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Croatian Animation Legend Zlatko Bourek Dies

Iconic talent behind such masterpieces as ‘Dancing Songs’ and ‘The Cat’ was 89.

Acclaimed Croatian animator Zlatko Bourek died May 11 at the age of 89.

Academic, sculptor, director and author of animated and fiction films Zlatko Bourek died May 11. He was 89.

Born Sept. 4, 1929, in Slavonska Požega, Bourek graduated with a degree in sculpture and painting from the Academy of Applied Arts in Zagreb, in the class of Kosta Angeli Radovani. He began his career in animation as a background artist and production designer on films by Dušan Vukotić and Vatroslav Mimica: Cowboy Jimmy, Happy End, The Inspector Returned Home, At the Photographer’s, as well as the Professor Balthazar series.

As one of the most esteemed representatives of the Zagreb School of Animation, he wrote his own screenplays since 1960. His films remain forever solidified in the annals of Croatian and global animation history: The Blacksmith's Apprentice, Far Away I Saw Mist and Mud (an adaptation of The Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh by poet Miroslav Krleža), Dancing Songs, Captain Arbanas Marko, The Cat, Schooling, Dinner, the puppet film The Married Life of Little Red Riding Hood (Farce), and others.

His works Dancing Songs (1966) and The Cat (1971) are widely regarded as masterpieces.

Bourek remained professionally active throughout his life. In 2014, he collaborated with Pavao Štalter on the acclaimed, award-winning film Wiener Blut, which drew its visual inspiration from the art of Georg Grosz and Otto Dix. He also wrote and directed three fiction films: Cirkus Rex, Crvenkapica and Mr. Ventriloquist.

Although expressionism served as Bourek's primary source of inspiration, his work was also influenced by other art movements and styles, like surrealism and pop art. His themes mostly revolved around folklore, literature, grotesque and naturalism.

In 2010, he became a full member of the department of fine arts at the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He received a great number of recognitions in Croatia and abroad: annual Vladimir Nazor Award, Vladimir Nazor Award for Lifetime Achievement, City of Zagreb Award, Premium of the 4th Zagreb Exhibition of Yugoslav Drawings and the 8th Marulić Days Award. He also was awarded honors in Oberhausen, Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Salerno.

In 2015, Animafest featured a retrospective program dedicated to Bourek, while his film Wiener Blut screened that same year. Bourek’s numerous works screened at Animafest since its beginnings in the 1970s, resulting in a strong and enduring relationship.

Source: Animafest Zagreb

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Tom McLean has been writing for years about animation from a secret base in Los Angeles.