Karel Zeman was a Czech film director, screenwriter, artist, and animator. He was known in his time as a “futuristic filmmaker” by creating fantasy and science fiction films using a combination of live-action and animation. As a result, he is considered to be “one of the greatest animators of all time."
Zeman was born on November 3, 1910, in the village of Ostroměř near Nová Paka in northern Bohemia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a young child, he had a talent for drawing, and his teachers suggested that he attend art school. However, his parents insisted he attend business school, and he began his studies in advertising design in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. He remained in France until 1936, working at an advertising studio in Marseilles. During this time, he frequently visited the cinema and became interested in animation. His first experience with animation was creating an animated advertisement for a soap company.
In the late 1930s, Zeman returned to Czechoslovakia and continued working in advertising. In 1939, he attempted to migrate to Casablanca, Morocco to avoid the poor conditions in the Nazi German-occupied Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. However, he was barred from migrating and remained in Czechoslovakia during World War II.
In 1943 while working in advertising, Zeman participated in a window-dressing competition in Brno, in which he won. While filming a report about the competition, film director Elmar Klos became acquainted with Zeman’s work and offered him a job at the Bata Film Studios in Zlin. Zeman accepted the offer, working as an assistant under animator Hermina Tyrlova.
In 1945, Zeman started work on his first short film called A Christmas Dream, which combined live-action with puppet animation. As a child, he loved puppets and performed with them in a puppet theatre. A year later, Zeman created a series of short films featuring a puppet called Mr. Prokouk.
In 1952, Zeman created his first feature film The Treasure of Bird Island. His next film Journey to the Beginning of Time (1955) was based on a Jules Verne book and became his breakthrough film by combining live-action, animation, and puppetry. Zeman based several of his successful films on the stories of Jules Verne, such as The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958), The Stolen Airship (1966), and On the Comet (1968). Zeman once said, "I was and still am a great admirer of Jules Verne's work. He is the writer of my youth, but I think he will also be the writer of my grandchildren.”
During his time, Zeman was admired by other artists such as Pablo Picasso, Charlie Chaplin, and Salvádor Dalí. He has also been seen as an influence for others in the film industry such as director Wes Anderson, Czech animator Jan Svankmajer, and filmmakers Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, and John Stevenson.
After working as a director for 34 years, Zeman retired in 1980 at the age of 70. Several years later at the age of 78, Zeman died of natural causes on April 5, 1989, in present-day Zlin. Had he lived a few months longer, he would have experienced the Velvet Revolution and the fall of communism in his homeland of Czechoslovakia.
Zeman’s work has made Czech cinematography famous throughout the world. His work is still highly regarded in the film industry, and the techniques he used continue to be studied at film schools throughout the world. In 2013 the Karel Zeman Museum in Prague was established to present and honor his life’s work.
Written by James Travis
Sources:
“Karel Zeman: Biography.” Imdb.com. 2023. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0954724/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
“Karel Zeman.” Czech Center New York. 2023. https://new-york.czechcentres.cz/en/program/filmy-karla-zemana-ukradena-vzducholod-a-vynalez-zkazy
“Karel Zeman: Director, Screenwriter, Art Director.” Karel Zeman Museum. 2023. https://karelzemanmuseum.org/karel-zeman-museum/karel-zeman-films/