Japan has often been mentioned as one of those countries where Pat and Mat have achieved unexpected, even enormous success. However, little of that success seems to be found on online platforms. When you type in パットとマット (the Japanese name for the series, which translates just as Pat and Mat), not many results show up. Google can muster only a couple pages of images and very few YouTube videos uploaded from Japan. This was always strange to me - were Pat and Mat not as popular in Japan as is often claimed? The truth is that I don't know and it's hard to tell. Maybe they were more popular with older generations which don't have as much of a presence on social media. Maybe Google's algorithms just aren't that powerful when it comes to Japanese sites? That argument doesn't hold up for South Korea, where a ton of material related to the series is easily accessible online. In any case, Czech animation (particularly people deemed to be auteurs like Jan Švankmajer) seems to be very successful in Japan, so the success of Pat and Mat can be seen as an extension tof that. I would love it if someone from the country (or someone who is more knowledgeable) could provide us with some more info - when were our beloved handymen shown on TV in Japan, how popular and known the series has been etc. Going by the available data, it seems unusual that undoubtedly the best DVD collection (unless some are hiding in places like Zimbabwe!) of the series was released in Japan.
Nonetheless, a clear backstory for the collection can be constructed thanks to Wayback Machine's archives, which saved many of TDK's web pages from the early 2000s. From my rummaging through these auto-translated sites, I gathered that TDK Deep Impression (or Deep Impression TDK) owned or were close associates of RandomでEvolvingなNetwork, or REN Corporation for short. REN, in turn, founded Open Cinema Network to release both domestic and foreign films in Japanese cinemas. After a successful festival of Czech animation in 1997, another one followed in 1999. By 1999, Pat and Mat's stock was quite high as they were awarded a couple of prizes at the World Animation Celebration in the USA in 1997. They were the 1999 festival's main attraction. This is the poster for the Czech Festival of Cartoons and Puppet Films '99 and its reverse side (source: page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/):
I know what you're thinking - Karty in Japan?! Well, by all official records, no. It doesn't seem Karty was actually shown on the festival even though a promotional shot from the episode was omnipresent. My guess is that maybe Karty was originally supposed to be featured, but copyright disputes didn't allow for it to happen. The promo photo was even featured on the festival's website and, ironically, was the only one on the index page saved by Wayback Machine:
I know what you're thinking - Karty in Japan?! Well, by all official records, no. It doesn't seem Karty was actually shown on the festival even though a promotional shot from the episode was omnipresent. My guess is that maybe Karty was originally supposed to be featured, but copyright disputes didn't allow for it to happen. The promo photo was even featured on the festival's website and, ironically, was the only one on the index page saved by Wayback Machine:
The festival's website contained specific information about which films were going to be shown in three "programmes", A, B and C, which were to be presented around Japan from August 1999 to February 2001. Each programme featured five Pat & Mat films together with classics from authors such as Švankmajer, Trnka, Barta and Jiránek. The programmes premiered at the Nakano Musashino Hall in Tokyo, with A being shown August 14-August 27, B August 28-September 10 and C shown September 14-September 24. The featured films (it's sounds wrong to call them episodes in this sense) were, by programme:
A: Klíč, Dveře, Střecha, Nábytek, Generální úklid
B: Sušenky, Cyklisti, Dlaždice, Parkety, Kabriolet
C: Nehoda, Kulečník, Trezor, Modeláři, Windsurfing
As you can see, most 1989-90 and aiF episodes, the most recently produced at that time, were shown. I am quite jealous of the people who got to experience these on a cinema screen. It must have been a special feeling and, of course, copies made to show the episodes must have been of highest possible quality - you would never screen a cheap TV master tape in a cinema, especially for such a long period of time. The festival traveled all around Japan. The screenings continued next year: this is the schedule for 2000 taken from the site (apologies for errors in names due to auto-translation):
In 2001, the festival's headline was Hey Mister, Let's Play, or Pojďte pane, budeme si hrát, after the eponymous 1960s series which was the star of that year's festival. However, there was time for 12 Pat & Mat, or should I say, ... a je to! episodes. They were, in order of programme:
Again, the programmes premiered at Nakano Musashino Hall, from Saturday, July 7 to Friday, August 17. The 2001 festival was, it seems, the last (not counting a festival of new Czech animation in 2002). Even though there were future screenings of classic Czech animation, they weren't billed as "festivals". It seems that Pat and Mat weren't part of future screenings, but it's not impossible that I missed something on various iterations of REN's website. In any case, future screenings are not important for our story. By 2001, Pat and Mat had amassed a large enough audience in Japan and it was time for a DVD/VHS collection of their films! Read about them in my next post...
Saturday, April 29-Tuesday, May 16 Kichijoji Baus Theate
May 30 (Tue)-June 4 (Sun) Shiga Kaikan Cinema Hall
July 8th (Sat)-July 14th (Fri) Matsuyama Cinema Lunatic
Saturday, July 29-Monday, July 31 Oita Prefectural Cultural Center
Another festival was set for 2000. (source for the poster: page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/):
Next to the promo image for Kabriolet, you can (barely) see a photo of Beneš and Jiránek. Although the 2000 festival featured six programmes, only the first two contained Pat & Mat episodes and, this time, it was the rest of the episodes from the aiF and Krátký film packages:
The inclusion of aiF episodes is interesting. Although they were already in distribution limbo by 2001 (probably by 2000), maybe the disputes around aiF's legacy weren't valid in Japan or weren't important for theatrical rights. In any case, ... a je to! episodes were not yet shown at any date. That finally changed in 2001:
Next to the promo image for Kabriolet, you can (barely) see a photo of Beneš and Jiránek. Although the 2000 festival featured six programmes, only the first two contained Pat & Mat episodes and, this time, it was the rest of the episodes from the aiF and Krátký film packages:
A: Kuťáci, Sekačka, Vrata
B: Okap, Živý plot, Blatník
The inclusion of aiF episodes is interesting. Although they were already in distribution limbo by 2001 (probably by 2000), maybe the disputes around aiF's legacy weren't valid in Japan or weren't important for theatrical rights. In any case, ... a je to! episodes were not yet shown at any date. That finally changed in 2001:
A:Veľké pranie, Telocvičňa, Vinári, Výlet
B: Gramofón, Korčule, Hrnčiari, Raňajky v tráve
C: Krížovka, Dážď, Jablko, Porucha
Wow!! This is pretty awesome. I had no idea Czech animation films were as beloved in Japan as they are.
ReplyDeleteWhat's really neat is through looking at all the names (I can read Japanese katakana and some hiragana, bad with kanji) I immediately noticed Jan Švankmajer's when looking through the first picture, I know him from Cinemassacre's showcase on him. It's really neat to see how Czech names are rendered in the language, as they're written to as how they sound, meaning there's no silent letters or anything, everything has its place if you will. Japanese doesn't use the "V" sound as much as other sounds so it's neat to see their "V" (ヴ) show up a lot with all these Czech names.