Original title
Pat a Mat
Released
1/1/1979
Origin country
CZ, XC
Genre
Animation, Comedy, Family, Kids
Production companies
Krátký film Praha, Just Productions, Patmat film
Status
Returning series
Number of seasons
9
Number of episodes
141
Pat & Mat is a Czech stop-motion animated series featuring two handymen, Pat and Mat. It was created by Lubomír Beneš and Vladimír Jiránek.
Pilot episode. After trying to prepare dinner without any luck, the only meal left is an egg. But the egg suddenly begins to live.
The 50th episode Playing Cards, started in 1997 and completed in 1998 by some members of the original aiF Studio, was to be the beginning of a new format of the show. It was directed, animated and written by František Váša, and unlike earlier episodes, it was filmed in the widescreen format (16:9), with new opening and closing sequences and soundtrack. The episode was originally produced as a standard 8-minute episode, but an attempt to break into the USA market made the production team extend its length (to 12.5 minutes), and add English dialogue. The characters were voiced by Czech actors David Nykl and Peter Alton. The episode was only dubbed in English, while the silent version was abandoned.
After the two characters first appeared in a 1976 pilot entitled Kuťáci (Tinkers) produced by Krátký film Prague, the series was picked up by ČST Bratislava's children's section, where it was named ... a je to! (... and that's it!). The first season ran from 1979–1985 and featured 28 episodes.
A new wallpaper can change the look of a room. But the wallpaper sticks more to your hands than to where it should.
What do you need if you have books laying around everywhere? Right, a book shelf. But making one by yourself is even better.
The carpet needs to get cleaned. But there is this big blue stain on it. Getting rid of it needs a lot of fantasy?
A rocking chair is a great invention. The only annoying thing is, that it doesn't move by itself. But there is a way.
Framing a photo can be a huge undertaking, especially if you first sawed the frame.
What a wonderful garage. But there just seems no way to get the car into it. Well, there is one.
People need light, especially when it's dark outside. But what are you going to do if the light bulb is broken and you don't have a new one that fits?
There are so many records, but obviously no working player. Best idea is making your own music.
Chicken tastes great! But it needs be grilled first. Too bad if your grill is too small.
Moving can be difficult. Even more if you only have a car.
Gardening is easy, if you have water. But what do you do if the well is dry? You get water from a river.
A garden gnome is a nice centrepiece. But first it's time to clean up the garden.
What do you do if there's a stain on your ceiling? Right, you paint it.
Who doesn't want to fly? But how do you actually do that?
Ironing can be a hassle, especially if you also want to solve a crossword.
What do you do if your television dies while watching sports? You do your own sports.
Birds are not attracted to humans. But they might come if you build a bird house.
Sometimes it's time to do laundry. But what if your washing machine breaks? Right, you build one of your own.
Having a picnic can be great. But finding a good spot can be hard. Sometimes you just want the comforts of home.
A new washing machine arrives. Along with a letter with a nice stamp on it. You will discover that you can use these machines for more than just washing your clothes.
A nice grill party. But then it starts raining. So let's go inside and continue there. But it isn't a lot better inside the house.
After wasting the car while going on an excursion it seems that camping at home is also very exciting.
Your own grape vines. But pay attention that you don't drink too much while making wine out of your grapes.
Long forgotten treasures lie in the attic An a flooded vegatable beet makes skating in summer possible.
A big piano won't fit in the elevator. But what can you do if it also won't fit through the window?
An accident destroys all the crockery. A good way to get new crockery is making it by yourself.
Is there a way to watch the soccer game after wasting the television? Of course!
The apple harvest is good. All the apples are picked, except one. But it seems impossible to reach that high.
The two handymen got their names Pat and Mat in 1989, when production was resumed for Krátký film Prague. Before that time, the characters had remained nameless. Their names then also became the name of the show. The second season featured 6 episodes and ran from 1989–1990. As a result of its lack of dialogue, the show was syndicated around the world, being broadcast in more than 80 countries by the 1990s.
Always keep your keys in a safe place. And never let them vanish in a drain.
IKEA furniture comes in pieces with a manual how to construct them. But you really should stick to the manual.
There are other ways of cutting the lawn than with a scythe. A do-it-yourself lawnmower.
Spring is the time to clean your house. But what do you do with so much garbage?
The dish antenna on the roof is having issues. Especially when it's raining.
How do you get into your house when you've locked yourself out? There are so many possibilities.
The third season of Pat & Mat aired from 1992–1994 and featured 14 episodes. The season was produced in the authors' aiF Studio, Prague.
No more cookies. All have been eaten. So let's bake some yourself. Let's bake a lot.
The garage door isn't working like it should. Let's come up with some new way to lock the car.
