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The tinkers Pat and Mat always find a way
out of all the tricky situations. They get
into their troubles by trying to cope with
daily little problems. The two are
brilliant in completing futile tasks. Each
story ends with either a catastrophe or an
absurd product. But both our buddies are
extremely proud of themselves and of their
work - as their favourite gesture shows.
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 It
all began with the film TINKERS /Kutaci/
on which Lubomir Benes and Vladimir
Jiranek got for the first time together.
In the following decade 34 episodes for
the Slovak TV, and Kratky film, followed.
Since 1990 the production goes on in the
authors' own studio - as
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the PAT & MAT
...AND THAT'S IT ! /Pat aMat ...a je to!/
series.
 WORLD
WIDE SALES - up
till now distributed in over 80 countries
throughout the world.
PAT & MAT home
video cassettes, and other products, are
extremely popular in the Czech and Slovak
Republics.
FESTIVALS /
PRIZES - Several
of the PAT & MAT episodes have got
prizes and awards at world animation
festivals during the years.
We have participated
with the 38th episode THE CYCLISTS,
animated by Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, at
the "Annecy '93" (France) animation
festival competition, and have been
invited to a number of other world
festivals.
 THE
CYCLISTS have also been included in the
selection "The Best of Annecy '93" by
:
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Cinémathèque
Québécoise
(Montreal)
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Museum of
Fine Arts (Boston)
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Pacific
Film Archive
(Berkeley)
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Museum of
Modern Art (New York)
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 and
presented by these institutions in their
autumn 1993 show.
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The 44th episode
THE BILLIARDS, animated by Frantisek Vasa,
has been selected for the "Annecy '95"
competition, and invited to almost all
other world film festivals.
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 THE
BILLIARDS has got two prizes at the World
Animation Celebration in Agoura (CA),
March '97:
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1st prize -
best animation for a daytime TV series
2nd prize - best stop motion professional
animation
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 EXHIBITIONS
/ PRESS - PAT
& MAT got their place at many
exhibitions, such as the exhibition of
Czechoslovak animation at the Jane
Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum on the campus
of the Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Favorably reviewed
in an article by William Zimmer © The
New York Times, March 1991, together with
Jan Svankmajer's and Jiri Trnka's object
and puppet animation, and Gene Deitch' cel
animation films :
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The
Charms of Czech Film Animation
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Highly
pliable puppets are the stars of
stirring narratives
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...
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The country's speciality is the
animated
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puppet film.
... The movable puppet, with wooden frame,
has been a longtime presence in [Czech
and Slovak] culture. The film versions
[of natural materials on a
sofisticated hand-made metal carcass],
with highly pliable extremities made of
plastic, are as versatile as any character
drawn in ink on acetate - and more
sympathetic.
The effect of using
puppets, which are less real
than
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humans yet more immediate than
two-dimensional figures, is a palpability
that can make narratives especially
stirring.
A central component
of the exhibition is the films themselves,
shown ... in the 35-millimeter format ...
But in the gallery
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are many sets from
the films, inhabited by puppet characters.
These include the
green tract house that is the location of
the episodic adventures of
Pat
and Mat, who are
ordinary, if dimwitted, fellows simply
trying to get through life. Popular on
[Czech and Slovak] television and
as shorts preceding cinematic features,
the Pat and Mat films are perhaps the
equivalent of this country's television
Simpsons. ...
Contemporary
[Czech and Slovak] culture is so
imbued with animation that films are
designated for children, for adults or for
all ages. ...
The amazing industry
that is [Czech and Slovak
animation] can only become better
known. If an American sometimes wonders
'What's in it for me ?' when hearing or
reading about the changes rocking Eastern
Europe, this exhibition reveals one of the
more vivid benefits. ... "
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