Communism's answer to Mickey Mouse is thrust into a very capitalist dispute

Along the historic streets on the periphery of the famed Old Town Square here, tourists stroll past dozens of souvenir shops, many displaying the same stuffed toy of a wide-eyed and cheerful-looking mole.

The gray-bellied character may not mean much to Westerners, but for many in Central Europe and elsewhere, the animal is easily recognised as Krtek, a warmhearted cartoon mole whose adventures have dazzled children for 60 years.

“It was something on TV that was completely different from the others,” Ondrej Hojer, 37, said of Krtek, recalling his youth in communist Czechoslovakia. The appeal endures: “My youngest one has a doll