Professor Balthazar
Entry updated 25 March 2024. Tagged: TV.
Croatian (then part of Yugoslavia) animated tv series (1967-1978; original title Profesor Baltazar). Zagreb Film. Created by Zlatko Grgić. Directors include Zlatko Grgić, Boris Kolar and Ante Zaninović. Writers include Zlatko Grgić, Boris Kolar, Zeljan Palcok and Ante Zaninović. Narrated by Nada Agbaba, Zlatko Crnkovic and Erik Schumann. 59 4-10 minute episodes (plus a one-off episode in 2019).
Professor Balthazar is a Scientist of such renown that his birthday celebrations are broadcast throughout the world. A kindly soul, he is often called upon by his town's citizens for help: after some pondering the professor would rush to a great Machine which, after a few seconds of operation, would produce a red liquid that dripped into a test tube: the professor would then pour it onto the floor whereupon – amidst flashing colours – an Invention to solve the problem would appear. In the pilot the machine resembles a fairly traditional Computer, but subsequently becomes a strange device adorned with bright lights, a giant ear, an umbrella and tubing; the design changes again in season 3, becoming even more psychedelic. Seasons 1-3 have a narrator and 4 has none; occasionally the characters speak, but only in a nonsensical manner.
Professor Balthazar's adventures include: the theft of people's right shoes by a giant millipede; a black cloud of malice covering the Sun that makes everyone short-tempered until he disperses it with a flying teapot (see Weather Control); the town's clocks ceasing to work because an Alien is stealing the parts in an attempt to repair its clock-shaped Spaceship; car Pollution and its environmental effects solved by a smog-eating machine whose waste product can be used to fuel cigarette lighters; a man incapable of attracting the attention of others (see Invisibility), but with people noticing an absence when he leaves town (to find happiness living on top of a mountain with an eagle); unhappy bald aliens in flying spoons steal the hair from the townsfolk's dolls – a wig-making machine resolves matters; the mayor of a nearby impoverished town takes a job as the night watchman of a spaghetti factory to boost his town's coffers, but now keeps falling asleep – so the professor builds him a Robot that not only keeps an eye on the factory whilst he dozes, but also write impressive mayoral speeches.
In "Sreća u Dvoje" ["Happiness for Two"] the professor observes that "this world unjustly punishes anyone who gives in to an urge which is harmlessly irrational" (see Sociology), further concluding there might be a world where such urges are permissible: he "calculated scientifically and he found the proof that such a world existed" (see Dimensions). Playing pat-a-cake with a similarly minded individual takes you there; it seems much like ours, but there you can engage in harmless fun with impunity – and soon his town becomes empty at weekends because everybody goes there. In "Baltazarov Sat" ["Crazy Times"] a new town clock designed by the professor is unveiled and every morning the townspeople set their timepieces by it. Unfortunately a spring is mistaken for a worm by a hungry bird and eaten ... the clock starts to go backward, as do the people (see Time in Reverse) and the historical setting: passing through Medieval, Roman, then the Stone Age (see Prehistoric SF) – where Balthazar is sculpting a wheel from stone. He notices the bird bouncing by and, realizing what happened, extracts the spring and repairs the clock ... Time now fast-forwards, but overshoots the present and enters the future, where the professor now has a jetpack (see Flying), the town buildings are futuristic and flying saucers (see UFOs) pass overhead (see Time Travel, or perhaps more accurately Time Distortion).
Professor Balthazar was shown around the world and was an influence on Craig McCracken, particularly for his series Wander over Yonder (2013-2016). Its kid-friendly psychedelic designs (with much use of bright colours), whimsy and child-like adults give it an Absurdist charm. For the modern adult eye many of the episodes perhaps fail to compel attention, but there are several that are still modestly memorable. [SP]
links
- Internet Movie Database
- Zagreb Film episode list (archived)
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