The new stop-motion European animated anthology feature Tales from the Magic Garden was among the big co-productions premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival this month. Based on the children’s fairytale book Of Unwanted Things and People by Czech author Arnošt Goldflam, the movie combines elements of fantasy, humor and the connective power of imagination.

The charming feature tells the story of three children who spend the night at their grandfather’s house for the first time since the passing of their grandmother, a master storyteller. Unable to fall asleep without a bedtime story, the children decide to make up their own stories and embark on a journey that shows them that storytelling can help them cope with life’s challenges and offer solace through imagination.

We had the chance to chat with three of the film’s directors; David Súkup, Patrik Pašš and Leon Vidmar. (We’ll have to catch up with the fourth director, Jean-Claude Rozec, at later date!). Here is what the helmers told us about their labor of love.

Animation Magazine: Congrats on the premiere of your movie in Berlin this month. So, let’s start from the beginning. Can you tell us little bit about how you got involved with this project?

David Súkup: I was the first of all the directors to get involved in the project. Martin Vandas approached me and offered me the chance to choose any short story by A. Goldflam. This was at a time when only one short story was planned as a short film. We started working on our part in March 2018 and filming took about nine months.

Leon Vidmar: I was invited to the project by Kolja Saksida (Slovenian producer) and he by Martin Vandas(Czech producer) who introduced the idea of adapting stories from Goldflam’s book and making an anthology with three more directors from different countries. It was basically making our own shorts, but with same art designer, music composer, sound designer, editor and colorist — so the whole project would feel more unified. My section started in 2017 with development and then on and off till few weeks back. It’s different from country to country, but shooting of only our part of the film too about seven months.

Patrik Pašš: I was invited to the project by the producer Juraj Krasnohorský from Artichoke to revise the then script of the Slovakian story Ohryzené ohryzky (Old Apple Cores). Later, I worked on the storyboard and animatic. Finally, Juraj and the lead animator Marek Jasaň convinced me to direct the film. However, due to family reasons, I couldn’t be present in the animation studio during the shooting, so after an intensive month of preparation, during which the entire process was set up, I was represented by assistant director Monika Houdková, with whom I communicated daily online.

It took 10 years from the idea to completion, and I was part of the production team for the last four or five years. The idea from the beginning was to create a feature film by adapting short stories from Arnošt Goldflam’s book. The Czech story by director David Súkup was the first to be shot and helped finance the film. The Slovenian, Slovakian and French stories were added gradually. The French story, which in the movie serves as a present reality from which we dive into imaginary stories, is not an adaptation of Goldflam’s book. But it is nevertheless inspired by Goldflam’s world, so much so that one of the main characters, Grandpa, is actually modeled after Arnošt Goldflam and his own voice is also used in the Czech version — which I think is a nice tribute to the author.

What really attracted to you to Tales from the Magic Garden?

David: I was interested in stories which are melancholic, sometimes sad, sometimes a little sharp. But like in a good fairy tale, everything ends well in the end. But above all, these fairy tales open up significantly different topics than the usual mainstream.

Leon: I guess the challenge was to tell the story of grief in a positive, heartwarming way.

Patrik: Initially, it was the desire to solve some screenwriting problems. Every screenplay is a puzzle where you need to identify and arrange its important elements into an ideal shape, and that’s very entertaining. But the more energy I put into the project, the more personal it became, and when the characters came to life after character animation tests, I started to see the project as a living organism, like a friend whom I must respect and accept.

What are the qualities that make this movie stand out in today’s busy animation field?

David: In our film we open up the serious topics of the death of someone close to us. We show how the main character copes with this situation and we give hope for the future that time and love will help overcome even these sad moments.

Leon: I guess because it’s children’s film but the topic is hard — death and grief — but it’s shown how the power of storytelling can have a healing effect and it brings hope.

Patrik: The ambition to communicate adult themes of losing a loved one, loneliness, and fear to child viewers in a subtle way. Since production companies and distributors approach these themes with caution in children’s films, I truly appreciate the courage of our production companies Artichoke, MAUR Film, ZVVIKS and Vivement Lundi!

What was the approximate budget?

Patrik: The budget was around 3 million euros, which is quite low for European productions and may seem surprisingly low considering the production value of the beautiful stop-motion puppet animation we see on screen. The low budget is still a necessity in Central and Eastern European countries, as film funds have limited capacity. When the financing of the film began, in Slovenia and Slovakia (two of the four producing countries), there had not been a previously produced animated feature film since the time of communism, i.e. since 1989.

How tall are the puppets, what are they made of and how many sets were used in the movie?

