Voyage in prehistory ( Cesta C pravěku ) is a Czech Feature-length film of animation carried out by Karel Zeman, left in Czechoslovakia in 1955, and whose modified version was distributed to the the United States in 1966.

Synopsis

Through a school handbook, four boys go up the River of time. The young explorers thus discover the animal species and vegetable of the Jurassic era and face in particular some prehistoric monsters.

Comment

The account takes as a starting point the extraordinary Voyages of Jules Verne (in particular of engravings of Hetzel) and by the Monde lost of Harry O. Hoyt, in particular of the fakings developped at the point by Willis O' Brien.

Karel Zeman, sometimes called the “Czech Méliès”, combines several techniques here (animated animals, painted decorations and alive actors).

One can see in this film a kind of precursor of the Jurassic Park of Steven Spielberg, but, in fact, the prehistoric animals appeared very early on the screens, as in Gertie the dinosaur (1914), first film of dinosaurs of the history of the cinema.

In 1966 a new version of film was produced by William Cayton, entitled Journey to the Beginning off Time . It was initially diffused in the form of serial on television before being projected in rooms. Several scenes were added, “with the manner of the Czech cinema”, in particular a eight minutes prolog. From now on the four boys, after having visited the American Museum off Natural History of New York, will make canoeing with Central Park, penetrate in a cave and find themselves transported in the past.

Data sheet

• Title: Voyage in prehistory
• alternate Titles: Voyage through prehistory ; Voyage in prehistoric times
• original Title: Cesta C pravěku
• Title of the American version of 1966: Journey to the Beginning off Time
• Realization: Karel Zeman ; Fred Ladd for the additional scenes of the American version
• Scenario: Josef Novotný and Karel Zeman; William Cayton for the American version
• Music: Emil František Burian, František Strangmüller
• Production: Ceskoslovensky Statni Film, Filmove Studio Gottwaldov
• Country of origin: Technical Czechoslovakia
• : alive actors, articulated animals
• Kind: Cartoon film
• Color:
• Format: 35 mm
• Lasted: 93 minutes
• Coming out date: 1955

Distribution

Czech version

• Vladimír Bejval : Jirka/Jo-OJ
• Petr Herrman: Toník/Tony
• Zdenek Husták: Jenda/Ben
• Jósef Lukáš: Petr/Doc.

American version

• Victor Betral: Joe/Jo-OJ
• Charles Goldsmith: Ben
• James Lucas: Doc.

Distinctions

Voyage in prehistory obtained the price of Best film for children at the time of the Festival of Venice of 1955.

See too

• List of the feature-length films of animation

External bonds

• Card CSFD and comments (database Česko-Slovenská filmová databáze)
• Comment and photographs (coming from the Public records of film of Prague)
• Card IMDb
• Kiddiematinee Card (critical and photographs)
• Radio operator Praha (text and sound recording of the emission on Radio-Prague)
• Card '' Inrockuptibles '' (article of Axel Masson, February 18th, 1998)
• Card DVD

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