Old Czech Legends / The Czech Year (2x Blu-rays)

*This is NOT a comic! But puppeteers and cartoonists share the same root madness!

By Jiří Trnka. Published by Second Run. 

2x Blu-ray Discs, 80 min / 90 min, Colour, 1.37:1 aspect ratios, 1947-1953 (2026 printing)

Czechoslovakia, 1953 / 1947
Length / Old Czech Legends : 85 minutes
The Czech Year: 80 minutes 
Length / Special features: 90 minutes 
Sound: 2.0 Dual Mono LPCM (24-bit)
Colour
Original aspect ratios: 1.37:1
Language: Czech
Subtitles: English
Blu-Ray BD50 x 2 / 1080p / 24fps
Region Free (A/B/C)

Czech artist Jiří Trnka (1912–1969) is the internationally revered master of puppet animation. Creator of magical worlds, his films are triumphant experiments in the expressive possibilities of the art form. Often borrowing from Czechoslovak folklore, while inventing new and novel techniques in stop-motion cinematography, his work elevated the puppet film into a vehicle for epic drama and fantastical storytelling.

This set brings together two of Trnka’s most beloved features: his breathtaking collection of Bohemian myths, Old Czech Legends (1953), and his debut, The Czech Year (1947), a hymn to the Czech lands and the shifting seasons. These two groundbreaking animations fuse innovative camera techniques, spellbinding design, and expressive puppetry. Each film is an enchanting example of Trnka’s art, that helped turn post-war Czechoslovakia into a powerhouse of animation.

Jiří Trnka: Puppet Master presents Old Czech Legends and The Czech Year from glorious 4K restorations by the Czech National Film Archive, and includes a rare archival documentary on Trnka, short films by Trnka and fellow wrtiter and filmmmakerJiří Brdečka, video essays by Evan Chester, and a booklet with writing by authors and experts on Czechoslovak cinema Peter Hames and Jonathan Owen - and more!

• FIRST PRESSING LIMITED EDITION SLIPCASE 
- strictly limited to 2000 copies only.

• Old Czech Legends (Staré pověsti české, 1953) and The Czech Year (Špalíček, 1947) presented from 4K restorations by the Czech National Film Archive.

• The Puppets of Jiri Trnka: A rare, award-winning 1955 Czech documentary on Trnka by Bruno Šefranka.

• Film historian Evan Chester’s video documentaries:
- A Beginner’s Guide to Jiří Trnka
- A Beginner’s Guide to Czechoslovak Animation

• The Hand (Ruka, 1965): Trnka's renowned, politically defiant animated short film.

• Badly Painted Hen (Špatně namalovaná slepice, 1963): the acclaimed animated short film by co-screenwriter of Old Czech Legends and regular Trnka collaborator, Jiří Brdečka.

• Trailer for The Czech Year.

• 32-page Booklet with writing by experts on Czechoslovak cinema Peter Hames and Jonathan Owen.

• New and improved English subtitle translations.

• Region free Blu-rays (A/B/C).

• World Premieres on Blu-ray.

Old Czech Legends
Directed by Jiří Trnka
Written by Jiří Trnka, Jiří Brdečka
Based on works by Alois Jirásek, Cosmas of Prague
Puppet Design and Art Direction - Jiří Trnka
Puppeteers - Břetislav Pojar, Bohuslav Šrámek, Zdeněk Hrabě,
Stanislav Látal, Jan Karpaš, Josef Kluge, F. Braun
Cinematography - Ludvík Hájek, Emanuel Franek
Editor - Helena Lebdušková
Music - Václav Trojan
Sound - Josef Zavadil, Emanuel Formánek, Emil Poledník,
Karel Mann, Antonín Jedlička

The Czech Year
Directed and written by Jiří Trnka
Puppet Design and Art Direction - Jiří Trnka
Animation - Bohuslav Šrámek, Břetislav Pojar, Zdeněk Hrabě,
Jan Karpaš, Stanislav Látal, Arnošt Továrek
Puppeteers - J. Reigrová, Václav Mervart, Jaroslav Zdrůbecký,
Josef Zdrůbecký, Karel Sobotka, Milena Neubauerová
Set Design - Jaroslav Zdrůbecký, František Braun,
František Horník, V. Braun, Karel Sobotka
Photographed by Vladimír Novotný, Emanuel Franek
Editors - Jiří Trnka, Helena Lebdušková
Music - Václav Trojan
Sound - Josef Zavadil