"Stribor's Forest" (Deluxe Edition)

book + DVD + Audio CD + ...

English, German and Croatian

touching and certainly the most popular
fairytale by Ivana Brlić Mažuranić
 

IN THE PACKAGE YOU WILL GET ALL THIS:
 

• 1. ILLUSTRATED BOOK "Stribor's Forest"
  
•  
   
   
  The book is based on the cartoon "Stribor's Forest". It was adapted by Alistair Keddie and Helena Bulaja, who also designed the book and everything else in the package.
   
  The book exists in 3 language versions - English, Croatian and German. You can choose which one you want in our online order form. Everything else in the package (DVD, CD...) is the same for all languages. 
   
   
   
   
   
   

• 2. DVD OF THE CARTOON "Stribor's Forest" by Alistair Keddie and many extras
•  
•  
  The DVD includes the cartoon "Stribor's Forest", adapted, drawn, animated... by the Scottish animator Alistair Keddie, in 3 languages - English, German and Croatian. It works on all DVD players and computers, without regional limitations, and it's available in both standars - PAL for Europe and other coutries, and NTSC for USA, Canada, Japan and other countries that use this TV system.
   
  The interactive extra materials on DVD work on all Windows & Mac computers, and they include:
   
• lots of information about Ivana Brlić Mažuranić, with many photos and a film from her life
• introduction to the Slavic Mythology
• extra information about the project "Croatian Tales of Long Ago", the authors etc.
• games and funny activities,
• ringtones and background images for mobile phones.
   

• 3. CD AUDIO BOOK "Stribor's Forest"
•  
  This is in Croatian only. You can hear how the tale sounds in its original language. The tale was read by the famous Croatian actor Marija Kohn.
   
  With the CD you also get a booklet with the original text of "Stribor's Forest", as it was written in 1916 by Ivana Brlić Mažuranić.
   
   
   
• 4. A SURPRISE
•  
  Well, we can't say anything about this. It wouldn't be a surprise any more!
    
   
   
   
   
   

to order the package from our webshop, click here ...

"Stribor's Forest" is the first published package of this kind from the series - we plan to make a similar deluxe product for all 8 fairytales from the book "Croatian Tales of Long Ago". In November 2008 "Neva" by the Canadian animator Edgar Beals is coming out next, with even more cool surprises, "Regoch" by Helena Bulaja will follow, and other tales should be out soon.
 
All packages will include book, DVD, audio CD, presents, toys...
 

 
The cartoon "Stribor's Forest" is a unique and original cartoon made by Alistair Keddie, Scottish animator, designer, and recently mostly landscape photographer, also known as "Big Alba". Al spends most of his time in his mini-van, driving around his beloved Scotland and making great photographs...
 

You can see Al's beautiful photos of Scottish and other landscapes, and his other works, on www.bigalba.co.uk. Al also joined our new project "Mechanical Figures" inspired by the famous scientist Nikola Tesla, as a co-director, photographer, animator, designer...

 
More about the multimedia project "Croatian Tales of Long Ago"

 
Our multimedia interactive e-book project "Croatian Tales of Long Ago" ("Priče iz davnine" / "Kroatische Märchen aus Urväterzeiten" - as you can see, available in 3 languages, with more translations on the way) consists of 8 animated interactive stories and cartoons, inspired by the book written in 1916 by Ivana Brlić Mažuranić, "the Slavic Tolkien".
 
The originator and editor of the project Helena Bulaja gathered together eight teams of animators, illustrators, musicians, actors, translators, programmers etc. from different parts of the world and different traditions: from the US, Canada, Scotland, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Russia, France and other countries. Each team chose one out of eight fairytales from the book and transferred it to the digital world. The result was an exciting adventure, because artists with different backgrounds, who were not familiar with Mazuranic's work and Croatia at all, and who never met each other in 'real' life before, made completely new interpretations of those beautiful tales!

