Cartoon
Zaczarowany ołówek
The story
The Enchanted Pencil (Polish: Zaczarowany ołówek) is a Polish cartoon from 1964 to 1977 made by Se-ma-for.
The series had no dialogue. It tells a story of a boy named Piotr (Peter) and his dog, aided by an enchanted pencil, which can materialize anything they draw. There were 39 episodes total. The first 26 episodes have no linking story, but the last 13 are centered on the heroes' quest to save a shipwrecked refugee. The series was remade into a movie in 1991.
The series was aired on Telewizja Polska in 70's, it was also aired on DFF in Germany, Channel 4 in UK (as part of Pob's Programme), Rai 1 in Italy, MTVA in Hungary, HRT in Croatia, ABC and SBS in Australia, Fuji TV in Japan, TV3 in Sweden, TVE1 in Spain, ETC.
Script: Adam Ochocki
Art: Karol Baraniecki
Music: Zbigniew Czernelecki and Waldemar Kazanecki
Reception and influence
The show has been described as influential on the generation of Polish engineeres working in the fields of rapid prototyping and similar. It has also been influential on the genre of Polish animation and has been described as a "classic".
The series received a number of awards at international festivals, and has been aired in about 50 countries.
The series has also been discussed in the context of empowering children and encouraging their imagination.
The sculpture of the main characters of The Enchanted Pencil was unveiled in Łódź in 1991.