Zdeněk Smetana

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Zdeněk Smetana (26 July 1925 – 25 February 2016) was a Czechoslovak-born Czech animator and graphic artist who created more than 400 animated cartoons, including full-length feature films.^[1] He became known for a series of Czechoslovak animated children's television bedtime stories during the 1970s and 1980s, including The Little Witch (Malá čarodějnice), Fairy Tales of Moss and Fern, and Reedy.^[1] In 1981, Smetana's film, The End of A Cube, won a BAFTA award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.^[1] He also won awards from the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival.^[1]

In 1946, Smetana began working at the Bratři v triku animation studio, which had been founded by Jiri Trnka.^[1] He animated a sequence of the 1957 film, Creation of the World, in which the devil, Eve and others dance to rock 'n roll music.^[1] During the 1960s, Smetana animated episodes of Tom and Jerry, which was being produced at a studio in Prague at the time.^[1]

Smetana retired from full-time television animation in the late 1980s to focus on graphic art. He died in Prague on 25 February 2016, at the age of 90.^[1][2]