The project was published on two interactive CD-ROMs:

 
 
Awards and Recognitions

 
The project "Croatian Tales of Long Ago" was awarded, selected or presented on more than 30 important international festivals and conferences of animation, new media and design all around the world, including the most important ones (Flash Forward San Francisco, Annecy, Hamburg, Ottawa, Rio de Janeiro, Austin... the full list is available here).
 
The cartoon "Stribor's Forest" by Alistair Keddie, on its behalf, was selected for the competition in Internet film category at the most important animation festival in the world - Annecy, France, in 2003. In the same category it was also nominated at the biggest Asian animation festival, SICAF in Seoul, Korea. It was screened at many other festivals all around the world, from Canada to New Zealand.

Deluxe edition of "Stribor's Forest" was awarded with the most prestigeous Croatian book award Kiklop at Pula Book Fair, in two categories: best design and best children's book. It also won a special award "Ovca u kutiji" ("Sheep in a Box") for the concept and design of the package for the year 2007.

 
 
 

Demo of the Cartoon

 
Here you can download a demo version of "Stribor's Forest" (stribor.exe, 8MB). Simply download it, run and enjoy!
 
On www.bulaja.com/FAIRYTALES/ you can also see clips from all other cartoons.

 
 
 

Technical Details
 

• The DVD is a standard PAL DVD that plays on all DVD players, and it is zone independent. NTSC version (used in USA, Canada, Japan...) is also available.
• Audio CD is the plain CD that can be listened at any CD player, on a computer, in your car...
• Interactive extras on the DVD can be run on any Windows or Macintosh computer.
• The mobile phone extras available on the DVD are also in standard formats and they can be used on all phones. Instructions how to transfer them to your phone are also included.
   
   

PAL and NTSC

 
If you order the English version of the package from Europe, we will assume that you want PAL version of the DVD. If you order from USA, Canada, Japan or another country that uses NTSC system for TV, we will assume that you want NTSC version of the DVD and send you that one. But if you want a different version to be delivered, for example if you order the pack as a gift for someone who wants to watch it in a country with a different TV system, just put a note about it in the order form ("I want NTSC version of the DVD").
 
Also, Croatian and German version always have PAL DVD, but if you want, we can also pack you NTSC version instead of PAL.

Generally, NTSC DVDs can be watched on PAL TVs and DVD players, at least on those manufactured in past 6-7 years, but the opposite is usually not the case, ie. it is not possible to watch PAL DVD on NTSC devices. However, both systems can be watched on all computers.
 
 

• REVIEWS

... of "Stribor's Forest":
 

Stribor for the future generations

 
New product from Bulaja Publishing, package "Stribor" with an illustrated book based on the cartoon by the Scottish animator and designer Alistair Keddie, is an experiment for kids: how are they going to respond to combination of the comic strip based on the flash animation and the original text?
 
Well, great, just as well as on Keddie's extraordinary, simple and funny film.

Branimira Lazarin, Jutarnji list, December 2007
(the whole review - in Croatian - is available here...)

 
'Stribor's Forest' package will keep you entertained for many hours and take you back to childhood, but also provide an insight in current trends in animation, and impress you as a great work of art - which has become a norm for multimedia projects signed by the Bulajas.

Sanja Radović, PC Chip, December 2007
(the whole review - in Croatian - is available here...)

 
If you wander what we want for Christmass, the new product from the Bulajas is just what we would put under the tree to ourselves!
 
The new multimedia publication from our favourite publisher Bulaja has simply blown us away - even before we opened it. ...
 
We love it, that's all!

Sanja Radović, Plan B, December 2007
(the whole review - in Croatian - is available here...)

 
... of "Croatian Tales of Long Ago" project:
 

Every animation on this CD - indeed, every animation in the entire project - is worth seeing for its own sake; but when they are viewed in conjunction with the original Tales, and the background information about Mazuranic herself, then a much more rich and complex picture emerges. This is a project with genuine popular appeal, which is bound to engage both children and adults: but it is also a slice of literary history, a valuable reminder of the importance of fairy stories to our literary traditions, and an introduction to the work, within that genre, of one of the best-known and best-loved Croatian authors.

