Watch (free) Karel Zeman's The Stolen Airship
Loosely based on Jules Verne's novels Two Years' Vacation and The Mysterious Island, the 1966 film Ukradená vzducholod / The Stolen Airship by Czech stop-motion master Karel Zeman consists of live-action scenes, stop motion, and cutout animation (check out the beginning).
Preview clip:
Film Synopsis: Based on the novel, it tells of the two-year vacation adventures of five boys. The story begins at the Prague Jubilee Exhibition in 1891. Five boys meet in Prague at the Prague Exhibition Grounds, where they see a fantastic miracle - dirigible airship owned by the businessman (and trickster) Findejs. To back up his advertising, Findejs offers the boys a trip around Prague free of charge, but when paying guests appear, he tries to throw them out. He fails to evict them and the boys suddenly find themselves alone in the airship over the city. It proves to be anything but dirigible, and they cannot control where it goes! First, they skim safely across Europe, but then they crash on an unknown island in the middle of the ocean. Here they enjoy a number of typical Verne adventures until they are rescued by an expedition organized by the sympathetic journalist Ardan
The Karel Zeman Museum offers The Stolen Airship for free up to 7th April.
Watch The Stolen Airship by Karel Zeman on Vimeo
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