Boris Kolar’s Woof, Woof!

I love the work that came out of Zagreb Film in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. These years were responsible for some of the funkiest and most inventive cartooning produced by any animation outfit. The Zagreb animators managed to break every rule in the book, largely because they didn’t know the rules. It was a bunch of artists experimenting fearlessly and without inhibition. Sometimes they failed, sometimes they were successful, but the results are almost always fascinating.

Boris Kolar is among my favorite designer/directors at Zagreb. I’ve seen a lot of his work but had never run across Woof, Woof! (1964) until I saw this copy posted onto YouTube. As was customary with many of the studio’s shorts, a single artist (Kolar) directed, designed and animated the entire film (the credits also list an animation assistant). Also like many Zagreb films, Woof, Woof!‘s daring visuals are complemented by an equally trippy sound design. It’s a fine effort that still holds up well. And if you like this one, don’t miss Vlado Kristl’s Don Quixote (1961) and Nedeljko Dragić’s Tup Tup (1972).