Román s basou. Story of the bass cello. Arie prerie. Song of the prairie. Merry circus. Drop too much. Ruka. Hand. Jiri Trnka, puppet animation master.
Notes:
Narrator, Boris Karloff. DVD release of short films produced between 1944 and 1965. Originally produced in Czechoslovakia by the Prague Puppet Unit, and distributed by Rembrandt Films.
Contents:
The emperor's nightingale [English version] (1944, 67 min.). Arie prerie = The song of the prairie (1949, 21 min.) -- The merry circus (1951, 11 min.) -- A drop too much (1954, 14 min.) / produced by Rembrandt Films -- Ruka = The hand (1965, 18 min.) -- Jiri Trnka : puppet animation master (12 min.) / produced by Rembrandt Films -- The emperor's nightingale [English version] (1944, 67 min.).
Summary:
Story of the bass cello is based on Chekhov's story about a bass player whose clothes are stolen while he's bathing in a river. The song of the prairie is a parody of the wild American West where the pistol rules, timidity has no place, and love blossoms. The merry circus, created by using paper cut-outs and stop-action photography, shows an afternoon at a circus. A drop too much is the tragic tale of a motorcyclist who, happily on his way to meet his fiancee, stops at a tavern with disastrous results. The hand tells the story of a happy artist who devotes his time to making a pot for his favorite flower until he is ordered by a giant hand to create a statue instead. Jiri Trnka, puppet animation master is a brief documentary that includes clips of the artist working on his puppets and excerpts from some of his films. The emperor's nightingale is based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen in which the emperor loves the song of the nightingale so much that he buys an artificical bird which breaks the real nightingale's heart.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.