Professor Baltazar soundtrack and Zagreb animation classics restored and released

(Photo: Fox & His Friends Records)

After its premiere at this year’s Pula Film Festival and a guest appearance at the Indigo Festival in Ljubljana, the Rijeka-Zagreb-based record label Fox & His Friends Records will present two new releases of film music by Tomislav Simović to the Zagreb audience on December 11th at Kinoteka Cinema at 6:00 PM. 

Along with introductory words from the editors Leri Ahel, Željko Luketić, and guests, the audience will be treated to a selection of films from Zagreb Film’s production for which Simović composed the music. 

In collaboration with the leading Croatian production company in the field of short animated films, as well as the Croatian State Archives and the Croatian Film Archive, rare and unseen titles connected by the unique approach to the soundtrack by one of the greatest Croatian film composers have been chosen.

For the presented releases, the music from the iconic series “Professor Baltazar” and the double compilation of music “Zagreb School of Animated Film” underwent a multi-year restoration process, involving the discovery and review of over 500 original tapes by Croatian composer Tomislav Simović.

(Photo: Fox & His Friends Records)

Considering the significance and quality of the material, and the lack of similar releases in the domestic discography, the editors at Fox & His Friends Records decided on the simultaneous release of two film music albums with a total duration of over 120 minutes.

The leading global magazine for experimental music, The Wire, writes about this music and release, “It is a brave, complex, and non-traditional contrast to Disney’s school of animation, just like the films it was composed for.”

The double album “Zagreb School of Animated Film,” originally titled “The Zagreb School Of Animated Film (Original Soundtracks 1961-1982),” includes a selection of themes from 18 short films of the renowned Zagreb School of Animated Film. 

(Photo: Fox & His Friends Records)

It features music from the Oscar-winning “Surogat” by Dušan Vukotić, as well as “Dnevnik” by Nedeljko Dragić, “Posjet iz svemira” by Zlatko Grgić, and many other titles. All themes are being released for the first time and were considered lost until today.

Simultaneously released, “Professor Baltazar,” or “Professor Balthazar (Music From The Original TV Series),” also premieres an extended jazz version of the main theme and previously unknown children’s hits like “Zbor životinja,” where cats and dogs sing, as well as a playful attempt at opera singing from the episode “Krojač Silvestar,” which Simović envisioned as a domestic version of Florence Foster Jenkins.

(Photo: Fox & His Friends Records)

The editors of both releases, Leri Ahel and Željko Luketić from Fox & His Friends Records, curated three years ago the largest documentary and interactive exhibition about Professor Baltazar at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka, titled “51000 Baltazargrad.” This was part of the European Capital of Culture 2020 project. Despite COVID-related restrictions, the exhibition was visited by over 10,000 people. 

A special section was dedicated to Tomislav Simović, a composer considered by the authors of the Zagreb School and Baltazar as an additional member, as they believed that without his music, these films would not have been as successful.

(Photo: Fox & His Friends Records)

With the trust of colleagues, animators, and the series’ creators, as well as producers from Zagreb Film, Simović composed music that is playful, imaginative, and dynamic, genre-wise so free that it effortlessly moves from jazz and orchestral music into ethno, electronic, and experimental electro-acoustic music. In addition to Simović, who even sings on some tracks and instructs the orchestra, the albums feature numerous guest musicians such as Ozren Depolo, who provided the voice for “Surogat,” as well as Igor Savin, Zlatko Tanodi, Silvije Glojnarić, Marijan Domić, Rajko Milosavljević, and others.

(Photo: Fox & His Friends Records)

With these new releases from Fox & His Friends Records, the work continues on the oeuvre of a composer who has signed several hundred film scores, previously released on albums for the film “Gosti iz galaksije” (2017) and “Visitors From The Galaxy Revisited” (2021). The latter album invited 11 artists from 9 countries to reinterpret Simović’s work which was presented in a new, restored version at this year’s Pula Film Festival in the Arena as part of the celebration of 70 years of Zagreb Film.

(Photo: Fox & His Friends Records)

At the promotion event in Zagreb on December 11th at Kinoteka Cinema at 6:00 PM, the audience will also be treated to a selection of rarely seen titles from the Zagreb Film and Croatian Film Archive: “Plemeniti soj” and “Opera Cordis” by Dušan Vukotić, “San” by Rudolf Borošak, “Utopia” by Boris Kolar, “Homo Augens” by Ante Zaninović, “Kugina kuća” by Zlatko Pavlinić, and among others, “Medvjeđa romansa” by Tony Clar, the only Fulbright scholarship recipient from the Zagreb School of Animation whose film has not been shown in the last 40 years. For a detailed schedule of the films, visit the Kinoteka Cinema website (https://kinokinoteka.hr).

The two new releases of Tomislav Simović’s music are distributed by the Dutch distribution Clone NL, French Believe SAS, and American Lights In The Attic. The first edition of numbered collector’s editions is sold out, while regular editions can still be purchased on the publisher’s website at foxandhisfriends.bigcartel.com.

Željko Luketić and Leri Ahel (Photo_by_Igor_Lekšić)