Zdeněk Smetana
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. 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 (Pohádky z mechu a kapradí), Reedy (Rákosníček) and Štaflík a Špagetka. In 1981, Smetana's film, The End of A Cube, won a BAFTA award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Also recorded as Zdenek Smetana
Zdeněk Smetana
Alena Pokorná · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Zdeněk Smetana
- Born
- 26 July 1925
- Birthplace
- Czechoslovakia
- Place of death
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Known for
- Director, animator, graphic artist
- Died
- 2016 · Prague.
- Nationality
- Czech Republic · Czechoslovakia
- Occupation
- screenwriter · illustrator · animator · painter · director · graphic designer · teacher
- Honours
- Klement Gottwald State Prize · Merited Artist of Czechoslovakia
- Languages
- Czech
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
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. 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 (Pohádky z mechu a kapradí), Reedy (Rákosníček) and Štaflík a Špagetka. In 1981, Smetana's film, The End of A Cube, won a BAFTA award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Zdeněk Smetana (1925–2016) was an animator, director and graphic designer, among other activities, of Czech and Czechoslovak nationality. The animator was born and died in Prague.
Languages used include Czech. Honours include Klement Gottwald State Prize and Merited Artist of Czechoslovakia.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Zdeněk Smetana. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q2377656 · wikipedia · Zdeněk Smetana
In this article
Biography
Biography
He also won awards from the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival. In 1946, Smetana began working at the Bratři v triku animation studio, which had been founded by Jiri Trnka. 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. During the 1960s, Smetana animated episodes of Tom and Jerry, which was being produced at a studio in Prague at the time. 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.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Zdeněk Smetana • Born — 26 July 1925 • Birthplace — Czechoslovakia • Place of death — Prague, Czech Republic • Known for — Director, animator, graphic artist
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1925
Zdeněk Smetana was born on 26 June 1925.
2016
Zdeněk Smetana died on 25 February 2016.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Zdeněk Smetana”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2377656: Zdeněk Smetana
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Zdeněk Smetana is recorded with the occupation film director. Recorded as having received Klement Gottwald State Prize and Merited Artist of Czechoslovakia.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
38,226 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Zbigniew RybczyńskiPerson
- Zbigniew ZapasiewiczPerson
- Zdena StudenkováPerson
- Zdeněk PodskalskýPerson
- Zdeněk TroškaPerson
- Zdenka DeitchováPerson
- Zdeňka PodkapováPerson
- Zdravko ŠotraPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Zdeněk Smetana?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.