Jan Svankmajer is a Czech filmmaker whose work takes on an extremely surreal style, and has influenced many well-known filmmakers today including most famously Terry Gilliam and the Brothers Quay among many others. Svankmajer’s earliest influence was a puppet theatre he was given for Christmas as a child. Svankmajer’s early work was not as surreal as his later work, but still played an important part in developing his artistic styles. One of Svankmajer’s most famous films is Alice (1988) which is a surreal retelling of the classic story. Svankmajer’s style is that of an extremely surreal and hallucinatory style, which really does make his films stand out among others. An example of this is his short film Down to the Cellar (1983), which has disturbing and even aggressive content but is shown from a child’s perspective. In 1972, the Communist authorities banned him from making films, and many of his later filmmaking efforts were suppressed. He was unknown to the West until the early 1980s. Today he is celebrated as one of the best and to a certain degree iconic animators in the world and is responsible for influencing other similar artists such as The Brother’s Quay. His films have even begun to work their way into the mainstream, with films such as Little Otik (2000). Svankmajer’s work would appeal to appeal to older audience’s as his use of dark and surrealistic imagery would suit this particular audience, particularly in film such as Little Otik (2000).