Private Project

Slovenian Folktales, Episode 2: The Grasshopper and Ants

The story revolves around an anthill, where the ants are working hard, preparing for winter. Their peace is disturbed by a hedonistic grasshopper that plays the violin and the ants are not pleased by his hedonistic nature. They complain to their queen,
who is wise and tells them to wait for the winter, that will teach him a lesson. Winter comes and the grasshopper finds himself in
trouble because he didn’t prepare for the cold days. He asks the ants to help him, and the queen decides to do so, because he
can offer them entertaiment in return for his stay during the cold season. The folktale is a part of a becoming animated series, which is hosted by two sheep who teach the viewer about Slovenian folklore.

  • Petra Švajger
    Director
  • Maja Poljanc
    Director
  • Petra Švajger
    Writer
  • Maja Poljanc
    Writer
  • Petra Švajger
    Producer
  • Maja Poljanc
    Producer
  • Maša P. Žmitek
    Key Cast
    "The Ant"
  • Igor Ž. Prošić
    Key Cast
    "The Grasshopper"
  • Petra Švajger
    Key Cast
    "The Ant Queen"
  • Maja Poljanc
    Key Cast
    "Voiceover"
  • Gregor Mesec
    Sound & Music
  • Mirko Vičetnič Polič
    Sound & Music
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Slovenske basni: Kobilica in mravljice
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short, Television
  • Genres:
    children, folk, short, educational, comedy
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 47 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Slovenia
  • Country of Filming:
    Slovenia
  • Language:
    Slovenian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Vodnikova domačija: VIII. decembrski sejem ilustracije
    Ljubljana
    Slovenia
    December 17, 2022
  • Vodnikova domačija: Nedelce
    Ljubljana
    Slovenia
    January 8, 2023
Director Biography - Petra Švajger, Maja Poljanc

We are Maja Poljanc, illustrator and Petra Švajger, animator, and we are both authors, directors and producers of the animated series. The idea to create an animated series that would also be educational started during our student years at Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. While Maja was creating her final academic work - the first encyclopedia of Slovene mythological creatures - Encyclopedia Mythologica Slovenica, Petra was doing a research in her thesis The role and potentials of animation in the educational process. After finishing their studeis, they decided to join forces and create an educational animated cartoon series focused on slovenian folklore and mythology, that would help children understand their cultural background and the importance of their cultural heritage. We are both equal authors of the idea, so we could say they we both have the role of the director and of the producer. We collaborate on every part of the series - we write skripts together based on Slovenian folk literature, we collaborate on creating storyboards, we are also both involved when characters are being created and put to life and when it comes to montage, sound design, etc. We are new and unknown to the market, but have a strong vision, to create a new visual contribution to Slovenian cultural heritage.

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Director Statement

Slovenian folktales is a new visual contribution about Slovenian mythology for our young generation. Through entertaining, humorous stories taken from Slovene folklore, it offers both knowledge as well as visual pleasure.

The Slovenian folktales series, consists of two pilot episodes - Episode 1: Ox and Fly, and Episode 2: Grasshopper and Ants. It is a new visual contribution to learning about Slovenian mythology for our youngest generation in form of an animated cartoon series. The series delivers both knowledge as well as visual enjoyment. Through entertaining stories taken from Slovenian folk literature, it raises awareness of Slovenian culture, identity and folklore, which we miss in the animated cartoon series that are currently available on the market. The illustrator included various elements taken from the techniques of Slovenian folk art and craft, we also included slovenian indigenous breeds of animals, etc.

The main characters are two sheep (that are also Slovenian indigenous breed), that teach about the moral of the story, and also point out the elements of Slovenian folklore that are included in the episode.

The roots of mythology are deep in human culture and shape us in an extremely special way by showing us different directions and different purposes. The folk art of the nation is one of the main unifying forces of national identity. By depicting Slovenian folk literature, we want to preserve a part of this almost forgotten Slovenian mythological milieu, revive it from verbal art and hand it over to moving images for future generations.