Pat & Mat

The original name of the series was Kuťáci (The Tinkers). However, when production of episodes started for ČST Bratislava, a Slovak name was required, and the crew eventually settled for ... a je to! (... and that's it!).[2] The characters themselves were nameless until 1989, when they were given the names Pat and Mat. Pat and Mat are shortened forms of Czech expressions Patlal and Matlal, which can roughly be translated as Clumsy and Awkward.[3] The authors intentionally gave the characters short and universal names suitable for a worldwide audience.[2]

Each episode typically features the two characters facing mostly self-made problems, and trying to solve them using a range of possible and impossible tools and construction gadgets. Their solutions appear to work, before everything suddenly goes wrong, leading to even more problems than before. However, Pat and Mat invariably find a solution in the end, usually via a surprising or innovative method. They then shake hands, before making their trademark hand gesture with a bent hand and closed fist.

According to the authors, it is manual ineptitude that inspires the stories. Alongside the humour, another motif of the show is the importance of an optimistic approach towards life. The two characters always get into problematic situations, but they never give up until they solve the problem in imaginative ways.[4]

The show is also memorable for its soundtrack, composed by Petr Skoumal, of which the main parts are the theme song and a harmonica tune.

The two characters first appeared in a 1976 short film entitled Kuťáci (Tinkers) produced by Krátký film Prague (cs)'s Jiří Trnka Studio and distributed by Ústřední půjčovna filmů (cs). While creating the two characters, the authors had in mind entertainment for adults, and the short was shown before movies. Although they intended to produce more shorts for theatrical release, their parent studio refused. The series was picked up by ČST Bratislava's children's section, where it was named ... a je to! (... and that's it!). The two handymen got their names Pat and Mat in 1989, when production was resumed for Krátký film Prague. Their names then also became the name of the show.

As a result of its lack of dialogue, the show was syndicated around the world, being broadcast in more than 80 countries by the 1990s,[4] which included Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic and Slovakia), Sweden, Syria, Iraq, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Iceland, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Austria, Switzerland, Brazil, Romania, Finland, Japan, Norway, Spain, France, Iran, Hungary, Jordan, South Africa, and South Korea. In the Netherlands, the characters are given dubbed dialogue, and are voiced by Kees Prins and Siem van Leeuwen. In Australia the show aired as part of a weekly, half-hour collection of animated shorts on the SBS show Kaleidoscope.

In 1990, after the collapse of the communist regime, Beneš and Jiránek founded their own aiF Studio in Prague (production) and Zürich (marketing, sales, financing), where they produced 14 more episodes, and released all 49 of them to the international market.

In 1999, four years after Beneš's death, his studio went into bankruptcy, leading to a copyright dispute over the characters and the 50th episode, which was therefore never released. Beneš's son Marek founded his own studio, Patmat, in 2001. Production of episodes was resumed in 2002 by Ateliéry Bonton Zlín, resulting in 28 episodes being produced by three studios (Ateliéry Bonton, Anima and Patmat) in just three years. Many crew members were veterans who had worked on the original TV series.

The characters were revived once again in 2009 by Beneš for a new series, Pat a Mat na venkově (Pat & Mat in the Country). The pilot, Postele (Beds), premiered at the 50th Zlín Film Festival in 2010.[5] 12 more episodes followed between 2011 and 2015, produced by Patmat Film and filmed in 16:9. Beneš directed and wrote all 13 episodes. Eight of the episodes were released on DVD in 2013 and received their TV premiere on the Dutch channel VPRO on 9 June 2013, with the rest following soon.

To celebrate the show's 40th anniversary, Gusto Entertainment announced in December 2015 that a full-length feature film would be released in cinemas in 2016. The movie, Pat a Mat ve filmu (Pat & Mat in a Movie), featured seven of the 2009-2015 episodes with linking segments and was shown in cinemas in 2016 in several countries, including the Netherlands.[6] Three more feature films, all collections of several episodes with linking segments, followed in 2018 and 2019.

From 2018 to 2020, 39 new episodes divided into three 13-part series were made in Patmat film, co-produced by Czech Television and Netherlands-based JUST Productions, again directed by Beneš. The animation for more than half of these episodes was produced in a Chinese studio to speed up work.[7]

Several Pat & Mat episodes have received prizes and awards at international animation festivals.

The 38th episode The Cyclists, directed by Lubomír Beneš and animated by Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly, participated in the "Annecy '93" (Annecy, France) animation festival competition, and was invited to a number of other world festivals. The episode was also included in the selection "The Best of Annecy '93" by Cinémathèque Québécoise (Montreal), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley), Museum of Modern Art (New York City) and presented by these institutions in their autumn 1993 show.

The 44th episode The Billiards, animated by František Váša, was selected for the "Annecy '95" competition, and invited to many other international film festivals. The episode was awarded two prizes at the World Animation Celebration in Agoura, California in March 1997:

• 1st prize - best animation for a daytime TV series
• 2nd prize - best stop motion professional animation.

The 50th episode Playing Cards (originally named Karty) written, animated and directed by František Váša, was selected for the "Annecy '99" TV competition.

After being released on VHS for ten years, the first 35 episodes were released on DVD in the early 2000s, with the 28 new episodes featuring in the last release in 2005. Shorts from the AIF era were initially unavailable because of copyright issues,[16] but appeared on DVD for the first time in 2007.[17]

In 1999, AIF Asia located in South Korea dubbed Pat & Mat episodes in English for educational purposes. The dub, covering episodes 1 to 49, was originally released on 10 VHS tapes, and re-released in 2003 for 10 DVD discs.

At least two books with the series' characters have been published:

• Michl, Jiří (1994). Pat & Mat : ...a je to!. Czech Republic: Egmont.
• Sýkora, Pavel; Jiránek, Vladimír; Beneš, Lubomír (2010). Pat a Mat dokážou všechno [Pat and Mat can do anything] (3rd ed.). Albatros. ISBN 9788000025933.

On 1 August 2007 a Czech computer development company, Centauri Production, announced via their website that they had secured the rights to create a Pat & Mat video game. The game was released in the Czech Republic on 1 October 2009, and other EU countries in 2010. The game was taken down from Steam in July 2020.[18]

There is a wide range of Pat & Mat merchandise available, including games, dolls, key rings, office material, posters and T-shirts. In Dutch supermarkets Pat & Mat food is also available.[19]

• Pat & Mat at IMDb
• Official website of Lubomír Beneš' aiF Studio
• Official website of Patmat film studio
• Pat & Mat fansite
• Official website of the Pat & Mat video game