The Animated Series "Pat & Mat"
Sometimes you have to be a kid to find cartoons and animation amusing. And sometimes, creators have the ability to make something that entertains both children and adults. To me this is a rare talent.
I haven’t seen too many Slovak and Czech cartoons but I have seen some animated shorts from a popular series made for children called “Pat & Mat”, originally called ”...A je to!” meaning ”...And that’s it!” Pat and Mat are two neighbors who are short on wits but long on determination to fix their self-made home-improvement problems. These guys try to solve problems created in their clumsiness while trying to get the job done. What’s amusing is how they do this, of course.
Pat and Mat have amiable character traits. In all of their endeavors, they never get angry or frustrated. They’re pretty patient and kind to each other, and they like to share. They also finish the project they start, in a round-about way.
What I find clever about “Pat & Mat” is that not a single word is spoken. The actions of these two characters are understood without language. It’s like watching Mr. Bean. He doesn’t need to speak a word for you to understand what he’s thinking or trying to do. I love entertainment that can cross boundaries like that.
Here’s an episode called Koberec, “The Carpet”. If you’re interested in seeing more, you can find more episodes on the Internet. Otherwise you can buy a DVD or two of collections of episodes. I bought mine from a Slovak company called DVDBest, that mails to the US.
The series was first made in the 1970s and even after hundreds of episodes it’s still a popular favorite today. It’s timeless.
