Series creator Zdeněk Miler and some of his characters (Ježeček, Krtek, Zajíček)
The Little Mole (Czech: Krtek or Krteček) is a cartoon mole created by Zdeněk Miler. Originally meant as a one-time cartoon to show how cloth is made, Miler began making more episodes with Krtek because of his popularity. The Little Mole is mostly silent, speaking in simple words (such as his trademark "Ahoj!") and giggles, which were originally provided by Miler's daughters. The lack of dialogue and his universally appealing cuteness made him popular throughout the Eastern Bloc and beyond, especially Germany and Japan.The episodes themselves vary in length because they were produced sporadically from 1956-2002. They usually consist of the Little Mole helping another animal or even a non-living thing, or exploring an unusual place (for a mole), like the inside of a car.
Tropes seen in The Little Mole cartoons :
- All Just a Dream: There is an episode where a man falls a sleep and he has a nightmare that all the oil and energy has been spent and the world is going back to cavemen times. He does wake up at the end. That said, he is very clearly shown to fall asleep plus the episode's title is "The Mole in the Dream" (even though, it's not him who is dreaming), thus, the audience knows all along that this is a nightmare.
- Animals Lack Attributes: While played straight in the vast majority of the shorts, it's also averted it the short "The Mole and the Mother", where the mother hare gives birth to three little bunnies in a rather graphic way.
- Art Evolution: While Krtek himself has changed very little (except for the difference between the original fabric-making film and the following ones), some of the details in his cartoons have evolved over time, thanks to improvements in animation technology and the creators gradually standardising the appearance of supporting characters and the art style used to showcase Krtek's home forest. Notably, some Early-Installment Weirdness in the early, 1950s and 1960s cartoons includes different-looking designs for supporting characters, like Little Hare, who was depicted with a white beard and pointy ears in early shorts, but now is portrayed with no beard and rounded ears.
- Banana in the Tailpipe: In one cartoon, Little Mole, Little Hare and Little Hedgehog stuff hot dogs in car tailpipes.
- Book Dumb: Krtek is an intelligent and resourceful fellow, but he's not exactly a scholar. During the course of many of his cartoons, his friend the Owl (a professor-like character) tries to teach him new knowledge, usually more scientific or advanced in tone. By the end of a cartoon, Krtek always learns something new and interesting. This trope is basically done on purpose, to make inquisitive child viewers identify and emphathize with the equally curious Krtek while he's learning new stuff about the world around him.
- Catchphrase: Krtek has a mostly non-verbal one whenever he's outright astonished by something. It consists of him doing a surprised Eye Take and near-whispering and humbled "Jééé..." (i.e. "Yaaaay..." or "Ooooh..."). Another catchphrase he uses frequently is his cute "Ahoj !" ("Hi!").
- Cool Old Guy: Heavily implied with the Owl, the only main character whose name lacks the diminutive treatment given to the other, more youthful-looking members of the main cast. The Owl serves as the Badass Bookworm mentor and Mr. Exposition to the others. Well, except that "Sova" is female in Czech.
- The Cutie: Pretty much all of the main characters are big-eyed, round-lined, cute cartoon forest critters, Krtek included. Even the more serious and adult-natured Owl wears a pair of oversized, goofy reading glasses.
- Darker and Edgier: "Krtek and the Little Frog", the final episode, which involves Krtek and Little Mouse in a car crash when Little Frog carelessly runs into the street. Even the happy parts of the cartoon are disliked by some for their introduction of brash modern elements (e.g. a disco) to Krtek's forest.
- Depending on the Writer: While Krtek is always sweet and naive, in some cartoons he shows a more rascally side. Also, in one episode he gets a car for himself, in another he hates cars.
- A Dog Named "Dog": A mole named Little Mole. The rest of the cast are named after their species too.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In the first short, which is about making trousers, Krtek speaks fluently. This in stark contrast with the rest of the cartoons where he doesn't speak apart from a word or two.
- Edutainment Show: While the shorts and more feature-lenghth cartoons starring Krtek and his friends have a lot of goofy antics, they also try to teach kids basic lessons about the surrounding world, whether its basic facts about nature, or about modern society and technology.
- Eye Take: Krtek displays a cuter form of it anytime he's astonished, coupling the look on his face with an awed whisper.
- Facial Dialogue: Much of the mutual communication between characters takes this form.
- Foul Fox: One short features a hungry fox antagonizing the Mole and the other woodland critters, who paint themselves to bright colors to scare the fox away.
- Friend to All Living Things: The main cast in general, but Krtek's friendly and inoffensive demeanor - even to some less honest fellow animals that are trying to dupe him - really takes the cake.
- Funny Animal: The main cast are Woodland Creatures who are bipedal and can use all sorts of object, but live in the forest and generally don't wear clothes.
- Ghibli Hills: The calm forest clearing which the main characters inhabit.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!!: Very slightly downplayed but pretty much played straight. Animals as written here, still live in the woods, and they don't wear clothes, plus they aren't shown in human working offices... but there still are humans around and when they interact with title character and any of his friends... they interact with them like they would with regular humans. In one episode where Krtek raises an eagle, an eagle gets injured and ends up in human hospital (other patients in the background are very clearly human). In the very same episode, once the eagle leaves the hospital, he takes Krtek on a trip and they go to a restaurant and are treated as regular guests by a waiter. In another episode, Krtek becomes a movie star and signs his autographs to humans. The cartoon is basically a mix of human world and animal world; though animals still retain some real life animal traits you would expect them to.
