Atéliery Bonton Zlín is a Czech film studio located in Zlín, the capital of the Zlín Region.
The origins of filmmaking in Zlín began in the early 1930s, when screenwriter and playwright Elmar Klos, producer Ladislav Kolda and cinematographer and editor Alexander Gakkenschmidt were invited to Zlín to create an advertising film company at the invitation of the Batja company. The activities of the studio were planned to be carried out on the basis of the experience of American advertising film companies.
The scale and significance of the studio created in Zlín quickly outgrew the original goals of its purpose. In addition to advertising, other genres of cinema began to be shot here: documentary, educational, popular science, experimental and animated films.
Atéliery Bonton Zlín laid the foundations of the world-famous Czech School of Animation. Almost all the leading personalities of Czech animated cinema began their careers in Zlín, including Karel Zeman and Hermina Tyrlova, later called the "mother of Czech animation".
After the Czech Velvet Revolution, the studio was privatized and then in 1998 became part of the Bonton Entertainment Group. Since 2006 it is a joint-stock company.
During the period from 1965 to 1991, about 1500 Czech feature films and documentaries were shot at the studio. Of the most famous animated films shot at Atéliery Bonton Zlín are the children's animated series Pat and Mat