A bike tour can become a nightmare if you want to take too much with a you and if you're not able to ride a bike.
Unloading stones from a transporter is taking forever. But speeding things up can be dangerous.
A stain on the parquet. Getting rid of it, you need one of these cleaning machines. But there are other cool things you can do with them.
The gutter pipe needs repainting. It's easy to paint the bottom. But how do you get so high to paint the upper part?
A convertible isn't just cool to drive, it also has some other great features.
How do you change a flat tire if you don't have a spare tire?
Billiards is a great game if you know how to play it. If not, what about bowling?
The hedge needs cutting. But after cutting it, the height should still be even.
Money needs to be kept in a safe place, like a safe. Just keep an eye on the key to open it again.
The fender is scrap. But with some imagination the new fender may look even better than the old one.
With glue and matches you can make pieces of art. But matches are still highly inflammable.
Even on a calm day, you can have some fun windsurfing, if you have the right car.
Production of episodes was resumed in 2002 by Ateliéry Bonton Zlín, resulting in 28 episodes for a fourth season, produced by three studios (Ateliéry Bonton, Anima and Patmat) in just three years. Many crew members were veterans who had worked on the original TV series.
Puzzle solving is great fun, but a common problem is a lost piece. There's always an interesting alternative.
Grilling sausages in the kitchen is boring. How about building your own big grill?
The roof is having problems again. But where is the rain leaking through?
Old cameras are hard to handle. Especially if you don't want upside down photos.
The wheel was mankind's most important invention. But it was just the beginning.
Before you get a dog you have to make sure you have a dog house that fits the dog.
There's a drop of paint on the parquet. Since the paint won't go away there's only one way: paint the whole floor.
To cultivate your own fruits and vegetables you may need a greenhouse. But how do you build one?
Remembering old times. Wasn't it always fun to swing? Clotheslines can be helpful.
There's a mouse. But today's mice are too clever. More is needed than just some cheese.
To protect against thieves, you have to go to the limit.
The windows need to be painted. But basic painting is boring. Make it better!
Pat and Mat celebrate Easter, but it's not complete without Easter eggs.
Why spend money on a gym when you can create it in your basement? But also remember the right diet.
Pat and Mat get a soft drink machine. Opening the box it came in turns out to be harder than expected, let alone actually getting the machine to properly work.
Racing with toy cars is great fun. But it gets boring over time. Maybe a better idea would be to expand the tracks all over the house.
Everyone would like to have a fish. But you can't have it, if you don't have an aquarium. How about making it yourself?
It's always good to grow your own veggies. But it takes a while for them to grow up. I don't think anything will happen if you speed things up a bit...
To fly you must have a hang glider. If you don't have it, at least make life easier for those who fly without hang gliders.
Christmas Eve is a wonderful holiday. But you have to prepare for it properly. It's worth buying some cake. Unless you sat on it.
Sick people need care. You need to regularly measure their temperature, but remember not to confuse the thermometer with a coffee spoon.
Soon after they've both installed one, Pat and Mat discover the almost endless possibilities of a fax machine.
The strawberries are delicious. But you don't need that many. What will you do with all the rest of it now?
A perfect day to play golf. But maybe golf isn't a game you should play in your backyard, unless you make your own golf course.
Orange juice is tasty. Though, remember to close the bottle, because the cap may get lost somewhere. And catching it won't be that easy.
Having your own pool is very expensive. You can always make it yourself. All you need is a shovel. Or maybe dynamite?
What a beautiful picture. It needs to be hung somewhere. When hanging a picture, you have to watch your fingers, so using a big hammer is out of the question.
A Christmas tree may be big, and bringing it home is a common problem. But that's not a reason to cut the branches.
The characters Pat & Mat were revived once again in 2009 for a new season: Pat a Mat na venkově (Pat & Mat in the Countryside). The first episode, Postele (Beds), premiered at the 50th Zlín Film Festival in 2010. 12 more episodes followed between 2011 and 2015, produced by Patmat Film and filmed in 16:9. Beneš directed and wrote all 13 episodes. Eight of the episodes were released on DVD in 2013 and received their TV premiere on the Dutch channel VPRO on 9 June of the same year, with the rest following soon.
A tree felled on your roof, preventing you from living at home. You have to go to your friend's place to sleep, but is there room for your bed?
The sausages are tasty. But what about those paper plates? You're right: wash them in the dishwasher.
A new cupboard will be useful. A good place will be where the washbasin is. But how to route the pipes so that everything works?
It's great to remember the old days. But what to do when there is no suitable place to display old films? The answer is right outside the window.
When a cable gets in the way while vacuuming, you can connect it to the lamp. Maybe automate the vacuum cleaner at the same time?
