# Zdeněk Miler

Zdeněk Miler (Czech pronunciation:; 21 February 1921 – 30 November 2011) was a Czech animator and illustrator best known for his Mole (Krtek or Krteček in original) character and its adventures.

## Early years

Miler was born in Kladno just west of Prague, the capital of what was then Czechoslovakia. He became an animator partly because of the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. He took part in the demonstrations held consequent to the death of Jan Opletal, which led to the closing of universities and colleges. He escaped being sent to a concentration camp and instead wound up working as an animator.
Miler enjoyed painting as a child. His hobby developed when he joined the national graphic school in Prague in 1942. He later studied at the College of Arts and Crafts (Uměleckoprůmyslová škola Praha). In 1948, he began work at the cartoon studio Baťa in Zlín. There, he learned the important practical skills relating to film production, specializing in animated films. After the Second World War, he started work at the cartoon company Bratři v triku and worked first as draughtsman, then author and director. He later became the head of the company.
In 2001, Miler announced that he would no longer be making more films, citing health reasons.

## Death

On 30 November 2011, Miler died at a nursing home, aged 90. Miler was cremated on the day after his death, and he is interred at the Slavín tomb in Prague's Vyšehrad Cemetery.

## Krtek (the mole)

Miler made about 70 films. In approximately fifty of them, the protagonist was his most famous creation, the small mole (Krtek in Czech). The idea for its creation came when he was commissioned to make an educational film for children in 1956. He was not happy with the script he was given. Since he was strongly influenced by the films of Walt Disney, he looked for an animal as the main character. Later, he said that the idea to use a mole as his main character came to him when he stumbled over a mole hill during a walk. The first film was titled Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel (How the mole got his trousers), which won a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. In the beginning, the mole spoke, but Miler wanted his creation to be understood everywhere in the world, so he decided to use his daughters as voice actors, reducing the speech to short non-figurative exclamations in order to express Krtek's feelings and world perception. His daughters were also his test audience, who got to see the films first. Thus, Miler could see whether his message resonated with children.
Krtek was a huge success in Czechoslovakia, Eastern Europe, and Germany from the beginning, and today Krtek can be seen in over eighty countries.

