The Little Mole

{{Short description|Animated character by Zdeněk Miler}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Distinguish|Kretek}} {{Multiple issues| {{More citations needed|date=January 2025}} {{Unreliable sources|date=September 2024}} }} {{Infobox character | name = The Little Mole | image = Mole picture at corn sneaf in Horky, Želetava, Třebíč District.JPG | caption = Little Mole on hay bales | first = 1957 | creator = Zdeněk Miler | voice = Zdeněk Miler's daughters | noinfo = yes | species = Mole | gender = Male }}

'''The Little Mole''' (Czech: ''Krtek'', ''Krteček'') is a series of cartoons as well as the name of their title character, an anthropomorphic mole, created by Czech animator Zdeněk Miler between 1957 and 2002. The first short film premiered at the 1957 Venice Film Festival, where it won the award for the best directing achievement.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Animator Zdeněk Miler, creator of the famous Little Mole, born 100 years ago|url=https://english.radio.cz/animator-zdenek-miler-creator-famous-little-mole-born-100-years-ago-8709828|website=Radio Prague International|date=19 February 2021}}</ref>

==History== {{More citations needed|section|date=January 2025}}

Little Mole was first seen in 1956 in Prague, when Miler wanted to create a children's cartoon about how flax is processed. He wanted a strong Disney influence to the cartoon by choosing an animal for the leading role, and decided to pick a mole after stumbling over a molehill during a walk. The first film, called ''Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel'', had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival in 1957, where it was awarded two Golden Lions. Production of further episodes started in 1963 and since then, around fifty episodes have been created.

The first episode of the cartoon was narrated, but Miler wanted the cartoon to be understood in every country of the world, so he decided to use his daughters as voice actors, reducing the speech to short non-figurative exclamations in order to express the mole's feelings and world perception. Miler's daughters also became the bottleneck of the creation process as they were the ones who got to see the whole film first, thus Miler was able to decide whether the message of the movie was able to get to children or not.

The only episode where the mole talks is the first one.<ref>{{cite web |title=O krtkovi pohádka online |url=https://www.pohadkar.cz/pohadka/o-krtkovi/ |website=Pohádkář.cz |access-date=20 April 2024|language=cs}}</ref> In the United Kingdom, the cartoons were transmitted by BBC with English narration by Colin Jeavons.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Search|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?q=The+Mole|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708055310/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?q=The+Mole|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 July 2023|website=BBC Programme Index|publisher=BBC|access-date=10 September 2024}}</ref> Book adaptations were also published in English.<ref>{{cite web |title=Little Mole and Mother|url=https://www.martinus.cz/759051-little-mole-and-mother/kniha|website=Martinus.cz|access-date=20 April 2024 |language=cs}}</ref>

===Space travels=== On 16 May 2011, a plush toy of Little Mole was present on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour, where it accompanied the U.S. astronaut Andrew J. Feustel, whose wife is of Czech ancestry, on the STS-134 mission.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Milan|last=Halousek|title=Into Space with Mole|url=http://www.czechspace.cz/cs/into-space-with-mole|publisher=Czech Space Office|date=3 April 2011|access-date=19 June 2012|language=cs|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721213727/http://www.czechspace.cz/cs/into-space-with-mole |archive-date=21 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Do kosmu s Krtkem|trans-title=Flying to Space with the Little Mole|url=http://www.dokosmuskrtkem.cz/wordpress/?page_id=528|publisher=Do kosmu s Krtkem|access-date=19 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|first=Leos|last=Rousek|title=Space Shuttle Stowaway Is a Commie Mole|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703858404576214352915391860|journal=The Wall Street Journal|date=22 March 2011|access-date=19 June 2012}}</ref> It is the first animated character sent into space.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Historie o Krtkovi |url=https://souvenirprague.com/article/historie-o-krtkovi/5/cz|website=Souvenir Prague|access-date=20 April 2024}}</ref>

Several years later, Little Mole flew into space with the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 April 2022 |title=Popular Czech puppet character to fly into space |url=https://english.radio.cz/popular-czech-puppet-character-fly-space-8747642 |access-date=25 February 2025 |website=Radio Prague International}}</ref>

===US toy market plans=== In May 2012, Bloomberg announced that Apple Inc. planned to help Little Mole enter the $21 billion U.S. toy market for the first time.<ref name=YahooFinance>{{Cite news|title=Apple to help Czech cartoon character Krtek enter U.S. market, Bloomberg reports|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-help-czech-cartoon-character-102938086.html|newspaper=Yahoo! Finance|publisher=Yahoo!|date=16 May 2012|access-date=18 May 2012}}</ref><ref name=Bloomberg>{{Cite news|first=Lenka|last=Ponikelska|title=Apple Helps Czech Mole Enter $21 Billion U.S. Toy Market|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-15/apple-helps-czech-mole-enter-21-billion-u-s-toy-market.html|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=16 May 2012|access-date=18 May 2012}}</ref>