Putting in a new floor is very difficult, especially when there are problems such as not being able to open the door.
Just playing cards won't cool you down. You can cool off in the cold water. And where is the cold water? Sure, in the swimming pool.
It is dangerous to have a dead tree next to your house. You have to cut it down somehow, but how do you do it without damaging the house and garden?
When your juicer breaks, you should come up with some alternative. It may be a machine made out of a cupboard.
The usual exercise on the bike is boring when it can't move. But that's what imagination is for.
Transporting a huge cactus is complicated. You have to be careful not to stumble. It's pretty heavy, too.
It's time to change the style of the bathroom. Blue tiles will be perfect. Just don't make a mistake when placing them, because you will have to lay them all over again.
Playing chess is a challenge when the sun is shining in your eyes. You need something to block the sun.
From 2018 to 2020, 39 new episodes divided into three 13-part series were made in Patmat film, co-produced by Czech Television and Netherlands-based JUST Productions, again directed by Beneš. The animation for more than half of these episodes was produced in a Chinese studio to speed up work. The first part of these new episodes was season 6, Pat & Mat Entertain Us.
For the first time, see Pat and Mat enjoying winter. How will they handle the decoration of their houses for Christmas? And what presents will they find under the tree? And do they have the same tree as we all know, or will they make their own special one? How will they solve the snow calamity, and what new machine will they make? After having fun in the snow, a hot sauna would be perfect, so let's build it! And how do they celebrate the end of the year?
Just great. How do you take out the garbage when the whole sidewalk is covered in ice? You can always combine the unpleasant with the useful and fun.
If you bought a carp for Christmas Eve, you need the right conditions to prepare it. Just remember, the water in the tub should not be too hot and not too cold.
When making a Christmas card, it's worth being original. How about a photo with a dummy Bethlehem shed in the background? Made of your own furniture?
Wow, it's snowed up to the windows. You need to clear the yard of snow somehow to get out of the house. As a reward, you can make a snowman out of the snow.
New Year's Eve is tonight, got to get ready. The food is there, the decorations are there. But what to do until midnight? You can always change the hands of the clock.
What solution do you see when the baby Jesus figurine is missing from the Bethlehem nativity scene? You're right: make a new nativity scene.
Wrapping a gift in paper is not so easy. Turns out you're not the only one with this problem.
Home should be decorated for the holidays. But remember moderation. Too much power consumption makes the electricity shut off.
It's snowed again. It would be nice making something out of it. An igloo is a pretty good idea. You can turn it into your second home at any time.
The gingerbread house is a beautiful and delicious decoration. But what to do when it keeps falling apart? The use of tools will certainly be advisable.
When your artificial Christmas tree has been destroyed, you should cut down a real one. But to save time and money, cut it from your garden.
Preparing a salad is a lot of work. Chopping up all those vegetables, and then mixing them up. Wait, why do you need so much of this salad?
Gotta keep your cold friend warm somehow. A sauna would be a good idea, but where to get a one?
The clumsy Pat and Mat are back! The two men face all kinds of challenges. For example, Pat and Mat try to bake pancakes in a hilarious way, they try to catch the apple thief by securing the apple trees. They even experiment with a homemade flying machine! And well, why would you go to a car wash when you can build one yourself? Experimenting is not easy for the two neighbors, but they just can't help themselves.
Today for dinner, chicken, sausages? Why not pancakes? What are you waiting for? Let's do it.
Want to learn to fly? Well, it won't be easy, but you might have a chance if you build a working machine.
There is definitely an easier and more effective way to pop popcorn. Just give me a pot, a funnel, and aluminum foil.
Is your kitchen in a deplorable condition? No worries. You can always buy new furniture. You just need to be able to assemble it.
Don't waste your time by washing your car the normal way. It's better to spend a little more time building a reusable car wash, unless it breaks down.
Today is a hard day. You have to pick all the apples from the tree, then crush and squeeze them for juice. What can go wrong?
Why are you making such an effort when someone is stealing your apples? You have to catch the thief in some kind of trap. By the way, would you like an apple?
A grill isn't a grill if it can't be fired up. But remember: fire is dangerous.
Moving items from point A to point B is not hard. It turns into a hassle when you have to do it all the time.
On such hot days, you need to cool down in every way. From cold drinks, to swimming pools, to — wait a minute, the ice has melted.
It's not good when bread is too stiff. In such a situation, you can bake your own—just don't overdo it.
So you lost your pizza. Well, this is the perfect chance to make your own. But first make sure your oven is big enough.
It's hard to drive a car into a garage that keeps closing. But there is a way to construct them to open at will.
This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.