## Works
### Krtek

| Episode | English title | Czech title | Year | Duration | NV DVD #* |
| 01. | How Mole Got His Trousers | Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel | 1957 | 11:51 | 1 |
| 02. | Mole and the Car | Krtek a autíčko | 1963 | 14:30 | 19 |
| 03. | Mole and the Rocket | Krtek a raketa | 1965 | 08:40 | |
| 04. | Mole and the Transistor Set | Krtek a tranzistor | 1968 | 08:10 | 10 |
| 05. | Mole and the Green Star | Krtek a zelená hvězda | 1969 | 07:30 | 10,1 |
| 06. | Mole and the Chewing Gum | Krtek a žvýkačka | 1969 | 07:20 | 10 |
| 07. | Mole in a Zoo | Krtek v Zoo | 1969 | 06:05 | 10 |
| 08. | Mole as a Gardener | Krtek zahradníkem | 1969 | 06:55 | 10,1 |
| 09. | Mole and the Hedgehog | Krtek a ježek | 1970 | 08:25 | 10 |
| 10. | Mole and the Lollipop | Krtek a lízátko | 1970 | 08:00 | 10,1 |
| 11. | Mole and the TV | Krtek a televizor | 1970 | 05:30 | 10 |
| 12. | Mole and the Umbrella | Krtek a paraplíčko | 1971 | 07:10 | 10,1 |
| 13. | Mole as a Painter | Krtek malířem | 1972 | 09:35 | 19 |
| 14. | Mole and the Matches | Krtek a zápalky | 1974 | 05:30 | 19 |
| 15. | Mole and the Music | Krtek a muzika | 1974 | 05:15 | 19 |
| 16. | Mole and the Telephone | Krtek a telefon | 1974 | 05:25 | 19 |
| 17. | Mole as a Chemist | Krtek chemikem | 1974 | 05:30 | 19 |
| 18. | Mole and the Carpet | Krtek a koberec | 1974 | 05:40 | 19 |
| 19. | Mole as Watchmaker | Krtek hodinářem | 1974 | 05:25 | 19 |
| 20. | Mole at Christmas | Krtek o Vánocích | 1975 | 05:45 | 19 |
| 21. | Mole as Photographer | Krtek fotografem | 1975 | 05:45 | 19 |
| 22. | Mole and the Egg | Krtek a vejce | 1975 | 05:35 | 19 |
| 23. | Mole and the Bulldozer | Krtek a buldozér | 1975 | 05:43 | 19 |
| 24. | Mole in the Desert | Krtek na poušti | 1975 | 05:52 | 19 |
| 25. | Mole and the Carnival | Krtek a karneval | 1975 | 05:25 | 19 |
| 26. | Mole in Town | Krtek ve městě | 1982 | 28:31 | 33 |
| 27. | Mole in a Dream | Krtek ve snu | 1984 | 28:09 | 33 |
| 28. | Mole and the Medicine | Krtek a medicína | 1987 | 28:08 | 44 |
| 29. | Mole as a Movie Star | Krtek filmová hvězda | 1988 | 27:47 | 44 |
| 30. | Mole and the Eagle | Krtek a orel | 1992 | 28:05 | 50 |
| 31. | Mole and the Clock | Krtek a hodiny | 1994 | 28:04 | 50 |
| 32. | Mole and the Coal | Krtek a uhlí | 1995 | 04:10 | 33 |
| 33. | Mole and His Friends | Krtek a kamarádi | 1995 | 05:18 | 33,1 |
| 34. | Mole's Weekend | Krtek a víkend | 1995 | 05:05 | 33 |
| 35. | Mole and the Robot | Krtek a robot | 1995 | 05:00 | 33,1 |
| 36. | Mole's and the Celebration | Krtek a oslava | 1995 | 05:04 | 33 |
| 37. | Mole and the Little Ducks | Krtek a kachničky | 1995 | 05:00 | 33 |
| 38. | Mole and the Subway | Krtek a metro | 1997 | 05:00 | 44 |
| 39. | Mole and the Mushrooms | Krtek a houby | 1997 | 04:28 | 44 |
| 40. | Mole and the Little Mouse | Krtek a myška | 1997 | 05:19 | 44 |
| 41. | Mole and the Little Hare | Krtek a zajíček | 1997 | 05:11 | 44 |
| 42. | Mole and the Mother | Krtek a maminka | 1997 | 05:20 | 44 |
| 43. | Mole and the Flood | Krtek a potopa | 1997 | 05:04 | |
| 44. | Mole and the Snowman | Krtek a sněhulák | 1998 | 05:09 | 44,1 |
| 45. | Mole on Vacation | Krtek a dovolená | 1998 | 01:15 | |
| 46. | Mole and cottage | Krtek a domek | 1998 | | |
| 47. | Mole and the chicks | Krtek a tresne | 1998 | | |
| 48. | Mole and snail | Krtek a šnek | 1998 | | |
| 49. | Mole and jewels | Krtek a sperky | 1998 | | |
| 50. | Mole and tv | Krtek a televize | 1998 | | |
| 51. | Mole and the Little Frog | Krtek a žabka | 1998 | | |
| 52. | Mole and painter | Krtek a malirem | 1998 | | |
| 53. | Mole and balloon | Krtek a balonek | 1998 | | |
| 54. | Mole and box | Krtek a krabice | 1998 | | |
| 55. | Mole and hat | Krtek a klobouk | 1998 | | |
| 56. | Mole magician | Krtek kouzelnik | 1998 | | |
| 57. | Mole and duck | Krtek a kacenka | 1998 | | |
| 58. | Mole and the Flute | Krtek a flétna | 1999 | 05:05 | 50,1 |
| 59. | Mole and the Spring | Krtek a pramen | 1999 | 05:33 | 50 |
| 60. | Mole and the Grumbler | Krtek a šťoura | 1999 | 05:21 | 50 |
| 61. | Mole and the Swallow | Krtek a vlaštovka | 2000 | 04:25 | 50 |
| 62. | Mole and the Little Fish | Krtek a rybka | 2000 | 05:02 | 50 |
| 63. | Mole and the Little Frog | Krtek a žabka | 2002 | 05:20 | 50,1 |

### Other films

| Year | Czech title | English title |
| 1948 | O milionáři, který ukradl slunce | The Millionaire Who Stole the Sun |
| 1958 | Měsíční pohádka | Moon Story |
| 1960 | Jak štěňátko dostalo chuť na med | How the Puppy Wanted Honey |
| 1960 | O štěňátku | About the Puppy |
| 1960 | Jak štěňátko chtělo malé pejsky | How the Puppy Wanted Little Dogs |
| 1960 | Jak sluníčko vrátilo štěňátku vodu | How the Sun Gave the Puppy Water Back |
| 1961 | O nejbohatším vrabci ve světě | About the World's Richest Sparrow |
| 1963 | Rudá stopa | Red Footprint |
| 1963 | O Čtverečkovi a Trojúhelníčkovi | About the Square and the Triangle |
| 1968 | Sametka | The Velvet Caterpillar |
| 1977 | Romance helgolandská | A Heligoland Romance |
| 1978 | Cvrček a stroj | The Cricket and the Machine |
| 1978 | Cvrček a pavouk | The Cricket and the Spider |
| 1978 | Cvrček a housličky | The Cricket and the Violin |
| 1979 | Cvrček a slepice | The Cricket and the Chicken |
| 1979 | Cvrček a pila | The Cricket and the Saw |
| 1979 | Cvrček a bombardón | The Cricket and the Bomber |
| 1979 | Cvrček a basa | The Cricket and the Double Bass |