Renowned Czech puppet animation artist Vlasta Pospíšilová died on Friday, April 15. She was 87.
Pospíšilová studied puppetry and stage design at Prague’s Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, graduating in 1956. After finishing her formal education, she joined the Jiří Trnka Studio and further developed her skills in the art of animated filmmaking under the guidance of studio founder and Czech animation legend Jiří Trnka. Pospíšilová is considered by many to be the last surviving member of Trnka’s Golden Age of Czech Puppet Animation.
When she joined the legendary studio, she began working on the classic film A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which eventually played in competition at Cannes in 1959. The film also won an Honorable Medal at Venice that year, and was selected by Time magazine as one of the ten best foreign films of 1961.