Animation Gluttony

I love seeing animations and so do you!  They're not all with English subtitles, so bust out that translating software/website.  Today has a wide selection from countries, styles, and even time periods (though not one is past 1990).  Gear up for some beautiful animation, which goes so unappreciated these days.

Krtek Coming to an App Near You!

I am coming to my senses a little bit just about 25 days before the wedding.  Then the madness will be over and I will dedicate more time to my CEE pursuits and answering emails from my few (but very adoring!) fans.  I loved the emails.  Truly.

You may remember my post about the passing of Zdeněk Miler, the creator Krtek, a wonderful children's cartoon from the Czech Republic.  Today in my Emerging Europe RSS feed from the WSJ blog, I saw this article about Miler's granddaughter and her plans to take Krtek global.  I'm pretty excited for people beyond the Eurasian continent to come in contact with good children's animation.  Maybe I'll get my future tikes some little Krtek plushies.  I am honestly going to be the most off-beat mom on the block; my children will know CEE from their early years.  

Krtek otec zemřel

Zdeněk Miler died this week.  He was the animator of the famous "Krtek" animation that the whole world fell in love with.  I fell in love with it in one viewing.  So accessible, cute, and universally loved.  I am very sad he is gone and that his classic, classy style is no longer to be created.  Rest in peace, Zdeněk.

Lithuanian Animation

It's not Animation Week, but the popularity of those posts have prompted a new addition since I didn't have anything more interesting up my sleeve.  I was able to scrounge up some interesting animators from the small country, and even found some from one of my blog followers, Ruah Edelstein. 

American Culture, Imported

Instead of actual writing, I will just share The Simpsons in various Eastern European languages. It was fun listening to the various languages with such a familiar show.  Hope you enjoy!

Belorusian Animation

Today we go back to Belarus––they have more to offer than Lukashenko.  Belorusian animation was similarly difficult to find.  What helped me the most was Niffiwan's uploads on YouTube and his corresponding LiveJournal blog.  Most of Niffiwan's posts and uploads are Russian, but a point he makes in this post is that Belorusians don't consider themselves separate from Russians.  This may be the case, but I'm going to be a stickler anyway because there is way more Russian animation available.

Macedonian Animation

Today's post is super short, partially because I don't have time and partially because I cannot find much on the interwebs.  Sadly, my search for Macedonian animation has led me to a scant supply of information.  My only disclaimer is that I don't speak Macedonian or know the Cyrillic alphabet, so my search may have been entirely hindered.  This is why I need to learn Cyrillic letters and a Slavic language ASAP; it's holding up my interests.

Slovenian Animation

And Animation Week continues!  Today's featured country is Slovenia.  It was not the easiest country for me to track down animators, but I needed a challenge to polish off the rust. This overview of Slovenian animation helped me find some good animators to post on.  The internet may be the best thing to have happened to my research.  Read after the jump for more on Slovenian animators!

Czech Animation

My post on B.EAST magazine inspired me to do an entire week of CEE animation.  I loved the Polish animation of Jan Lenica enough to warrant some internet searching for other countries.  I've noticed that my design and fashion posts top the statistics chart and this week's theme will supplement the visual creativity interest my readers seem to have.  For no particular reason, I chose the Czech Republic.  Turns out that the Czech Republic has quite a lively and sophisticated animation community.

B.EAST Magazine

I have spent the last day looking through my newfound love: B.EAST Magazine.  I did a search for CEE magazines and this was the first one to come up. The one that really caught my eye was a post about Polish animation. 

I will refer to what's written there because it's not only better than what I would come up with, but I'm also against plagiarism.  (The link sends you to an article that beautifully articulates the issues surrounding plagiarism.)  I also want this blog to create a CEE-obsessed network.  There probably is one that I'm not privy to, but I'm making one nonetheless!  I want to connect to these people.  Maybe you do too.  I certainly want to hitch my wagon to B.EAST Magazine.  After browsing their issues on the Fbook page, I was likely drooling.  I might have also struggled with my desire to subscribe versus save money.  Still working on that one.