Saudek won his first recognition in 1966, as the creator of special effects and illustrations for the film "Kdo chce zabít Jessii?" (Who Wants to Kill Jessie?). However, the promising start of his career was complicated by the events of the Prague Spring and subsequent "normalization" of Czechoslovak society. The official cultural apparatus considered Saudek's style too "American", and some of his critics labelled his work as an example of bourgeois kitsch. His early mature works were banned and published only after the fall of the communist regime.