The Mole (Krtek)

Mole (Czech: Krtek, Krteček) is an animated character in a series of cartoons created by Czech animator Zdeněk Miler. The premiere of the first short film with Mole took place at the Venice Film Festival in 1957.[1] Since its inception, the cartoon has gained enormous popularity in many Central European countries, as well as India, China, Kazakhstan, Croatia, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Iran, Iraq, and Japan.

Mole
Krtek image on hay bales
First appearance1956
Created byZdeněk Miler
Voiced byZdeněk Miler's daughters

History

Krtek was first seen in 1956 in Prague, when Miler wanted to create a children's cartoon about how flax is processed. He wanted a strong Disney influence to the cartoon by choosing an animal for the leading role, and decided to pick a mole after stumbling over a molehill during a walk. The first film, called "Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel" ("How the mole got his trousers"), had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival in 1957, where it was awarded two Golden Lions. Production of further episodes started in 1963 and since then, around fifty episodes have been created.

The first episode of the cartoon was narrated, but Miler wanted the cartoon to be understood in every country of the world, so he decided to use his daughters as voice actors, reducing the speech to short non-figurative exclamations in order to express the mole's feelings and world perception. Miler's daughters also became the bottleneck of the creation process as they were the ones who got to see the whole film first, thus Miler was able to decide whether the message of the movie was able to get to children or not.

It took me a long time to realize it, but when I draw Krtek, I was drawing myself.

Zdeněk Miler

In the United Kingdom, the cartoons were transmitted by the BBC with English narration by Colin Jeavons.[2]

Recent developments

Mole mascot at a promotional event

Inclusion on US Space Shuttle flight

On 16 May 2011, a plush toy of Krtek was present on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour, where it accompanied the U.S. astronaut Andrew J. Feustel, whose wife is of Czech ancestry, on the STS-134 mission.[3][4][5]

US toy market plans

In May 2012, Bloomberg announced that Apple Inc. planned to help Krtek enter the $21 billion U.S. toy market for the first time.[6][7]

Mascot

Mole was the mascot for the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Prague, and was subsequently used to promote the Federation's Athletics for Children programme.[8]

CGI adaptation

In 2016, China Central Television Animation and Little Mole a.s. (founded by Zdeněk Miler's granddaughter, Karolína Milerová) created a remake version called Krtek a Panda. The show ran until 2019.[9]

Alfa Romeo Racing partnership

On 23 May 2019, Alfa Romeo Racing, a Formula One team, announced Krtek as the new team partner. Frédéric Vasseur, principal of the team, said that the goal of the partnership is to capture the imagination of hundreds of thousands of children and get them closer to the sport using Krtek's big follower base all over the world. Mole's iconic figure is appearing on the sidepods of the cars for the rest of the 2019 season.[10]

Music

Music plays an important role in the cartoons, since the characters almost never utter more than emotional sounds, the most common of which is "Ahoj!" ("Hello" in Czech). The original series' music uses acoustic and electric musical instruments, rather than synthesized ones.

