Jiří Trnka: Old Czech Legends – Chrudim

Fact of the Czech figure „Three Lives of Czech Myths – Prague”

Part of the „The story of the beginning” topic

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Since the 19th century, the oldest Czech legends have become a part of popular culture, of which they remain an important part to this day. As an example, a fictional adaptation of these tales was first published under the title Ancient Bohemian Legends (Staré pověsti české) in 1893 by Alois Jirásek. The book was later adapted for the screen in 1952 as an animated film of the similar name Old Czech Legends directed by Jiří Trnka. It has won numerous prestigious awards (for instance the Silver Lion in Venice in 1953 or the Grand Prize in the category of puppet films in Montevideo in 1954) and became an essential classic in the Czech puppet school as it was called. No wonder the critics began calling Trnka “the Walt Disney of the East”.