This post continues my review of individual episodes from the Pat a Mat kutí series. For more on the series as a whole and previous episodes, visit Part I here.
Before I go on, I know there are readers of this blog who would much prefer to read about the old episodes and the history of the series. Don't worry and stay tuned because some very interesting (even exclusive) stuff is on the way...
I'm not particularly pleased with the three 2020 episodes which were animated in China (8, 10 and 12 on this list). For me, they are mostly average episodes on the whole with some funny moments scattered around. Their pacing is often sluggish and things happen too slowly. It's interesting then that the studio has reedited (or is in the process of doing so) the 39 8-minute new episodes into 5-minute ones for some TV markets. I've only seen Sauna from the Winter series in that format and the result was promising. Do this to some of these episodes (even speed up the animation in some scenes) and I feel they will come out better.
A friend told me this episode reminded him of Grill, but I think it has much more to do with 2003's Opékají špekáčky, with the ending practically being the same. In any case, it's at least easy to identify with Pat and Mat and their barbecue fails in this episode.
I LOVE this episode! When it premiered on YouTube, I watched it and then immediately had to watch it two more times, which didn't happen with other episodes from this series. It's probably my favorite episode from the past decade. In one of my posts, I wrote how viewers looking for a nostalgia trip will rarely find it in these newest episodes. That is definitely not the case here as this episode hits all the right buttons and it's a great one for fans of the original show. There are even appearances of two old friends in the form of props - the original drill from 1976 (how cool is that!) and a jug that appeared in 1980s countryside episodes such as Zahrádka. Experts will recognize some younger props as well, like the green vacuum cleaner which appeared in Patmat's first episode, Puzzle, back in 2002.
Nevertheless, it's not only nostalgia that makes this episode great: it is not the funniest of the episodes, but it never loses focus and feels inspired - I can imagine Marek Beneš, who also wrote it, looking at a tube post system or hearing about it and thinking - this would make a good episode. It shows that the two don't always have to be hilarious to be charming. The pacing is very good and consistent throughout, while the animation is splendid and the animator casting makes the best use of the two animators. This is a great resource for comparing their different styles, which I'll write about in the future. The episode is also very expansive as it takes place on six different sets (the houses and five indoor sets), with the attic rooms appearing for the first time, which adds to the dynamic. All in all, a very pleasant episode with a great atmosphere.
We know the Chinese studio was already late before, so I presume they had to finish these episodes quickly and had less time to complete them, meaning they also produced less "moves". Other really noticeably low-grade scenes are 2:00 (the pool filling up), 4:40 (Mat going to the computer), 6:10 (Mat pushing Pat away). I can only imagine the Czech team begrudgingly accepted these scenes for lack of an alternative. There was even a glaring digital error I already discussed. For a more passable error, Mat suddenly disappears in the last frame of this shot, a bit similar to how I feel about this episode.
Before I go on, I know there are readers of this blog who would much prefer to read about the old episodes and the history of the series. Don't worry and stay tuned because some very interesting (even exclusive) stuff is on the way...
8. Barbecue
animated in China
I'm not particularly pleased with the three 2020 episodes which were animated in China (8, 10 and 12 on this list). For me, they are mostly average episodes on the whole with some funny moments scattered around. Their pacing is often sluggish and things happen too slowly. It's interesting then that the studio has reedited (or is in the process of doing so) the 39 8-minute new episodes into 5-minute ones for some TV markets. I've only seen Sauna from the Winter series in that format and the result was promising. Do this to some of these episodes (even speed up the animation in some scenes) and I feel they will come out better.
A friend told me this episode reminded him of Grill, but I think it has much more to do with 2003's Opékají špekáčky, with the ending practically being the same. In any case, it's at least easy to identify with Pat and Mat and their barbecue fails in this episode.
9. Potrubní pošta / Tube Post
animated by Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly (interior scenes) & Jan Smrčka (exterior scenes)
I LOVE this episode! When it premiered on YouTube, I watched it and then immediately had to watch it two more times, which didn't happen with other episodes from this series. It's probably my favorite episode from the past decade. In one of my posts, I wrote how viewers looking for a nostalgia trip will rarely find it in these newest episodes. That is definitely not the case here as this episode hits all the right buttons and it's a great one for fans of the original show. There are even appearances of two old friends in the form of props - the original drill from 1976 (how cool is that!) and a jug that appeared in 1980s countryside episodes such as Zahrádka. Experts will recognize some younger props as well, like the green vacuum cleaner which appeared in Patmat's first episode, Puzzle, back in 2002.
Nevertheless, it's not only nostalgia that makes this episode great: it is not the funniest of the episodes, but it never loses focus and feels inspired - I can imagine Marek Beneš, who also wrote it, looking at a tube post system or hearing about it and thinking - this would make a good episode. It shows that the two don't always have to be hilarious to be charming. The pacing is very good and consistent throughout, while the animation is splendid and the animator casting makes the best use of the two animators. This is a great resource for comparing their different styles, which I'll write about in the future. The episode is also very expansive as it takes place on six different sets (the houses and five indoor sets), with the attic rooms appearing for the first time, which adds to the dynamic. All in all, a very pleasant episode with a great atmosphere.
10. Výroba ledu / Ice Making
animated in China
This episode had an okay story overall, amusing with a couple of funny gags, but visually it was definitely not up to scratch. The animation was especially disappointing, even more so after the gorgeous previous episode, while I also thought some gags didn't visually translate well. The biggest problem is the rigidness of animation in several scenes that are not on even on "twos". A frequent commentator on the blog told me that this was the first episode where he was really disappointed by the animation. The biggest culprit is the scene at 0:50, with Pat spinning and falling out of his hammock. The sense is almost like every other frame is missing in a scene whose whole point is physicality and where more, not less work should have been done.
