Name Zdenek Miler Spouse Emilie Miler (m. ?–2011) | Role Animator Books 2008 CALENDARS - THE MOLE | |
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Born 21 February 1921 ( 1921-02-21 ) Kladno, Czechoslovakia Occupation Czech cartoonist, film director Died November 30, 2011, Nova Ves pod Plesi, Czech Republic Movies Le Carnaval de la petite taupe, Poupi Children Barbora Miler, Katerina Miler Similar People Eduard Petiska, Iva Hercikova, Walt Disney | ||
Zdeněk Miler ( [ˈzdɛɲɛk ˈmɪlɛr]; 21 February 1921 – 30 November 2011) was a Czech animator and illustrator best known for his Mole (Krtek or Krteček in original) character and its adventures.
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Early years
Miler was born in Kladno just west of Prague, the capital of what was then Czechoslovakia. He became an animator partly because of the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. He took part in the demonstrations held consequent to death of Jan Opletal which led to the closing of universities and colleges. He escaped being sent to a Concentration camp. Instead he wound up working as an animator.
Miler enjoyed painting as a child. His hobby developed when he joined the national graphic school in Prague in 1942. He later studied at the College of Arts and Crafts (Uměleckoprůmyslová škola Praha). In 1948 he began work at the cartoon studio Baťa in Zlín. There he learned the important practical skills relating to film production specializing in animated films. After the second World War, he started work at the cartoon company «Bratři v triku» and worked first as draughtsman then author and director. He later became the head of the company.
In 2001, Miler announced that he would no longer be making more films, citing health reasons.
Death
Having retired in 2001, Zdeněk Miler began complaining of extreme weakness and lack of sensation, particularly on his lower body. He lived at a nursing home in Prague. He was later diagnosed with a form of demyelinating disease, which was strongly suspected to be either Guillain–Barré syndrome or multiple sclerosis. Sometime after his confinement there, he contracted bronchopneumonia, making his condition even worse than before.
On 30 November 2011 Zdeněk Miler died at a nursing home from cardiac arrest secondary to bronchopneumonia, only two months before his 91st birthday. For the last 10 years of his life, he lived at a nursing home near Prague.
Funeral
The funeral arrangements were made by Miler. Describing his funeral, the Czech Dictionary states, "Miler was buried in a common grave, in accordance with contemporary Czech custom, at the St. Marx Cemetery outside the city on 29 December."
Krtek the Mole
Miler made about 70 films. In approximately 50 of them, the protagonist was his most famous creation, the small mole (Krtek in Czech). The idea for its creation came when he was commissioned to make an educational film for children in 1956. He was not happy with the script he was given. Since he was strongly influenced by the films of Walt Disney, he looked for an animal as the main character. Later, he said that the idea to use the mole as his main character came to him when he stumbled over a mole hill during a walk. The first film was titled “How the mole got his trousers” (“Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel”), which won a Silver Lion in Venice. In the beginning, the mole spoke. But Miler wanted his mole to be understood everywhere in the world so he decided to use his daughters as voice actors, reducing the speech to short non-figurative exclamations in order to express Krtek's feelings and world perception. His daughters were also his test audience, who got to see the films first. Thus Miler could see whether his message resonated with children.
Krtek was a huge success in Czechoslovakia, Eastern Europe and Germany from the beginning and today Krtek can be seen in over 80 countries.