===Mascot=== Mole was the mascot for the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Prague, and was subsequently used to promote the Federation's Athletics for Children programme.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Thursday news briefing|url=http://www.praguepost.com/czech-news/43703-thursday-news-briefing-jan-8-2015|url-status=dead|website=Prague Post|date=8 January 2015|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150127090709/http://www.praguepost.com/czech-news/43703-thursday-news-briefing-jan-8-2015|archive-date=27 January 2015}}</ref>

===3D adaptation=== In 2016, China Central Television Animation and Little Mole a.s. (founded by Zdeněk Miler's granddaughter, Karolína Milerová) created a remake version called ''{{ill|The Little Mole and the Panda|cs|Krtek a Panda}}''. Two series were filmed in 2016–2017; the project was cancelled in 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Panda and Little Mole: Série a epizody |url=https://www.kinobox.cz/film/434409-krtek-a-panda/serie |website=Kinobox.cz |access-date=20 April 2024 |language=cs}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first=Radek|last=Nohl|title=Spor o Krtečka se dotkne i Tvrdíkova čínského byznysu. Pohádka s Pandou je v ohrožení|url=https://www.seznamzpravy.cz/clanek/spor-o-krtecka-se-dotkne-i-tvrdikova-cinskeho-byznysu-pohadka-s-pandou-je-v-ohrozeni-69028|website=Seznam Zprávy|date=25 March 2019|access-date=28 May 2021|language=cs}}</ref>

===Alfa Romeo Racing partnership=== On 23 May 2019, Alfa Romeo Racing, a Formula One team, announced Little Mole as the new team partner. Frédéric Vasseur, principal of the team, said that the goal of the partnership is to capture the imagination of hundreds of thousands of children and get them closer to the sport using Little Mole's big follower base all over the world. Mole's iconic figure is appearing on the sidepods of the cars for the rest of the 2019 season.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Little Mole goes from stars to cars with Alfa Romeo Racing|url=https://www.sauber-group.com/motorsport/f1-news/little-mole-goes-from-stars-to-cars-with-alfa-romeo-racing/|url-status=dead|website=Sauber Group|access-date=28 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528143803/https://www.sauber-group.com/motorsport/f1-news/little-mole-goes-from-stars-to-cars-with-alfa-romeo-racing/|archive-date=28 May 2019}}</ref>

==Filmography== * In 2000, a DVD collection was published under the English title ''The Adventures of the Mole''.<ref>{{cite web |title=DVD The Little Mole 1 – Karel Zeman Museum Shop |url=https://shop.karelzemanmuseum.com/other-films/dvd-the-little-mole-1/|website=Karel Zeman Museum Shop}}</ref> * From 2002 to 2004, a set of 60 DVDs entitled ''Nejlepších večerníčků'' ({{Lit|best bedtime stories}}) was released, some of which included Little Mole animations. Included in the list below are the DVD numbers for films in this set.