We know the Chinese studio was already late before, so I presume they had to finish these episodes quickly and had less time to complete them, meaning they also produced less "moves". Other really noticeably low-grade scenes are 2:00 (the pool filling up), 4:40 (Mat going to the computer), 6:10 (Mat pushing Pat away). I can only imagine the Czech team begrudgingly accepted these scenes for lack of an alternative. There was even a glaring digital error I already discussed. For a more passable error, Mat suddenly disappears in the last frame of this shot, a bit similar to how I feel about this episode.
11. Pizza
animated by Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly
This is an enjoyable episode that I find conceptually similar to Palačinky, so it was no surprise it was written by the same daughter-father duo. After some time, I think I like this one better: on the whole, it's entertaining and has several funny moments. This episode was inspired by a friend of the blog, Oskar (Rakso), who sent the studio his script for Pizza back in 2018. Even though it was almost completely different from the produced episode, some kind of acknowledgement would have still been nice. At that time, the following episodes were also being considered, but were never produced in the end: Chopsticks, Wish Balloons, 3D TV, Segway, Solarium, Tulips. Interestingly, all of these are non-food related and, who knows, maybe we'll see them in the future. I also hope this is not the last we see of Mensdorff-Pouilly's unique style on this series. Building a brick pizza oven in your living room? That's taking a leaf straight out of Grill's book. I noticed that Grill is one of the episodes people remember the most, so harkening back to it is probably a deliberate move. I liked the scenes where the oven catches fire for their unique lighting where, as the fire engulfs the room, more and more flicker is applied.
The briquette plot twist was an unexpected development and I found it especially intriguing from the audience's point of view. If you are a child (and we know they are the primary viewership), you probably won't understand the joke if you a) can't read English or Czech and b) don't know what briquettes are. As for the props, I was surprised that the rediscovered pizza looked quite artificial when compared to our heroes' home-made pizza, which looked gorgeous.
This is an enjoyable episode that I find conceptually similar to Palačinky, so it was no surprise it was written by the same daughter-father duo. After some time, I think I like this one better: on the whole, it's entertaining and has several funny moments. This episode was inspired by a friend of the blog, Oskar (Rakso), who sent the studio his script for Pizza back in 2018. Even though it was almost completely different from the produced episode, some kind of acknowledgement would have still been nice. At that time, the following episodes were also being considered, but were never produced in the end: Chopsticks, Wish Balloons, 3D TV, Segway, Solarium, Tulips. Interestingly, all of these are non-food related and, who knows, maybe we'll see them in the future. I also hope this is not the last we see of Mensdorff-Pouilly's unique style on this series. Building a brick pizza oven in your living room? That's taking a leaf straight out of Grill's book. I noticed that Grill is one of the episodes people remember the most, so harkening back to it is probably a deliberate move. I liked the scenes where the oven catches fire for their unique lighting where, as the fire engulfs the room, more and more flicker is applied.
The briquette plot twist was an unexpected development and I found it especially intriguing from the audience's point of view. If you are a child (and we know they are the primary viewership), you probably won't understand the joke if you a) can't read English or Czech and b) don't know what briquettes are. As for the props, I was surprised that the rediscovered pizza looked quite artificial when compared to our heroes' home-made pizza, which looked gorgeous.
12. Chleba / Bread
animated in China
Of the episodes that dealt specifically with food production, I liked this one the least. It just didn't gel enough and I feel it could have been better. The scenes I liked most were in the middle part, where Pat climbs on a rolling pin standing on a door standing on a table (fun even to write), but the comedy effect was again lessened by substandard animation. There is a more noticeable continuity error present here, as Pat and Mat suddenly have aprons in the scene at 1:40, then the aprons disappear and Pat only brings them out a minute later. Whoever thought the page down below was in Czech language was not paying attention as it looks like some alien script. I can make out a few Czech words, though, so the text must have been corrupted some way.
The way this episode ends makes me think whether it could have been combined with Nábytek from last year into a really packed episode. I can even see the previously described scenes as a starting point - the two are out of bread, try to make some, break all the furniture and you let it go from there...
13. Garážová vrata / Garage Door
animated by Jan Smrčka
Usually, I would have no qualms about liking this episode. The pacing is really solid, with sharp timing on some scenes (hitting the tire, for example), the animation interesting, there is nice interaction between the two (Mat first has to find his beanie, then help Pat) and you can sense the attention that's been put into it. For instance, when Mat is seen reading a newspaper, he is actually reading a 1933 issue of Lidové noviny (a similar page can be found here). However, I find the episode a tad too derivate.
When the episode list came out, I thought this one will have most in common with 1992's Vrata, which was on the same subject, a garage door. In the end, the slow deconstruction of the car has more to do with 1979's Garáž, where the two destroy the original car in the same fashion. So, put the two together and you literally get Garážová vrata. I found myself thinking "I've seen this before". It's a fine line to walk when making scripts for new episodes. Some people might find no issue, others might be more annoyed than I was. Marek Beneš has stated that finding ideas for new episodes had become really tough, so it's not surprising that inspiration has also been searched for in the classics.
All in all, it's exciting to live in a time where new Pat & Mat episodes are still being made. I'd like to see more, but if the episode count was lowered for all the reasons you can find in my reviews. Still, even in a 39-episode 2-year rush a pearl or two like Potrubní pošta will be made and that makes me happy.
What are you thoughts on some - or all - of the episodes? Was I completely wrong about some of them? I'd like to hear your opinions as well.
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