On Bartek the Doktor

Bart lives with his mother in a humble cabin in a village near Kraków. One day two students pass by the gate and stop by the fence that features a bird carved in wood by Bart. They admire the boy’s talent and tell him they are on their way to school in Kraków. Bart decided to come along with them, study to be a doctor, and improve his and his mother’s lot.

Parting with her, he gives her the bird. Yet the moment her tear drops on it, the bird becomes alive. The Bird assures her that he would guard her son and then flies after Bart. At the crossroads, where Bart wonders which way to go, the Bird makes friends with him and they travel on together. In Kraków’s marketplace a juggler is giving a performance. Unable to see him because of the crowds, Bart climbs onto some barrels. A cat notices the Bird on his shoulder and jumps… The barrels with Bart on top roll along the streets, and Bart finally lands in a pile of pumpkins. The vendor calls Doctor Medykus, who takes the boy home. Now rather than go to school, Bart decides to stay on with the doctor despite the Bird’s protestations. Now he gleans knowledge from the doctor, watching his daily medical practices and soon concludes that studying in school is no use to him. When the doctor leaves for a patient in a village, Bart receives patients in his home. After he return home, the doctor scorns Bart for the way he behaved and orders him out of the house. The boy believes that he knows now how to attend patients well enough and decides to return home. On his way across a marshland, he encounters a mysterious character – Death. In return for carrying him over the marsh, Death promises to help Bart and make him the most famous doctor in the world.  Death also informs him that should he breach the pact, he will pay with his life. Bart accepts the condition and he is soon rich and famous. One day he is called to the castle, to the castellan’s sick daughter. Death shows up at the head of the bed, which means the sick cannot be healed. Bart, however, likes the daughter and decides to outsmart Death…

Award:

DIPLOMA
for the film direction,
International Festival of Animated Films for Children
Biennial of Animation BAB’03, Bratislava, Slovakia / 2003

Directed, background by Andrzej Kukuła
Screenplay, dialogue by Aniela Lubieniecka
(based on the tale by Hanna Januszewska)
Music composed and performed by Wacław Juszczyszyn
Animation by Waldemar Szajkowski, Elżbieta Kandziora, Ewa Rodewald, Witold Giersz, Lesław Budzelewski, Agnieszka Szcześniak, Anna Sita, Anna Pawlak, Małgorzata Jaryczewska, Danuta Kurasz, Edyta Mazurczuk
Camera by Krzysztof Napierała, Artur Wrotniewski
Editing by Krzysztof Napierała
Dubbing directed by Dorota Kawęcka
Voices by Krzysztof Kołbasiuk, Leszek Zduń, Katarzyna Tatarak, Joanna Wizmur, Joanna Jędrka,  Krystyna Kozanecka, Hanna Kinder-Kiss, Cezary Kwieciński, Jarosław Boberek
Sound by Wiesław Jurgała
Series title sequences by Robert Turło (directed, artwork, animation), Marek Kuczyński (music)
Series Production Managing by Mariola Olejniczak
Series Editor by Katarzyna Komorowska
Series Executive Producer by Ewa Sobolewska

Production: TV Studio Filmów Animowanych Sp. z o.o. w Poznaniu
Producer and Distribution: Telewizja Polska S.A.

Cartoon; Digital Betacam; 13:00 min., colour, format 4:3
Date of production: 30.12.2002 © TVP S.A.