The Mysterious Old Man

Viktor Kubal / Slovakia / 1944 / Czech Premiere / 4 min.

synopsis

Viktor Kubal’s Disney-esque debut about Slovakia’s “salvation” through electrification.

As one of Viktor Kubal’s first animated films, it doesn’t deny its American inspiration. It’s a commercial film where the Christmas Santa Claus tradition of gift-giving is linked to the motif of the electrification of Slovakia. Slovakia was a rather rural country in the 1940s, but was quickly modernized by German investment in infrastructure. Nevertheless, most Slovak housewives could only dream of an electric iron or hob.

biography

Viktor Kubal (1923–1997)
Kubal, whose origins date back to Školfilm, a company producing narrow films, later grew into the most important personality of Slovak animation. His specific ironic style of elastic figures “tightened” feature films (The Bloody Lady), children’s genres, and satire. It was timeless, and universally applicable.