Miki Muster  Nikolaj Muster (22 November 1925 – 7 May 2018), known as Miki Muster, was a Slovenian academic sculptor, illustrator, cartoonist, and animator. He is viewed as a pioneer in the field of comics and animation in Slovenia, known for the series of comics featuring the characters Zvitorepec, Trdonja, and Lakotnik, and animated TV commercials. Muster first got interested in animation when he saw Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Ljubljana, with a degree in sculpture. Even during the studies, he wished to join the Disney studios in the US, which was impossible given the post-war political situation. After completing only a couple of statues, he focused on drawing. In 1952, Muster started drawing his comic strip "Zvitorepec", which was running in magazines "Poletove podobe in povesti" (PPP) and "Tedenska tribuna". PPP was supposed to publish Disney's comics but as they did not arrive in time, Muster filled in with his own one. From 1955 to 1973, he was drawing for "Slovenski poročevalec", later renamed "Delo"; after that he worked as a freelancer. His work in comics was frowned upon by the Communist Yugoslav government, with socialist realism being the preferred art style and anything too Western undesirable. This attitude continued to some degree even after the Tito–Stalin Split. In 1973, Muster moved to Munich to pursue a career in animation at Bavaria Film. After Slovenia declared independence, Muster returned home and was for some time drawing caricatures for political magazines "Mag" and "Reporter". For his work, Muster received a series of awards. In 2014, the Journalist's Associacion of Slovenia awarded him the Borut Meško Award for his achievements in illustration and caricature. Also in 2014, he was awarded the silver order of merit for his pioneering work in the field of comics and animation by the President of Slovenia Borut Pahor. In 2015 he received the Prešeren Award for lifetime achievements, the highest Slovenian award for arts. In 2015 he was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Nova Gorica. Muster died on 7 May 2018 in a nursing home in Notranje Gorice, aged 92. Muster was best known for his comic books featuring the characters Zvitorepec, Trdonja, and Lakotnik; an antropomorphic plucky fox, a wise turtle, and an always-hungry simple-minded wolf.