The Fabulous Baron Münchausen

(Baron Prášil)

Karel Zeman
Czechoslovakia, 1961
  • In Person
    James Mockoski

    James Mockoski is a film archivist at American Zoetrope, where he has supervised the restorations of classic films including Apocalypse Now and The Conversation; as an independent consultant, he oversaw the restoration of The Fabulous Baron Münchausen.

featuring

Miloš Kopecký, Jana Brejchová, Jan Werich, Rudolf Jelínek,

The whimsical Baron Münchausen mistakes a modern-day astronaut for a lost moon man and leads him on a series of miraculous adventures, riding on seahorses, battling the sultan’s armies, and romancing the beautiful Princess Bianca. This lovely, humorous version of a classic tale is like a nineteenth-century magic lantern show brought to glittering life. Master Czech animator Zeman combined cartoon and stop-motion animation, puppetry, matte paintings, and live action, creating a fantastic mechanical clockwork that anticipated the work of later animator/directors such as Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton.

Dennis Bartok
FILM DETAILS 
Screenwriter
  • Karel Zeman
Based On

  • the novel The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Rudolf Erich Raspe and the German translations by Gottfried August Bürger

Cinematographer
  • Jiří Tarantík
Language
  • Czech
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • Color
  • DCP
  • 90 mins
Source
  • Karel Zeman Museum, Prague
Additional Info
  • The digital restoration of The Fabulous Baron Münchausen is part of the project “Restoring the World of Fantasy.” Project partners are The Czech Film Foundation, The Karel Zeman Museum, and Czech Television, in cooperation with Universal Production Partners with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and with support of The Minister of Culture of Czech Republic Mgr. Daniel Herman.
Preceded By

Impossible Voyage
(Le voyage à travers l’impossible)

Georges Méliès, France, 1904

Méliès, cinema’s first magician, partly adapted an 1882 fantasy/science fiction play by Jules Verne for this satire on a scientific exploration into the sun’s interior. 

FILM DETAILS 
Screenwriter
  • Georges Méliès
  • Victor de Cottens
Based On

  • Journey Through the Impossible by Jules Verne

Language
  • Silent
  • with live English narration
Print Info
  • Tinted
  • 35mm
  • Silent
  • 20 mins
source
  • George Eastman Museum