Professor Balthazar


Professor Balthazar is a Croatian animated television series for children about an old inventor that was produced between 1967 and 1978. It was created by animator Zlatko Grgić.
The series revolves around benevolent genius Professor Balthazar. In each episode, someone in his surroundings has a problem, which he duly considers and invariably finds a solution to. He then activates a magical machine and produces an invention that will solve the problem.
The characters of the series do not speak in any intelligible language, and the plot of the episodes is instead recounted by a narrator in voice-over.

History

The series was created for television by the Croatian animator Zlatko Grgić at the Zagreb Film studio. Fifty-nine episodes of the cartoon were made between 1967 and 1978.
The cartoon has been shown in subsequent years in several countries besides the former Yugoslavia, including United Kingdom, West Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Spain, Iran, Greece, Canada and Zimbabwe.
From 1971 to 1973, episodes were featured on the American ABC-TV children's program Curiosity Shop. The cartoon inventor was the basis for the show's puppet character, Baron Balthazar, and the cartoons were shown as animated sequences of the Baron's tales of his adventures and inventions back in "downtown Bosnia".
The cartoon was also shown in the United States in the 1980s on Pinwheel as well as on ABC in Australia and on CCTV in China.
The cartoon was also shown in Asia in the 1990s on STAR TV.
In 2011, all 59 episodes have been restored by DVDlab, and published on DVD.

Credits

Season 1