This year marked the 70th anniversary of ‘Journey to the Beginning of Time’ (‘Cesta do pravěku’), the 1955 groundbreaking film by Czech director Karel Zeman, which blended live-action storytelling with innovative stop-motion animation to transport audiences into a prehistoric world teeming with animated dinosaurs.
For the Czech Republic, this milestone is a chance to celebrate Zeman’s visionary techniques and reflect on how his work revolutionized animation, inspiring generations of filmmakers and reminding us of the boundless potential of cinematic imagination—a spirit alive in this nation’s rich artistic heritage.
Drawing from the history of stop-motion animation, which traces back to pioneers like J. Stuart Blackton and Emile Cohl in the early 1900s, Zeman elevated the craft by seamlessly integrating it with live actors, puppetry, and hand-drawn effects to create immersive, dreamlike worlds. In ‘Journey to the Beginning of Time,’ a group of boys embark on a river voyage that spirals back through epochs, encountering woolly mammoths and tyrannosaurs brought to life through painstaking frame-by-frame animation. This film, Zeman’s first major international hit, showcased his “mystimation” style—melding mystery and animation—that predated modern CGI and emphasized handmade wonder over technological gloss.
Karel Zeman’s life embodied this innovative drive. Born in 1910 in Ostroměř, Zeman moved to Brno at 29 years old, where he first honed his craft as an advertising wizard during World War II – winning window-dressing competitions that caught the eye of filmmakers. Under Czechoslovakia’s nationalized post-war film industry, he adapted Jules Verne tales with a flair for Victorian engravings and fantastical effects.
Despite communist-era constraints, Zeman’s films escaped censorship by cloaking social commentary in whimsy, much like his predecessors in Czech puppetry traditions. Zeman’s influence echoes in contemporary cinema, particularly through directors who credit his techniques for shaping their visual styles.
Tim Burton has repeatedly said Zeman is one of the reasons ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ (1993) exists, with its hand-built warmth and gentle strangeness. Wes Anderson openly pays homage in ‘The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’ (2004), where the deliberately artificial stop-motion marine life and the film’s wide-eyed sense of exploration are a direct echo of Zeman’s prehistoric river voyage.
And here in Czech Republic, Pat and Mat – created in the same Krátký film studios where Zeman once worked – inherited his love of optimistic tinkerers who believe any problem can be solved with a hammer, a nail, and heroic levels of self-confidence. Lubomír Beneš grew up on Zeman’s films and never hid the debt.
In the new year, Zeman enthusiasts and the uninitiated alike can see the film—now beautifully restored in 4K—at a special screening at Kino Art on 31 January 2026. Come see this masterpiece of Czech handmade stop-motion magic that inspired so many other directors, and how this quiet Czech genius is still pulling the strings.
Karel Zeman was a film director who proved that if you move the world one careful frame at a time, it will happily follow you anywhere… Ať jeho kouzlo žije dál…
Tickets for the screening at Kino Art are available here.