- Mole Miner: A standard opening has him dig out of the ground with his shovel.
- Near-Death Experience: Krtek has one in "Krtek and the Little Frog". Shortly after being thrown out of the car, his soul rises above his body; Little Mouse and Little Frog grab the soul and physically return it to his body.
- No Antagonist: Outside of natural forces and everyday obstacles, almost none of the cartoons feature any villains in the classic sense. One of the few that broke with this tradition contained some martens
threatening the main cast, while another one has a fox doing the same. Also, in an early short, Krtek is tricked by a greedy magpie to give her a bright gem that he had found (he eventually outwits her). - No Name Given / Only Known by Their Nickname: The main character is simply "Krtek" (a diminutive of krt ("mole"), i.e. "The Little Mole"). His friends also carry names that indicate their species, although they too are often rendered as diminutives.
- Non-Action Guy: Krtek is cunning and resourceful when he needs to be, but he never uses violence.
- Not Allowed to Grow Up: Krtek is always a kid. While it can be argued that episodes take place close to each other, there is an episode where he raises a baby eagle who quickly grows into a full grown adult, and even becomes a father of three baby eagles towards the end of the episode. The Mole remains the same as he was in the beggining. That said, Krtek is actually of an ambiguous age and he could simply be an adult mole who is very childlike.
- Owl Be Damned: Completely averted by the Owl (Sova), who is a Reasonable Authority Figure, and is occassionally a bit goofy-looking.
- The Owl-Knowing One: The Owl is instead this, in a Badass Bookworm and Mr. Exposition sort of way.
- Scarecrow Solution: In one of the shorts, Krtek and the other animals paint themselves to bright colors to scare away a fox that antagonizes them.
- Shock-and-Switch Ending: "The Mole in the Dream" episode is a very lenient example of that. A human male falls asleep and has a nightmare that all the energy in the world is gone and thus world is going back to primitive way of life. The Mole helps the man light the fire for example since it was winter and obviously, the heaters didn't work. He wakes up with a great relief and checks everything in his house and everything works! So far, good. But an episode ends with his car breaking and he asks for gas only to find out that there is no more gas. End.
- Shrinking Violet: Krtek displays this on occassion, but he's not usually shy.
- Speaking Simlish: Somewhat. The characters occassionally subvert the trope by saying brief sentences or asking very brief questions in Czech, but otherwise mostly express themselves only via onomatopoeia and body language.
- True Companions: Krtek the Little Mole and his animal pals from the forest, particularly the Little Hare, the Little Hedgehog, the Little Mouse and the old Owl. They will always stand up for each other whenever any of them gets into trouble.
- Uncertain Doom: Yes, despite being a very little children's cartoon, there are few examples of where a character could die, but it is done in such a non-violent subtle way, that the cartoon gets away with it.
- In the episode where Krtek has a robot, two rodents steal the robot from him. He calls a cat who picks up the rodents and anyone who knows how nature works... can probably figure out what happened to the rodents.
- In the episode where Krtek raises and befriends an eagle, towards the end of the episode, Krtek is kidnapped by a fox and the eagle picks the fox up, lifts him very high up above the forest... and drops him giving him a Disney Villain Death.
- In the Christmas special, the crow eats Krtek's Christmas tree and when it tries to eat another one... Krtek has the crow ride his sled, crash, and fall head-first into a deep snow with only its legs sticking out.
- Vague Age: Krtek himself and to a lesser extent, his friends. He is very childlike, sweet, and even his voice is that of a little kid. On the other hand, the way he lives is that of an adult: he lives by himself, is responsible for himself, and can actually be matured if duty calls, like raising a baby eagle. The fact that the baby eagle grows into an adult very soon (and even becomes a father at the end) while Krtek remains the same implies that either Krtek is simply a very childlike adult, or Not Allowed to Grow Up is in play. The fact that his friend, an almost equally child-like hare, has a wife and little babies, would very much point to the former.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Averted with Krtek's most consistent skill set and hobby - expert gardening. Many times, he uses his knowledge of plants and gardening for MacGyvering a neat solution to a seemingly unsolvable problem or obstacle.
- Wild Goose Chase: In one of the longer Krtek films, his friend the Mouse gets ill with a major fever. Krtek, desperate to help, receives advice from the old Owl, to search for a plant known in Latin as Matricaria chamomilla. Krtek, certain that the plant must be some rare exotic species, sets out to tour almost the entire world, asking virtually anyone who seems knowledgeable about whether a particular plant is his sought after "Chamomilla?" He is ultimately unsuccessful and returns home, disappointed and sobbing. The Old Owl realises what went wrong, comforts him, and points at a plain-looking flower on the meadow, translating its Latin name into Czech term. If you know Latin, you'll have already realised that Matricaria chamomilla is the common wild chamomile. Naturally, Krtek is overjoyed (if a bit embarassed) by this discovery, and goes on to use the flower in brewing some tea for Mouse who recovers.
- Woodland Creatures: Little Mole's friends are a broad range of small woodland animals. A mouse, a hare and a hedgehog are the most prominently featured ones, but frogs, birds, squirrels, ants and beetles also make appearances.
