The Merry Circus

  • Czechoslovakia Veselý cirkus
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Animation / Short / Family
Czechoslovakia, 1951, 12 min

Directed by:

Jiří Trnka

Cinematography:

Emanuel Franek
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Plots(1)

The Merry Circus is a plotless film, built on depicting circus acts. Acrobats, jugglers, fancy show riders, clowns and trapeze artists show their tricks and earn applause from a delighted audience. The last number is a balancing act performed by a bear and its cub, but it fails when when a clown's drum is broken. The Merry Circus was made using cutout animation, which was rare for Trnka. Clearly the movie was something of an experiment. (Oulu International Children's and Youth Film Festival)

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Reviews (1)

kaylin 

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English So this is an animation that definitely won't sit well with everyone, and it's the reason why I have already labeled some films by Jiří Trnka as quite terrifying on various occasions. The audience that appears in several scenes, whether static or applauding, is truly like something out of a horror movie. However, I must appreciate that Jiří Trnka took on this visually challenging and audience-friendly animation. It shows the possibilities of such films, which are not small, it just depends on imagination. ()