厄內斯特·安索格，Ernest Ansorge was born in Lausanne on 28 February 1925. He hated his first name, choosing instead the nickname Nag, which originated from his early daysas a boy scout. Nag studied at Lausanne's Ecole Polytechnique Universitaire and graduated as an engineer in 1951. Nag met Gisèle and the couple became increasingly interested in the cinema. They decided to make marionette films after seeing Jiri Trnka's famous Czech Legends.The couple married and settled in Zurich in 1952, where Nag was already working as a mechanical engineer. Zurich at the time was a hub of film creation in Switzerland; this influenced the Ansorges' decision to enter film making.