Composers

Filmography

  • From 2002 to 2004, a set of 60 DVDs entitled "Nejlepších večerníčků" (Best Bedtime Stories) was released, some of which included Krtek animations. Included in the list below are the DVD numbers for films in this set.
  • A DVD set with all 63 episodes called "приключения Крота" (Mole adventure) was produced for Russian audiences.
  • IMDB Episode List
Episode English title Czech title Year Duration NV DVD #*
01.How Mole Got His TrousersJak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel195711:511
02.Mole and the CarKrtek a autíčko196314:3019
03.Mole and the RocketKrtek a raketa196508:40
04.Mole and the Transistor SetKrtek a tranzistor196808:1010
05.Mole and the Green StarKrtek a zelená hvězda196907:3010,1
06.Mole and the Chewing GumKrtek a žvýkačka196907:2010
07.Mole in a ZooKrtek v Zoo196906:0510
08.Mole as a GardenerKrtek zahradníkem196906:5510,1
09.Mole and the HedgehogKrtek a ježek197008:2510
10.Mole and the LollipopKrtek a lízátko197008:0010,1
11.Mole and the TVKrtek a televizor197005:3010
12.Mole and the UmbrellaKrtek a paraplíčko197107:1010,1
13.Mole as a PainterKrtek malířem197209:3519
14.Mole and the MatchesKrtek a zápalky197405:3019
15.Mole and the MusicKrtek a muzika197405:1519
16.Mole and the TelephoneKrtek a telefon197405:2519
17.Mole as a ChemistKrtek chemikem197405:3019
18.Mole and the CarpetKrtek a koberec197405:4019
19.Mole as WatchmakerKrtek hodinářem197405:2519
20.Mole at ChristmasKrtek o Vánocích197505:4519
21.Mole as PhotographerKrtek fotografem197505:4519
22.Mole and the EggKrtek a vejce197505:3519
23.Mole and the BulldozerKrtek a buldozér197505:4319
24.Mole in the DesertKrtek na poušti197505:5219
25.Mole and the CarnivalKrtek a karneval197505:2519
26.Mole in TownKrtek ve městě198228:3133
27.Mole in a DreamKrtek ve snu198428:0933
28.Mole and the MedicineKrtek a medicína198728:0844
29.Mole as a Movie StarKrtek filmová hvězda198827:4744
30.Mole and the EagleKrtek a orel199228:0550
31.Mole and the ClockKrtek a hodiny199428:0450
32.Mole and the CoalKrtek a uhlí199504:1033
33.Mole and His FriendsKrtek a kamarádi199505:1833,1
34.Mole's WeekendKrtek a víkend199505:0533
35.Mole and the RobotKrtek a robot199505:0033,1
36.Mole and the CelebrationKrtek a oslava199505:0433
37.Mole and the Little DucksKrtek a kachničky199505:0033
38.Mole and the SubwayKrtek a metro199705:0044
39.Mole and the MushroomsKrtek a houby199704:2844
40.Mole and the Little MouseKrtek a myška199705:1944
41.Mole and the Little HareKrtek a zajíček199705:1144
42.Mole and the MotherKrtek a maminka199705:2044
43.Mole and the FloodKrtek a potopa199705:04
44.Mole and the SnowmanKrtek a sněhulák199805:0944,1
45.Mole on VacationKrtek a dovolená199801:15
46.Mole and cottageKrtek a domek1998
47.Mole and the chicksKrtek a tresne1998
48.Mole and snailKrtek a šnek1998
49.Mole and jewelsKrtek a sperky1998
50.Mole and tvKrtek a televize1998
51.Mole and the Little FrogKrtek a žabka1998
52.Mole and painterKrtek a malirem1998
53.Mole and balloonKrtek a balonek1998
54.Mole and boxKrtek a krabice1998
55.Mole and hatKrtek a klobouk1998
56.Mole magicianKrtek kouzelnik1998
57.Mole and duckKrtek a kacenka1998
58.Mole and the FluteKrtek a flétna199905:0550,1
59.Mole and the SpringKrtek a pramen199905:3350
60.Mole and the GrumblerKrtek a šťoura199905:2150
61.Mole and the SwallowKrtek a vlaštovka200004:2550
62.Mole and the Little FishKrtek a rybka200005:0250
63.Mole and the Little FrogKrtek a žabka200205:2050,1

International broadcast

See also

References

  1. "iMDB.com". IMDb.
  2. BBC Genome website - Radio Times listings
  3. Halousek, Milan (3 April 2011). "Into Space with Mole". Czech Space Office. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  4. "Flying to Space with the Little Mole (Do kosmu s Krtkem)". Do kosmu s Krtkem. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  5. Rousek, Leos (22 March 2011). "Space Shuttle Stowaway Is a Commie Mole". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  6. "Apple to help Czech cartoon character Krtek enter U.S. market, Bloomberg reports". Yahoo Finance. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  7. Ponikelska, Lenka (16 May 2012). "Apple Helps Czech Mole Enter $21 Billion U.S. Toy Market". Bloomberg. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  8. "Thursday news briefing — Jan.8, 2015". Prague Post. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  9. NOHL, Radek. Spor o Krtečka se dotkne i Tvrdíkova čínského byznysu. Pohádka s Pandou je v ohrožení. Seznam Zprávy [online]. 25. 3. 2019 [cit. 28 May 2021]. Dostupné online.
  10. "Little Mole goes from stars to cars with Alfa Romeo Racing". Sauber Group. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
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