The ironic, surreal A Jester's Tale follows the adventures of a cowardly buffoon and his companion, a battle-scarred mercenary, as they struggle to survive the idiocy of generals and the terrible clash of colliding armies during the Thirty Years War. They are joined in their search for a land without war by a woman who adopts a jester's disguise. "Zeman's technique of combining live action with animation makes the unreal seem real, and the real artificial and fantastic. The result is an achievement of almost pure fantasy and wonder." (Milos Stehlik, Audio Brandon) The film won prizes for Best Film and Best Direction at the 1964 San Francisco International Film Festival, where Alvah Bessie wrote: "This is a 'fool's chronicle,' but which is the fool and which the wise man only you, the audience, can tell."