy wanted small dogs )
  • 1960: Jak sluníčko vrátilo štěňátku vodu (German: How the sun gave the little puppy its water back )
  • 1961: O nejbohatším vrabci na světě (German: About the richest sparrow in the world )
  • 1963: Rudá stopa (German: The red trail )
  • 1963: O Čtverečkovi a Trojúhelníčkovi (German: About the small square and the small triangle )
  • 1967: Sametka (German: Das Samtkropfband )
  • 1977: Romance helgolandská (German: Eine Helgoländische Romance )
  • 1978: Cvrček a stroj (German: The cricket and the machine )
  • 1978: Cvrček a pavouk (German: The cricket and the spider )
  • 1978: Cvrček a housličky (German: The cricket and the violin )
  • 1979: Cvrček a slepice (German: The cricket and the chicken )
  • 1979: Cvrček a pila (German: The cricket and the saw )
  • 1979: Cvrček a bombardón (German: Die Grille und das Bombardon )
  • 1979: Cvrček a basa (German: The cricket and the double bass )

Web links

Commons : Zdeněk Miler  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ dapd : Mole inventor died. In: Taz . December 1, 2011, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Great honor for little mole. In: N-TV . October 29, 2006, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Stefan Heinlein: Farewell to the inventor of the little mole. Deutschlandradio Kultur , December 1, 2011, accessed on January 25, 2016 .
  4. ↑ a b Zemřel Zdeněk Miler. Otec Krtka, kterého nám závidí Hollywood. iDNES.cz, November 30, 2011, accessed on January 25, 2016 (cZ).
  5. ↑ Michael Heitmann: Endeavor astronaut gives presents to father of the "Little Mole". Digitalfernsehen.de, July 30, 2011, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Wolf-Dieter Roth: From the mole. Not only private media companies warn fan sites. In: Telepolis. May 6, 2005, accessed January 25, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Heike Sistig: Premiere for the new “Tales of the Mole” on New Year's Eve at KiKA. WDR, December 27, 2015, accessed January 25, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Miler, Zdeněk
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech animator and children's book illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Kladno , Czechoslovakia
DATE OF DEATH November 30, 2011
Place of death Nová Ves pod Pleší