Edward Picot: "Twice-told Tales"
The Hyperliterature Exchange, UK
(the whole review is available here...)
 

"Croatian Tales" is by far one of the best collections of flash-animated interactive stories to date.
I personally feel that the collection of fairy tales enriches the lives of everyone while at the same time promotes a multicultural experience.
Helena Bulaja has done an amazing job of collecting a group of talented and unique animators to bring to life fairy tales from the Croatian literary work of Ivana Brlic Mazuranic.
I eagerly await Helena's next project.

Nicholas Da Silva,
Zoolook - principal / publisher
FlashTV! - founder / creative director
Flash Film Festival FlashForward2002,
San Francisco - jury member
 

"Croatian Tales of Long Ago" signals a positive change in the art of animation: digital innovation, cultural expression, and, best of all, international cooperation.

Steven Withrow,
author of the book
"Toon Art: The Graphic Art
of Digital Cartooning",
Watson-Guptill, New York, 2003
 

This collection of funny, touching and cool films is the Croatian cultural trump card of the decade!

Jurica Pavicic,
Jutarnji list
(leading Croatian newspapers)
 

Taking care of the heritage for Bulajas means a hedonistic space of pleasure and creation where even the classics can be cool and sexy... They managed to get seven promising animators from three continents to make cartoons based on Ivana Brlić Mažuranić's stories. And guess what! The cartoons made by foreign authors and produced by Croatians are winning the international awards...
Personal favorite of your reviewer is "Quest" created by Australian Jurevicius. It's a true rock-n-roll workout of the Slavic tradition, completely unusual and visually unforgettable cartoon where ancient Slavic folklore is centrifuged trough the contemporary media culture. Jurevicius' "Quest" in its media is what would happen if Nick Cave would re-make a Croatian folk song.

Jurica Pavičić
review in 'Jutarnji list'
January 2003
 

Ivana Brlic Mazuranic is still my favorite writer, and "Croatian Tales of Long Ago" is the best thing to have happened during my work on promoting Croatian animation as the commissioner of the Ministry of Culture. This is the best thing that's happened in Croatian cinematography in last ten years!

Joško Marušić,
Ministry of Culture
of the Republic of Croatia
 

The best thing to have happened to Croatian cinematography in past 10 years!

Joško Marušić
on Croatian Television, June 2002
 

"Croatian Tales" is one of the most complex collaborative project in the growing field of Flash animation ever undertaken. It shows a stunning mix of traditional cartoon animation and the new possibilities of Flash, in the most poetic of ways. Combining a minimalist aesthetic, unique and imaginative art and design, original storytelling and a super cool sense of humor, the project "Croatian Tales" shows us that fairytales are alive and well today, as vital and vibrant as ever in this most modern retelling.

Ulrich Wegenast,
programme curator,
Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film
 

Present official version of the project - the CD-ROM with first 4 multimedia adaptations of Ivana Brlić Mažuranić's stories - is simply extraordinary in all its aspects.

Darko Vukorepa,
Feral Tribune, Split
January 2003
 

 
Croatian Tales of Long Ago (Part One) ... can be expected to appeal to adults just as much as children. It is a really exciting piece of hyperliterature: unpretentious, with genuine popular appeal, but not in the least shallow, sentimental or patronising to its audience. It has rightly won a hatful of international awards. If this CD and its companion volume meet with the commercial success they deserve, we can expect to see a lot more work of this type appearing in the next few years. Let's hope it's all up to the same high standard.

Edward Picot,
trAce online, UK
(full text of the review...)
 

Based on Croatian Fairy Tales of Long Ago, this series of storybooks brought to life is beautiful, simple to navigate, and captivating. A must see both to read, and be inspired!

Kids @n the Net, UK