''Kooky'' (, literally "Kuky returns", a pun on '' Lassie se vrací'') is a 2010 Czech

action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...

directed by

Jan Svěrák Jan Svěrák (; born 6 February 1965) is a Czechs, Czech film director and screenwriter. He is the son of screenwriter and actor Zdeněk Svěrák, with whom he collaborated on his most successful films. He is among the most recognized Czech filmm ...

. The film combines techniques of puppet animation,

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

and

live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...

. It tells the story of a six-year-old

asthmatic Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheez ...

boy whose parents throw his favorite toy away, an old

teddy bear A teddy bear, or simply a teddy, is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. The teddy bear was named by Morris Michtom after the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt; it was developed apparently simultaneously in the first deca ...

named Kooky. The boy, however, secretly sneaks out of the house at night (without his boots and being dressed only in his pajamas), to retrieve Kooky from the garbage can and bring him back home. Due to that, the boy gets ill. In his feverish dreams, Kooky comes to life in the

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

, escapes into a mysterious forest and begins its journey amongst the rough-and-ready creatures of the forest.

Background

Jan Svěrák initially planned to create a film depicting the world viewed from the perspective of a dog who survives

floods A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

; however, he changed his plans after he retold parts of the story to his son Ondřej. The film was inspired by the works of the Czech sculptor and painter František Skála, who refused to participate in the production. Svěrák offered collaboration on the technical development of puppets and visual effects to

Jakub Dvorský Jakub Dvorský (born August 19, 1978) is a designer and video game creator from Brno, Czech Republic. In 2003, he founded Amanita Design, a small independent game developing studio based in the Czech Republic. Life and career Between 1994–1997 ...

from the video game company

Amanita Design Amanita Design is a Czech independent video game developing company founded in 2003 by Jakub Dvorský and headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. The company has created award-winning games including '' Machinarium'', the '' Samorost'' series ...

. The puppets in the film were manipulated by the members of the ensemble ''Buchty a loutky''. During the post-production process, Svěrák and his team concentrated on removing the strings and wires with the help of

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtu ...

. Kooky is technically the most complicated film by Svěrák; it contains three times more

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action fo ...

than ''

Dark Blue World ''Dark Blue World'' () is a 2001 war drama film by Czech director Jan Svěrák, the Academy Award-winning director of '' Kolya''. The film is about Czech pilots who fought for the British Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. The scr ...

'', the most expensive Czech film up to that point. In addition to fictional puppet figures, the film makes use of real animals (

fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

snail A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

etc.) ''Kooky'' was shot at various locations in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

: the winter scenes were filmed at

Ještěd Ještěd (; ) is the highest mountain of the Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge in the north of the Czech Republic, at . It is the symbol of the city of Liberec. On the summit is the Ještěd Tower restaurant, hotel and television tower, designed by Kare ...

, the forest background was shot near to

Bechyně Bechyně (; ) is a town in Tábor District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,800 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, ur ...

and in the National Nature Reserve Voděradské bučiny, and the scenes containing sandstone rocks were filmed in Drábské světničky. Production began in autumn of 2008. It was planned for 35 days but difficulties extended the duration of the shoot to 100 days. It is now available to watch on iTunes. The movie was also available as part of the Humble Botanicula Debut.

Characters

Kooky

Kooky (voiced by Ondřej Svěrák) is a stuffed

, the only fictional character in the film connected with the "human world". The other puppet characters are supposed to recall forest creatures rather than toys. Kooky's puppet is 21 cm tall; it was manufactured in 18 versions for the purpose of filming all the technically complicated scenes. Kooky's face is lacking

facial expression Facial expression is the motion and positioning of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. These movements convey the emotional state of an individual to observers and are a form of nonverbal communication. They are a primary means of conveying ...

Captain von Hergot

Captain von Hergot (voiced by

Zdeněk Svěrák Zdeněk Svěrák (born 28 March 1936) is a Czech actor, humorist, playwright and scriptwriter, and one of the most well-known and popular Czech cultural personalities. Since 1968 he has appeared in 32 films. Career In 1958, he graduated in Czec ...

) is an old forest guardian who seeks to protect Kooky. The manufacturing of Hergot's puppet was complicated; Jakub Dvorský drew hundreds of sketches of the character. The final visual appearance of the puppet is similar to a

root vegetable Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans or animals as food. In agricultural and culinary terminology, the term applies to true roots, such as taproots and root tubers, as well as non-roots such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and ...

Nightshade

Nightshade (in Czech: Anuška, voiced by

Jiří Macháček Jiří Macháček (born 6 July 1966 in Litoměřice) is a Czechs, Czech actor and singer. Education Macháček graduated from high school in Prague before attending Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory, the Law Faculty at Charles University in Prague, ...

) is an

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less Terrestrial mollusc, terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced ...

s. Nightshade is the only puppet character moving its mouth during speaking and swallowing.

Pytlík Vidlička and Pytlík Zapík

Pytlík Vidlička (voiced by

Petr Čtvrtníček Petr Čtvrtníček (born 5 April 1964 in Prague) is a Czechs, Czech actor and comedian. Selected filmography * ''Kouř'' (1991) * ''Fany'' (1995) * ''Tomík'' (1997) * ''Mazaný Filip'' (2003) * ''Ivánku, kamaráde, můžeš mluvit? aneb Tak t ...

) and Pytlík Zapík (voiced by

Jiří Lábus Jiří Lábus (born 26 January 1950) is a Czech actor, comedian and voice actor. Career Jiří Lábus was born on 26 January 1950 in Prague. From a young age, Jiří Lábus was fascinated by theatre and cinema, often attending performances and l ...

) are the landfill guardians. They chase Kooky, who escaped from the landfill. The puppets are made of deformed

plastic bottle A plastic bottle is a bottle constructed from high-density or low density plastic. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo or milk. They range in sizes, from very ...

Releases, awards and nominations

''Kooky'' was chosen as the official Czech Republic contestant film for the

45th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The 45th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival took place from 2 to 10 July 2010. The Crystal Globe was won by '' The Mosquito Net'', a Spanish drama film directed by Agustí Vila. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by '' Kooky' ...

, where it was nominated for the Crystal Globe and won the Special Jury Prize. Thereafter it won six more awards and four nominations in various international film festivals.Awards on IMDb
/ref>

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2010 films 2010s Czech-language films Films directed by Jan Svěrák Puppet films Czech animated action films Czech Lion Awards winners (films) Golden Kingfisher winners Czech Film Critics' Awards winners Fictional teddy bears Films about dreams Films based on fairy tales Czech animated comedy films Films scored by Michal Novinski