"Neva" - Deluxe Edition

book + theatre + coloring book + DVD + Audio CD + ...

English, German and Croatian

... the picture still says more than words...

but let's describe
what you get in this rich package
 
 

• 1. ILLUSTRATED BOOK "Neva"
  
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  Book? Well... The "book" is indeed very unusual! The pages with the story and illustrations are not bound, they are in a pocket... they are used as backdrops in the theatre...
   
  The book is based on the cartoon "Neva" from the project "Croatian Tales of Long Ago". The story was retold and story adapted by Edgar Beals and Helena Bulaja.
    
  The book is available in three language versions - English, Croatian and German. Everything else in the package (DVD, CD...) is the same for all languages.
    
   
   
  
  
   

• 2. Neva's THEATER
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  The cartoon "Neva" was made as a puppet play - everything is happening in a mechanical theater, the characters are on sticks, props move with wires... With this special edition the theater became real!
    
  

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  Once the theater is assembled by the included instructions, the play can start! Included is the bag with characters and props, the unbound pages of the book are used as backdrops, you make the sticks from included cardboard...
  
  
    

• 3. DVD with the CARTOON "Neva" by Edgar Beals and many extras
  
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  The DVD contains the cartoon "Neva" by the Canadian animator Edgar Beals, in 3 languages - English, Croatian and German. It works on all DVD players and computers. (Well, in PAL only - NTSC version will be available soon...)
   
   
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  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. 
   
   
   
   
   
   

• 4. CD AUDIO BOOK "Neva"
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  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 "Neva the Bride", as it was written in 1916 by Ivana Brlić Mažuranić.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

• 5. COLORING BOOK
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  The story and the characters in black and white - for coloring and drawing!
   
    
  
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• 6. And a few extra little surprises...
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  Recipes and so on (no joke!).
   
  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
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to order "Neva" from our web shop, click here!
 

"Neva" is the second published package from the series of "deluxe" editions of stories from the project "Croatian Tales of Long Ago". Next one will be "Regoch" by Helena Bulaja, with more surprises, and then the remaining five fairy tales.
 
All packages will include illustrated book, DVD, Audio CDs, toys and activities, gifts and more surprises...
 
Author of the animated film "Neva" is Edgar Beals, the Canadian multi-talented animator, photographer, designer, painter, sculptor...  

You can see Ed's funny cartoons and other works on his web site www.edbeals.com. As a co-director, animator, photographer, cinematographer, editor... Ed is also collaborating on our new project "Mechanical Figures" inspired by Nikola Tesla.

 
 
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 "Neva" was in the competition of the most important world festival of Flash animation - FlashForward in San Francisco, in the category "cartoon". It also won honorable mention at the new media festival in Brudenell, Canada. It was screened on many other festivals on all continents. 
 

In 2003 at the International Children's Festival in Šibenik, Croatia, the Šibenik kids lead by Zdenka Bilusic turned the cartoon "Neva" in the real puppet performance!
 

    

Preview of the Cartoon

 
On www.bulaja.com/FAIRYTALES/ you can see an excerpt from "Neva", as well as 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...) will be available soon.
• 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.
   
   

• REVIEWS

... of "Neva":
 

From the Bulaja's manufacture we got another real sensation for children!

 
Parents of 4 children, the Bulajas understand better than anyone else the sensibility of the modern kids, which from their early days sit in front of computer and TV screens. But with their products they offer them the entrance into the magic world of classical fairy tales, where the kids can practice their creativity in a completely modern way.

Pavica Knezović Belan, Jutarnji list
(leading Croatian newspapers; the whole review is available here...)

 
"300 miracles" for creative entertainment of children and parents

 
"Neva", the second, new pack from the series, is even more rich and fun... The child loses the passive status and becomes active, almost like the authors. This simple "theatre game" has no strict rules, its main idea is to enhance creativity.

Janko Heidl, "Večernji list", March 2009

 
... 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