Czech Cartoon Goes Digital Through iPad Apps, E-Books

WSJ: The venerable Czech children’s cartoon character Krtek, or Mole in English, created in the 1950s and popular across Europe and Asia, is going online through game applications for tablets and smartphones.

“The time has come to turn Krtek digital by creating e-books and apps,” said Karolina Milerova, the 21-year-old granddaughter of Zdenek Miler, the creator of Krtek, who died last November.

Before his death Mr. Miler granted all Krtek trademark licenses to his granddaughter who was already working on the Krtek Memory Card Game, the first Krtek-themed application, to run on Apple Inc.’s iPads.

“He loved the way Krtek looked on my iPad when I showed him the app beta-version,” Ms. Milerova said in an interview with Emerging Europe Real Time.

The crispy graphics helped Mr. Miler overcome his concerns about allowing digital Krtek games for mobile devices.

“Colors on old types of mobile phones were never good and Krtek images were grainy but my grandfather liked the iPad graphics,” she said.

Initially Ms. Milerova planned to use proceeds from the Krtek app sales to back the Zdenek Miler Foundation, which she and Mr. Miler launched together in early 2011. “My grandfather loved children, so we wanted the foundation to focus on helping kids and their education,” she said. “His death came so unexpectedly and since I’m the sole holder of Krtek licenses I had to adjust my plans somewhat.”

Ms. Milerova, a junior college student of business administration, now plans to take a break from her studies to focus solely on building a uniform company overseeing Krtek character licenses and merchandising rights. Besides launching new mobile apps, she also has plans for Krtek e-books and a chain of Krtek-themed restaurants with dedicated Krtek toy and book shops. She’d like to open the first Krtek restaurant in downtown Prague by early 2013.

“I need to put together a proper business strategy, make uniform all licensing deals and also map the overall situation,” she said.

Ms. Miler declined to assess the value of the Krtek brand. However, she conceded that the character, owing to its popularity, has a potential to create a global marketing and merchandising enterprise.

Mr. Miler first drew Krtek in 1957 and subsequently starred the black-haired and large-eyed mole in 62 short cartoon films, with the last one released in 2002. Krtek films, aimed at children under five years old, owe part of their international appeal to the fact they avoid using spoken words. Except in the first film, “How Krtek Got His Pants,” which was narrated, all subsequent ones rely instead on universally clear utterances such as off, phew or brrr.

The character’s popularity, also through cartoon books, reached outside the then-communist world, winning Krtek fans in Western Europe, Japan and Taiwan.

The Krtek franchise, including plush toys, tooth pastes, t-shirts or bed linen, generates millions of dollars a year for the license holder and several companies that own distribution rights to make to Mole-themed merchandise.

Although famous in Eastern Europe and Asia, the Krtek character is largely unknown in English- and Spanish-speaking countries.

“I’d also like to use the Krtek apps to popularize the character in the U.S.,” Ms. Milerova said. “My grandfather would have liked that.”

A year ago, the character made its first step to get noticed in America when a stuffed Krtek doll flew into space with U.S. astronaut Andrew Feustel, whose mother-in-law is of Czech descent.

“But for now, only Americans with some family links to Europe and the Czech Republic know about Krtek,” Ms. Milerova said.

By Leos Rousek