Prague (AP)-Zdenek Miler in the 1950s, stumbles in the Woods West of molehill Prague, giving him the idea for a cartoon character that captivated millions of children around the world and even made it into space on NASA'S space shuttle.
Miler, creator of the little Mole, died Wednesday. He was 90 and spent the last months of his life in a nursing home in Nova Ves pod Plesi, southwest of Prague.
Born February 21, 1921 in the city of Kladno, he graduated from the Academy of fine arts, architecture and design in Prague. He illustrated numerous children's books and make some cartoons, but his creation of the most famous is the Mole.
He created the character, who is always cheerful and ready to help those in need, in 1956 after a walk in the woods near Kladno and tripped the molehill.
"So, I said to myself: that's it. Mol, "Miler said in an interview with Czech public radio (2006).