In the footsteps of Václav Bedřich
Maxipes Fík, Bob and Bobek or The Tale of Fairy Amálka. This is a fraction of the series he has - besides the Večerníček theme song itself - directed or designed. Václav Bedřich was one of the co-founders of Czech animated cartoons.
1. FAMILY HOUSE
Václav Bedřich was born under Svatá Hora, in Ondrák Street No. 85.
A son, Václav, was born to Antonín Bedřich, a pension control officer, and Maria Bedřich, a housewife, on 28 August 1918. It happened under Svatá Hora, in Ondrák Street No. 85. From his early childhood, drawing was one of his hobbies, although he often got a B on his report card, unlike his classmates.
Václav Bedřich passed his matriculation exams at the Příbram Real Gymnasium on 1 June 1938. In the autumn, he began to study at the Faculty of Law at Charles University. A year later, however, the Nazis closed the Czech universities, and Václav Bedřich had to look for employment elsewhere. He began working as a cartoonist and animator at AFIT, the Studio of Film Tricks. Here he participated in the famous film Wedding in the Coral Sea, which became a landmark in the history of Czech animation due to its technical maturity at the time.
2. REAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL
He passed his matriculation exams at the Real Gymnasium in Příbram on 1 June 1938.
Scouting was very popular in Příbram and Březové Hory and Václav Bedřich was an enthusiastic scout. Many of their expeditions led not only to the surroundings of the town, but - as long as the situation allowed - also to the nearby Brda Mountains. "The vast forest between Zbraslav, Mníšek pod Brdy, Dobříší and Hostomice, Zbiroh, Rokycany and Rožmitál pod Třemšínem seemed to be a magnet that attracted to itself all the scouts living in its vicinity," recalls Václav Veselý in the Podbrdsko collection.
In the pre-war period, the Catholic Scouting also thrived. "The summer camps of Catholic Scouts were led by Professor Martinovský. Tournaments in volleyball, fox hunting, athletic competitions were organized. Soon selected brothers started to try out for the Three Eagle Feathers (among the first ones Valenta, V. Bedřich, Hloucha, Staněk, Komanec, Čechura)." The young scouts also learned how to bind books, stuff birds or carve wood.
The last traces of Bedřich in Příbram disappeared with his university studies. When the war ended, many of the artists moved to the newly established Brothers in Trick studio. Here Bedřich became an independent director. Among his first films were "Mug, Cook!", a cartoon adaptation of the folk tale of the same name from the collection of Karel Jaromír Erben, or "The Devil and Káča" based on the novel by Božena Němcová.
Eventually, more than 300 animated films were produced under his direction, including short advertising, agitation and educational films made for the then Reklamní podnik and PropagFilm. Václav Bedřich was also the director of the theme song for Večerníček, which he filmed in August 1964 and which is now the oldest television theme song in the Czech Republic. Bedřich's best-known Evening Star series include Bob and Bobek - Rabbits from the Hat, Fairy Tales of a Sheep Grandmother, Staple and Spaghetti, Maxipes Fík, About Mr. Krbec's Animals and Telling of Fairy Amálka.
Václav Bedřich died on 7 March 2009 in Prague at the age of 90.
3. SKAUT
Scouting was very popular in Příbram and Václav Bedřich was also an enthusiastic scout.
Václav Bedřák
Photo: Karolina Ketmanová
