The Pied Piper & Jiří Barta Shorts: Standard Edition – Deaf Crocodile (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Czechoslovakia/West Germany, 1986
Director: Jirí Barta
Writer: Kamil Pixa
Cast: Oldrich Kaiser, Jirí Lábus, Michal Pavlícek, Vilém Cok

Release Date: September 16th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 56 Minutes 29 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"The money-obsessed citizens, carved out of wood blocks and speaking in an onomatopoeic babble, are like George Grosz caricatures, literally spouting coins from their mouths instead of words. The rats are far more organic and sympathetic, made of real fur and whiskers, constantly tunneling and burrowing under the towering arches and cobblestone streets above." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (The Pied Piper)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "recently restored by Deaf Crocodile for its first-ever U.S. Blu-ray release, in association with Krátký Film Praha and Comeback Company."

The Pied Piper comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 21.9 GB

Feature: 12.8 GB

The source looks excellent; this is another solid encode from Fidelity in Motion. Flesh tones and colors look correct; image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image retains an organic look.

There is a second disc. A 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray contains seven short films: Riddles for Candy, Disk Jockey, The Design, The Vanished World of Gloves, A Ballad About Green Wood, The Last Theft, and The Club of the Laid Off.

Disc Size: 36.4 GB

Audio: 5/5 (The Pied Piper)

Although there is some intentionally unintelligible dialogue, it is not meant to be understood and therefore not translated. The audio sounds excellent; range-wise, ambient sounds are perfectly pitched. Included are removable English subtitles for any text in Czech.

Extras:

Extras on disc one include an archival behind-the-scenes documentary titled Chronicle of The Pied Piper (13 minutes 13 seconds, DTS-HD mono Czech with removable English subtitles), an interview with director Jiří Barta and and translator Irena Kovarova, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile, this interview focuses on Jiří Barta's origins as a filmmaker and The Pied Piper (51 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Czech with a translator for Czech), an audio commentary with Czech film expert Irena Kovarova of Comeback Company and film critic and historian Peter Hames for The Pied Piper, and a short film directed by Jiří Barta titled The Vanished World of Gloves (17 minutes 27 seconds, 1.37:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD mono with text in Czech and removable English subtitles).

Extras on disc two include a video essay narrated by Irena Kovarova and historian Peter Hames titled Pushed to the Margins! The Short Films of Jiří Barta (29 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director Jiří Barta and translator Irena Kovarova, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile, this interview focuses on his short films (76 minutes 12 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Czech with a translator for Czech), and seven short films directed by Jiří Barta; Riddles for a Candy (8 minutes 13 seconds, 1.37:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD mono Czech with removable English subtitles), Disc Jockey (9 minutes 47 seconds, 1.37:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD mono with text in Czech and removable English subtitles), The Design (6 minutes, 1.37:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD mono with text in Czech and removable English subtitles), The Vanished World of Gloves (17 minutes 27 seconds, 1.37:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD mono with text in Czech and removable English subtitles), A Ballad About Green Wood (10 minutes 39 seconds, 1.37:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD mono with text in Czech and removable English subtitles), The Last Theft (20 minutes 57 seconds, 1.37:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD mono with text in Czech and removable English subtitles), and The Club of the Laid Off (25 minutes 14 seconds, 1.37:1 aspect ratio, DTS-HD mono with text in Czech and removable English subtitles).

Riddles for a Candy: In Jiří Barta’s debut short, a fantastical anteater-shaped creature must solve complicated riddles posed by a magical book.

Disc Jockey: Everyday life is a world of discs: plates, ashtrays, buttons, and a copy of “Abbey Road,” in Jiří Barta’s satire of empty modern life.

The Design: An apartment block comes to life on a drafting board in Jiří Barta’s critique of state-socialist housing.

The Vanished World of Gloves: A marvelous tour through cinema history told through animated gloves.

A Ballad About Green Wood: A miniature masterpiece about the occult mysteries of earth, sky, stone, wood, and snow.

The Last Theft: Jiří Barta’s spectral ghost story follows a thief who breaks into an apparently abandoned mansion to loot it of its treasures.

The Club of the Laid Off: Jiří Barta’s disturbing stop-motion gem is set in a decrepit apartment where wooden mannequins mimic their almost-human "lives."

Summary:

The Pied Piper is the feature film debut of Jirí Barta, a Czech animator whose films are known for their use of wood. The Pied Piper is an adaptation of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, a German fairy tale that originated in medieval times. That said, The Pied Piper remains true to German fairy tales by creating a story that is not suitable for children.

A town infested with rats hires a hooded stranger whose flute playing mesmerizes the rats, who march to their death. When the stranger tries to collect the money promised to him, the greedy townsfolk renege on the deal they made, sealing their doom.

The first thing you notice while watching The Pied Piper is its lack of discernible dialogue; any word spoken is gibberish, and this is intentional on the filmmakers' part. The Pied Piper of Hamelin is such a well-known story that it never becomes an issue, and the visuals do a phenomenal job telling the story that unfolds. Besides striking visuals, another area where The Pied Piper excels is its outstanding score and its use of sound, creating cacophony that accentuates the mood.

The Pied Piper is a satisfying blend of animation and stop-motion animation that creates a truly unique world. The stop-motion animation in The Pied Piper is exemplary, and it works perfectly in conjunction with art design that's inspired by German Expressionism and medieval German art. That said, the stop motion is so effective that it is hard to tell if the rats are real or a creation like the rest of the elements in The Pied Piper.

From a production standpoint, The Pied Piper is a film overflowing with imagination and creativity that remains as revolutionary now as it was when initially released. At 56 minutes in length, things move rapidly as the narrative does a phenomenal job holding your attention. Ultimately, by its end, The Pied Piper is a film that transcends its source; it is an extraordinary allegory about mankind’s darker side when left to our instincts.

The Pied Piper & Jiří Barta Shorts is an exemplary release from Deaf Crocodile, making it essential for fans of stop-motion animation; highly recommended.

Note: There is a deluxe release of The Pied Piper & Jiří Barta Shorts that comes in a slipcase and a 60-page book with an essay by film historian Jonathan Owen, an essay by film critic and author Walter Chaw, and an essay by Czech film expert Irena Kovarova.

Written by Michael Den Boer