Lubomír Beneš (b. October 7th 1935 in Prague, d. September 12th, 1995 in Roztoky) was a Czech animator and director. He is the creator of several series, including Pat & Mat and Jája a Pája, along with several animated short films.
As a child, Beneš lived in Hloubětín, one of Prague's many suburbs. He was a talented kid, especially in art, and his parents paid for a private art teacher.
After finishing school, he performed basic militairy service, after which he went to audition for Krátký film Praha. He won, and soon worked his way up to the Bratři v triku studio, where he worked in the sound effects department. In 1967, he joined the Jiří Trnka studio, where he created his first film, titled Homo, made with paper cutouts, and later Račte prominout, his first stop-motion film.
In 1976, Beneš and fellow artist Vladimír Jiránek were tired from the current political events in Czechoslovakia, and wanted to create something that wouldn't connect with politics. He and Jiránek "drew and designed" until they created the look of two figures. These would be used in a short film titled Kuťáci, which would give birth to the (then unnamed) characters of Pat & Mat.
(tbf)