During the early 90's I was fortunate to spend a summer in the Czech Republic following the Velvet Revolution (1989). I was with the first group of American students to be allowed into the country to attend the Academy of Arts Architecture and Design, UPRUM. It was here I was introduced to the stop motion films of Jan Svankmajer the grandfather of stop motion animation. The dark political themes combined with grotesque and oddly cute animated objects left an impression on me to this day. I was also introduced to the rich history of puppetry in the Czech Republic.

Above, the Punch and Judy puppets battle to the death over the possession of a live guinea pig. Below a doll eats doll parts from Jabberwocky, the stop motion animation based on the poem by Lewis Carroll.