BULGARIAN FANTASY-ANIMATED SERIES INSPIRED BY FOLKLORE

A team of young Bulgarians is making the first Bulgarian fantasy-animated series, inspired by mythology and folklore. The film is named “The Golden Apple” and places already known characters like mummers (kukeri), dragons (zmeys) and wood fairies (samodivi) in a different setting.

The team consists of young Bulgarians, who studied abroad and exchange experience with animators from other countries, who are also included in the project.

All members of the team are highly motivated to create a series that will take Bulgarian animation and folklore to a new height and put it on the world stage.

Vihra is the main character of the series and she is on the journey to the golden apple. Her father is a Zmey storm spirit and she has a cloud instead of hair. Zmeys in Bulgarian mythology are personifications of storms and hails, therefore clouds and fogs come out of their beards, Dimitar Petrov, creator of “The Golden Apple” explains.

Vihra, the Zmey’s daughter, has a cloud instead of hair and bolts of lightning flash out of the cloud when she gets angry.

On the way to the apple, Vihra meets two human brothers, Vlad and Bran, who are mummers.

All costumes in the fantasy world, all mountain spirits and the architectural style are borrowed from the Bulgarian folklore, as well as the Balkan folklore as a whole.

The team of 20 people has worked and improved the idea for nearly 3 years. The young animators work entirely online, from five different countries.