The Wawel Dragon’s Quest: A Polish Animated Adventure – 'Porwanie Baltazara Gąbki'
In 1969 the children’s television show 'Porwanie Baltazara Gąbki' (The Abduction of Balthazar Sponge) premiered on Polish television. The thirteen-episode series, based on the novel by Stanisław Pagaczewski, brought kids into a whimsical, bizarre world, with a dragon and a cook setting off on an adventure to rescue a scientist. The classic cartoon series brought children a very real appreciation of the nature of scientific discovery.
Science Awaits
The show begins with the worried Prince Krak, the ruler of Kraków. Prince Krak has no news about Professor Balthazar Sponge, who is missing and was last seen in the Land of the Rainmakers. Prince Krak asks Wawel Dragon, a famous character from Polish mythology, to travel to the land to find him. Pagaczewski’s version of Wawel Dragon also has an appetite but unlike the mythological character, his Wawel Dragon is friends with Prince Krak. Wawel Dragon is the only one who can go, as he is a famous adventurer, and sets off on his journey with the prince’s cook, Bartolini Bartłomiej, who will feed the dragon.
The dragon expedition is followed by Don Pedro, a spy for the leader of the Land of the Rainmakers. Don Pedro’s job is to keep track of and stop the dragon expedition from reaching the Land Of The Rainmakers. He therefore tries to foil their plans: For example, in one episode, Don Pedro meets the travelers in an inn and tries to serve them a clearly labeled poisonous mushroom jam. Don Pedro’s failure shows that he clearly knows nothing about discovery. He lacks the critical thinking of our Kraków travelers.
Still from the series 'Porwanie Baltazara Gąbki', 1969 - 1970, photo: Studio Filmów Rysunkowych (Bielsko-Biała).
Making Inventive Solutions
Solutions showcasing creativity and technology are featured in the show to help the travelers on their journey and to inspire children to go on a journey of discovery. Wawel Dragon is well-equipped to deal with obstacles on the journey, one of which is a destroyed bridge traversing an ocean. Fortunately, Wawel Dragon’s car transforms into an amphibious car that glides across the water like a boat. Wawel Dragon and Bartolini Bartłomiej also transform their car when they return to Kraków at the end of their journey, as they expedite their return by creating a flying car. Wawel Dragon pulls wood out of the car’s trunk and hammers on the wings and a propeller, creating a makeshift airplane which returns them to Kraków.
Psychology
Alongside their trials in technology and woodworking, Wawel Dragon and Bartolini Bartłomiej encounter tasks in psychology. They meet characters who challenge and contradict their assumptions. In the second episode of the series, they meet a group of robbers in the mountains. These robbers have weapons, but they also come carrying friendship. The robbers invite Wawel Dragon and Bartolini Bartłomiej for a second breakfast and give their new friends some of their gold. The anti-robbers' hearts of gold teach the travelers not to bear preconceived notions about others before getting to know them.
Another challenging character that appears in the show is psiogłowcy (dogheads). As Wawel Dragon and Bartolini Bartłomiej are on the road to visit Wawel Dragon’s cousin who is a three-headed milk drinking dragon, Wawel Dragon notices two arguing dogs. Wawel Dragon asks them for directions to his cousin’s home. Each dog provides different directions, and the dogs begin to argue with each other. Wawel Dragon corrects them, as another direction leads straight to his cousin’s house. Wawel Dragon’s encounter with the arguing dogs shows children the importance of communication and critical thinking.
Still from the series 'Porwanie Baltazara Gąbki', 1969 - 1970, photo: Studio Filmów Rysunkowych (Bielsko-Biała).
Climates
The series shows many different lands with climates that are not conducive to discovery. In Episodes 5 and 6, the expedition quickly passes through King Sun’s land on their journey to find the kidnapped Professor Balthazar Sponge, which results in the travelers distracting their adversaries to escape two weeks of forced tanning.
In the show’s last few episodes Prince Krak’s team finally arrives in the Land of the Rainmakers. The land reflects its namesakes, as it is continuously raining and full of amphibians due to the wet climate. This constant rain does not deter Wawel Dragon and Bartolini Bartłomiej, as they adjust to the climate by taking medicine, using an umbrella, and putting up their car’s roof on their way to the capital.
When they arrive, Wawel Dragon and Bartolini Bartłomiej proceed to fight the leader of the rainmaker’s army at his palace. Bartolini Bartłomiej once again demonstrates his resourcefulness by using his cooking equipment as his fighting gear, while Wawel Dragon uses his fists. They go on to fight the rest of the king’s army, this time using their fists as well as equipment like a fishing net for weapons. They triumph over their adversaries and manage to free Professor Balthazar Sponge.
Statue of Don Pedro from the animated series 'Porwanie Baltazara Gąbki', photo by Monkpress/East News.
Homecoming
The novel the series is based on reveals the backstory of the professor’s Abduction. Professor Balthazar Sponge went to the Land of the Rainmakers to study flying frogs, and the leader of the land kidnapped him, planning to use the professor’s knowledge to force him to breed gigantic flying frogs for his army to take control of the entire world. In the novel, the amphibians topple their land’s government. The television show and the novel both circle around these themes of resourcefulness, knowledge, and the natural world to entertain viewers, model how to use creativity for good, and deliver a lesson about Poland’s rejection of tyranny, which ultimately comes through the dragon, the symbol of the old nation’s government.
The last episode of the show ends with a return to Kraków. Prince Krak arranges a noble hero’s welcome for Wawel Dragon and Bartolini Bartłomiej. A crowd of enthusiastic supporters and a musical band greet them, and the fictional dragon and the cook feel honoured by Prince Krak’s show of support. Pagaczewski, a Kraków native, used his show to promote scientific and technological discovery. Such discovery is an immense part of Kraków’s history, as the city is the site of the world-renowned Jagiellonian University, which was founded in 1364 by Polish King Casimir III the Great. Pagaczewski’s inclusion of the mythological Wawel Dragon and Prince Krak brings a very real, local love of discovery in his show during a time of anti-discovery when Poland was under Soviet Communist rule.
