 | Probably the most famous Croatian professor worldwide is Professor Balthazar, a well known figure from Croatian cartoon movie series initiated in 1967 by late Zlatko Grgić. This was the most successful project of Zagreb Film ever. His popularity is amazing even today, especially in Scandinavian countries, but also in Iran for example! |
Who has a better hat: Nenad on the left, or Professor Balthazar?
| Listen to the Professor Balthazar Theme Song composed by Tomica Simović, Zagreb:
Professor Balthazar, living in the Balthazar City, is the most successful project of the Zagreb School of Animated Film, Zagreb Film, Croatia.  The creator of Professor Balthazar is Zlatko Grgić (1931-1988), and the name was coined by Zdravko Štalter. His name is written in Croatian as profesor Baltazar.  Zlatko Grgić in 1967, Zagreb, in creative mood working on Shoe Inventor - the first film from the Professor Balthazar series. The fascinating history of the Zagreb School of Animated Film (a term coined by a famous French film theorist Georges Sadoul) is described in enormous monograph prepared by Zlatko Sudarić (ed.): Zagrebački krug crtanog filma, 1-4, Zavod za kulturu Hrvatske i Zagreb film, Zagreb 1978. (The Zagreb Circle of Animated Film: Part 1 has 462 pp, Part 2 has 243 pp, Part 3 has 355 pp, Part 4 has 517 pp, altogether 1577 pp, covering the period till 1978 only! Parts 1 and 4 contain rather detailed summaries in English.) The two photos above and below are from the monograph. About twenty people participated in the project of Professor Balthazar, and we mention just a few more names from this very creative team: Ante Zaninović, Boris Kolar, Milan Blažeković, Zlatko Bourek, and Tomica Simović - the author of lovely music.
The team that started the Professor Balthazar series in 1967 in Zagreb: Zlatko Grgić (on the left), Ante Zaninović, Boris Kolar, Zdravko Pavičić Professor Balthazar is popular throughout the world even today. The episodes have been shown with great success in many countries, like Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Iran (!), USA, Australia, New Zealand, etc. The Professor is especially popular in Scandinavian countries.  Professor Balthazar in Iran! 57 episodes have been created between 1967 and 1978, Series I, 1967-1969, Zagreb:
Series II, 1971-1972, Zagreb:
Series III, 1977, Zagreb:
Series IV, 1978, Zagreb:
If you come to the city of Zagreb, do not miss to visit the Zagreb Municipal Museum (in Croatian, Muzej grada Zagreba). Its permanent display, Section 34, is devoted to the Zagreb School of Animated Film. Professor Balthazar series is available on 10 DVDs, 50 min each, issued by Zagreb Film - highly recommended! Please, contact Zagreb Film, and indicate if you want Croatian or English version:
Source: Professor Balthazar web page, which contains many more details. |
Formated for CROWN by prof.dr. Darko Žubrinić
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