A dark fable set in an early 1950s Czech village, a time of Soviet-style socialism which saw the implementation of collectivized agriculture and the mass closure of monasteries and convents.
Jakoubek Kurka (voice)
The Stolen Airship (Czech: Ukradená vzducholod) is a 1967 live-action/animated film by Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman. The story is based loosely on Jules Verne's novels Two Years' Vacation and The Mysterious Island. The film in Art Nouveau style consists of live-action scenes, generally shot in black and white, as well as hand-drawn, stop motion, and cutout animation. Various live-action and animated elements are often composited into the same scene.
A military base. An awkward soldier. A statue of Bach. And suddenly all guns in the area change into music instruments. Great mystery is immediately found by TV station. And soon the military base becomes a stage for huge TV show.
“And what did you do at school today?” In Pavel Hobl’s Czech fairytale, when Pepik and Honzik learn that school has been canceled they embark on an amazing odyssey around Prague that has them directing traffic, following the lead of a talking dog, breaking the spell an evil sorcerer has placed on a group of local musicians, rollerskating through a museum, and winning a magical car race. (University of Chicago Doc Films)