New Exhibit Marks the 60th Birthday of a Czech Icon

Opening in early September, Happy Mole celebrates Czech illustrator Zdeněk Miler’s world-famous character

Expats.cz Staff Jason Pirodsky

Written by Expats.cz StaffJason Pirodsky Published on 30.08.2017 10:30:27 (updated on 30.08.2017) Reading time: 1 minute

Krtek, or the Little Mole, is the definitive Czech animated character, and undoubtedly the most popular figure on any list of the best Czech cartoons; not only is he known around the world, he’s even made it to outer space.

The premiere of the first short film with The Mole took place at the Venice Film Festival in 1957.

The lack of dialogue and the Disney-like anthropomorphism of the animal characters led to the Little Mole’s widespread popularity through Europe, Asia, and even North America.

But while the original Zdeněk Miler productions are simply wonderful, the more recent incarnations have been of decidedly inferior quality, in both writing and animation.

This year Miler’s signature creation turns sixty and to celebrate, Chvalský zámek in Prague is hosting a new exhibit devoted to the shy little guy.

The exhibition Little Mole Celebrates 60 opens on September 9 and will offer films, replica animation scenes, interactive games, and more.

Original early Miler sketches will be on display and his daughter, Catherine, will open the event.

The exhibit runs through December 3.

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