'''Short films''' {|class="wikitable sortable" ! Episode ! English title ! Czech title ! Year ! Duration ! NV DVD #* |- |01.||''How Mole Got His Trousers''||''Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel''||1957||11:51||1 |- |02.||''The Mole and the Car''||''Krtek a autíčko''||1963||14:30||19 |- |03.||''The Mole and the Rocket''||''Krtek a raketa''||1965||08:40|| |- |04.||''The Mole and the Transistor Set''||''Krtek a tranzistor''||1968||08:10||10 |- |05.||''The Mole and the Green Star''||''Krtek a zelená hvězda''||1969||07:30||10,1 |- |06.||''The Mole and the Chewing Gum''||''Krtek a žvýkačka''||1969||07:20||10 |- |07.||''The Mole in a Zoo''||''Krtek v zoo''||1969||06:05||10 |- |08.||''The Mole as a Gardener''||''Krtek zahradníkem''||1969||06:55||10,1 |- |09.||''The Mole and the Hedgehog''||''Krtek a ježek''||1970||08:25||10 |- |10.||''The Mole and the Lollipop''||''Krtek a lízátko''||1970||08:00||10,1 |- |11.||''The Mole and the TV''||''Krtek a televizor''||1970||05:30||10 |- |12.||''The Mole and the Umbrella''||''Krtek a paraplíčko''||1971||07:10||10,1 |- |13.||''The Mole as a Painter''||''Krtek malířem''||1972||09:35||19 |- |14.||''The Mole and the Matches''||''Krtek a zápalky''||1974||05:30||19 |- |15.||''The Mole and the Music''||''Krtek a muzika''||1974||05:15||19 |- |16.||''The Mole and the Telephone''||''Krtek a telefon''||1974||05:25||19 |- |17.||''The Mole as a Chemist''||''Krtek chemikem''||1974||05:30||19 |- |18.||''The Mole and the Carpet''||''Krtek a koberec''||1974||05:40||19 |- |19.||''The Mole as Watchmaker''||''Krtek hodinářem''||1974||05:25||19 |- |20.||''The Mole at Christmas''||''Krtek o vánocích''||1975||05:45||19 |- |21.||''The Mole as Photographer''||''Krtek fotografem''||1975||05:45||19 |- |22.||''The Mole and the Egg''||''Krtek a vejce''||1975||05:35||19 |- |23.||''The Mole and the Bulldozer''||''Krtek a buldozér''||1975||05:43||19 |- |24.||''The Mole in the Desert''||''Krtek na poušti''||1975||05:52||19 |- |25.||''The Mole and the Carnival''||''Krtek a karneval''||1975||05:25||19 |- |26.||''The Mole and the Coal''||''Krtek a uhlí''||1995||04:10||33 |- |27.||''The Mole and his Friends''||''Krtek a kamarádi''||1995||05:18||33,1 |- |28.||''The Mole's Weekend''||''Krtek a víkend''||1995||05:05||33 |- |29.||''The Mole and the Robot''||''Krtek a robot''||1995||05:00||33,1 |- |30.||''The Mole and the Celebration''||''Krtek a oslava''||1995||05:04||33 |- |31.||''The Mole and the Little Ducks''||''Krtek a kachničky''||1995||05:00||33 |- |32.||''The Mole and the Subway''||''Krtek a metro''||1997||05:00||44 |- |33.||''The Mole and the Mushrooms''||''Krtek a houby''||1997||04:28||44 |- |34.||''The Mole and the Little Hare''||''Krtek a zajíček''||1997||05:11||44 |- |35.||''The Mole and the Mother''||''Krtek a maminka''||1997||05:20||44 |- |36.||''The Mole and the Little Mouse'' / ''The Mole and the Flood''||''Krtek a myška'' / ''Krtek a potopa''||1997||05:19||44 |- |37.||''The Mole and the Snowman''||''Krtek a sněhulák''||1998||05:09||44,1 |- |38.||''The Mole and the Flute''||''Krtek a flétna''||1999||05:05||50,1 |- |39.||''The Mole and the Spring''||''Krtek a pramen''||1999||05:33||50 |- |40.||''The Mole and the Grumbler''||''Krtek a šťoura''||1999||05:21||50 |- |41.||''The Mole and the Swallow''||''Krtek a vlaštovka''||2000||04:25||50 |- |42.||''The Mole and the Little Fish''||''Krtek a rybka''||2000||05:02||50 |- |43.||''The Mole and the Little Frog''||''Krtek a žabka''||2002||05:20||50,1 |}

'''Feature films''' {|class="wikitable sortable" ! Episode ! English title ! Czech title ! Year ! Duration ! NV DVD #* |- |01.||''The Mole in Town''||''Krtek ve městě''||1982||28:31||33 |- |02.||''The Mole in a Dream''||''Krtek ve snu''||1984||28:09||33 |- |03.||''The Mole and the Medicine''||''Krtek a medicína''||1987||28:08||44 |- |04.||''The Mole as a Movie Star''||''Krtek filmová hvězda''||1988||27:47||44 |- |05.||''The Mole and the Eagle''||''Krtek a orel''||1992||28:05||50 |- |06.||''The Mole and the Clock''||''Krtek a hodiny''||1994||28:04||50 |}

'''Clips''' {|class="wikitable sortable" ! Episode ! English title ! Czech title ! Year ! Duration |- |01.||''The Mole on Vacation''||''Krtek a dovolená''||1998||01:15 |- |02.||''The Mole and the Cottage''||''Krtek a domek''||1998||00:48 |- |03.||''The Mole and the Cherries''||''Krtek a třešně''||1998||00:39 |- |04.||''The Mole and the Snail''||''Krtek a šnek''||1998||01:03 |- |05.||''The Mole and the Jewels''||''Krtek a šperky''||1998||00:56 |- |06.||''The Mole and the TV''||''Krtek a televize''||1998||00:39 |- |07.||''The Mole and the Little Frog''||''Krtek a žabka''||1998||00:41 |- |08.||''The Mole as a Painter''||''Krtek malířem''||1998||00:37 |- |09.||''The Mole and the Balloon''||''Krtek a balónek''||1998||00:49 |- |10.||''The Mole and the Box''||''Krtek a krabice''||1998||00:38 |- |11.||''The Mole and the Hat''||''Krtek a klobouk''||1998||00:45 |- |12.||''The Mole and the Magician''||''Krtek a kouzelník''||1998||00:36 |- |13.||''The Mole and the Duck''||''Krtek a kačenka''||1998||00:38 |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category|Krtek}} * {{IMDb title|0841927|Krtek}} * [https://archive.today/20121216043341/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Other_Studios/K/Kr_tk__Film_Praha/Krtek/index.html Big Cartoon Database – Krtek episode info]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Mole}} Category:Animal characters in films Category:Animated characters introduced in 1956 Category:Film characters introduced in 1956 Category:Film series introduced in 1957 Category:Czech animation Category:Culture of the Czech Republic Category:Retro style Category:Fictional moles Category:Czech mascots Category:Mammal mascots Category:Anthropomorphic moles Category:Animated film series