Mediaboss Marketing

Published November 15, 2014

In this photo taken Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014, puppet designer and film maker Miroslav Trejtnar prepares a map for animations of his movie 'What to tell to kids?" in a studio in Prague, Czech Republic. The Velvet Revolution that kicked off in Prague 25 years ago Monday, Nov. 17, was a seminal event in the collapse of communism. But how do you explain it to young children who have only known democracy? Renowned puppet designer Miroslav Trejtnar and filmmaker Tatana Markova teamed up to present the Velvet Revolution in a 30-minute movie that tells the story of more than a dozen children of the revolution - now parents - through the magic of animation. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)(The Associated Press)

In this photo taken Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014, Alzbeta Berankova takes a photo for animations for the movie 'What to tell to kids?" in a studio in Prague, Czech Republic. The Velvet Revolution that kicked off in Prague 25 years ago Monday, Nov. 17, was a seminal event in the collapse of communism. But how do you explain it to young children who have only known democracy? Renowned puppet designer Miroslav Trejtnar and filmmaker Tatana Markova teamed up to present the Velvet Revolution in a 30-minute movie that tells the story of more than a dozen children of the revolution - now parents - through the magic of animation. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)(The Associated Press)

In this photo taken Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014, puppet designer and film maker Miroslav Trejtnar prepares a map for animations of his movie 'What to tell to kids?" in a studio in Prague, Czech Republic. The Velvet Revolution that kicked off in Prague 25 years ago Monday, Nov. 17, was a seminal event in the collapse of communism. But how do you explain it to young children who have only known democracy? Renowned puppet designer Miroslav Trejtnar and filmmaker Tatana Markova teamed up to present the Velvet Revolution in a 30-minute movie that tells the story of more than a dozen children of the revolution - now parents - through the magic of animation. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)(The Associated Press)

PRAGUE The Velvet Revolution that kicked off in Prague 25 years ago Monday was a seminal event in the collapse of communism. Try explaining that to children who have only known democracy.

That's the challenge tackled by two veterans of the uprising as the massive student protests faded ever further into the past. They wanted to capture the excitement of the rallies, the brutality of police beatings and the surreal repression of a nation that Vaclav Havel later president dubbed "Absurdistan."

So renowned puppet designer Miroslav Trejtnar and filmmaker Tatana Markova teamed up to present the Velvet Revolution in a 30-minute movie that tells the story of more than a dozen children of the revolution now parents through the magic of animation.

"The parents are telling their children why they joined the demonstration, why they wanted a change," Trejtnar said. "It's about a turning point that they didn't experience."

"We used animation to present it in a form familiar to them," said Markova, "so the story becomes lively for them."

In the movie, the parents choose a toy a small human figure or animal and tell their own story by moving it on a big map of Prague. The toys are then animated to play out the drama of the events that toppled communism in Czechoslovakia.

Read this article:
Former students, now parents, use animated toys to explain 1989 Velvet Revolution to children