 Although the German co-producer of the project TV 2000 Film- und Fernsehproduktions contracted for Štěpánek's work, the post-1968 management of the studio did not allow him to complete this project; the film was completed using other puppets by Jiří Barta.Štěpánek subsequently mounted a few smaller exhibits, including one at the Mladá Fronta Gallery in 1985 and at the Castle in Roztoky u Prahy in 1988.During the first half of the 1990s Štěpánek entered into a legal battle with Krátký Film concerning the films made jointly by Štěpánek and Pojar; among other things he requested a correction of the credit titles in the filmed copies of the serial about bears; in the original television cycle and in the later serial of the same name directed by Jana Hádková, Štěpánek's name was rarely mentioned.