David: The puppets are about 20 centimeters tall. Children are smaller. The skeleton of the handles is made of iron. The rest is a combination of modeling clay, textile, latex. My story is quite intimate and most of it takes place in an apartment, so there were fewer sets here than in the other stories. There were about six sets.

Leon: The puppets were different sizes, the biggest I think was almost 30cm tall. It depends on the puppet, for example the heads from “human” characters were from resin and had detachable mouths for lip sync.  Silicon was used for the hands. The body had stainless armature skeleton and sponge underneath the textile clothes. Birds on the other hand were all resin and had wire armature. We used eight sets in our section of the movie.

Patrik: Most of the puppets are between 20 and 25cm tall, with the smallest children being around 10cm tall. They are made of hardened and painted resin on an iron armature with joints. Hands and legs are made of silicone. Hair and fur were also used for some puppets, and of course textile, metal or feathers for clothing and accessories. The film consists of four parts, each filmed in a different country. Each part had at least five main sets, but these were divided into smaller parts to make the shooting possible. For example, the old garden where the magical beast lives in the central part of the film was a huge set five meters long and wide. The result on screen is that you can see a large variety of sets and characters, which adds to the visual richness of the film.

How many people worked on the movie?

David: About 20 people worked on my story directly in the studio and many others worked on audio and video post-production.

Leon: We had about nine people on the set while shooting.

Patrik: The credits are very long. There were four production countries, with four directors and four complete production and shooting teams in four different European cities. So far there are about 185 people. And there will be more, because the national language versions in Slovakian, Slovenian and French are only now being produced!

What were the toughest aspects of the project for you?

David: In my story it is the moment when the children find themselves alone without their parents and have to cope with their loss. It was important to show this moment sensitively, but at the same time I wanted to show it truthfully, because such things happen in life and it is not good to hide anything from children.

Leon: Shooting the flying scenes using greenscreen was the toughest.

Patrik: Tales from the Magic Garden was my first puppet-animated film. For fear of disappointing the producer and collaborators, I prepared myself very thoroughly as a director. During the month of preparation before shooting, I had to learn the technicalities from scratch, but since everyone around me were experienced professionals, the actual shooting process went smoothly.

The biggest challenge was to give creative freedom to the different production departments so they could fully develop their creativity while trying to stay true to my vision as a director. It was a very organic and enriching experience, and I was very lucky to work with such talented people on my closest team. But I can see that the same was true for my other fellow directors.

How would you describe the animation scene in your country in 2025?

David: In the Czech Republic, there is a long tradition of television series for children that are broadcast before bedtime. They are called “Good Night Stories.” Thanks to this, some directors can continuously work in their field and prepare their independent work in the meantime.

But working on their independent projects is very lengthy because getting financing in the Czech Republic and from co-productions is very difficult. That is why in our country the preparation of a full-length animated film takes up to 10 years. Which is very unpleasant because you don’t know whether your story will still be relevant to the audience after such a long time.

Leon: It’s evolving, we are growing by numbers and enthusiasm for animation in general feels like it’s on the rise.

Patrik: Ten years ago, when this film was starting, only short films could be produced in Slovakia. The industry and funding were too limited to make a feature film possible. Today, Slovakia is already co-majority or minority co-producer of several very successful feature films and many award-winning short films in recent years. Often thanks to the support of Eurimages and Creative Europe MEDIA, which are crucial for the financing of Slovak films. The same applies to television series.

Just for Artichoke, this is the second animated feature film to premiere in Berlin after White Plastic Sky in 2023. Considering the small size of the country and the still quite limited funding, it’s therefore surprising that the Slovakian animation scene is developing very well and perhaps represents Slovakian cinema more internationally than fiction or documentary films — at least in recent years.

What do you hope worldwide audiences will take away from the movie?

David: I would like the audience to take away the joy with which we made our stories and the hope that everything will turn out well … and if it’s not good, it’s not the end yet!

Leon: When faced with tragedy and loss, there are ways to overcome grief and have hope.

Patrik: I hope that alongside entertainment thanks to the story and the visual beauty on screen, the film will help facilitate dialogue between parents and children on difficult topics that are sometimes challenging to communicate properly, keeping in mind children’s sensitivity.

Tales from the Magic Garden is produced by Artichoke (Slovakia | artichoke.sk), MAUR Film (Czech Republic | maurfilm.com), ZVVIKS (Slovenia | zvviks.net) and Vivement Lundi! (France | vivement-lundi.com). The film made its World Premiere in the Generation Kplus program of Berlinale. Sales are handled by New Europe Film Sales (neweuropefilmsales.com).