Fourth and very significant is the absence of words. The next characteristic is the style of animation, which is not based on real-physical movement - that is, on the anatomical law of motion. Then there is the expanded, or rather unlimited, range of subjects that these films cover. Our cartoons, first of all, are characterized by the diversity of graphic treatments and the variety of directing processes. For his part, Vukotić offered this description of the Zagreb School in 1962: People have argued about the name since it first came into use. Defining a group this out-there as a “school” is tricky - their work is all different. And director Vlado Kristl, whose films are still to be uploaded, was an avant-garde painter. Nikola Kostelac, another director, had been a working architect. Writer-director Vatroslav Mimica came from live-action films. Its early employees weren’t traditionally trained in animation - they had varying backgrounds.ĭirector-animator Dušan Vukotić, the School’s leading light, studied architecture and had a career as a magazine cartoonist. This movement centered on one studio: Zagreb Film’s cartoon division. Left to right: Cow on the Moon, Piccolo, Alone, Cowboy Jimmy, Everyday Chronicle and At the Photographer’s There’s never been a better time to rediscover the Zagreb School. Today, we bring you a tour of some of the gems restored so far - linking each title to an official YouTube upload, and offering context along the way. We’re happy to report that it was just the tip of the iceberg. Last month, we wrote about the revival of the Zagreb classic The Masque of the Red Death (1969). For decades, they’ve been rare - or stuck in shabby quality. Many insiders have long admired and prized the cartoons of the Zagreb School.

Quickly, the influence of this animation spread across the globe.

It started during the ‘50s in Yugoslavia, a communist country that no longer exists. Inspired by UPA, it built cartoons that were radically new and different. If you’re not familiar with the Zagreb School, it was a movement that remade this medium. The films of the Zagreb School of Animation have returned on YouTube, restored, for free. Still, 2022 has given us at least one exciting twist that’s unquestionably great, without much press at all.

You’ve read the year’s headlines, maybe felt the tremors yourself. The animation world has had plenty of excitement in 2022 - and not always the good kind.

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