Czech animation has been a tradition for almost 100 years. Czech animators are considered pioneers in film animation. It began in 1920s and its "Golden Era" dates between 1950s and 1980s. Czech animators include Jiří Trnka, Karel Zeman, Břetislav Pojar, Jan Švankmajer, Vera Neubauer and Jiří Barta. Czech animators have employed cutout animation, puppet animation and clay animation. 3D animation is seldom used due to lack of finances and trained 3D animators. This led to downturn in the years after 1989.