Glulo and Smrlo remain drawn by a child’s hand, but in the following years they acquire personalities, biographies, a mission, friends and enemies. Glulo and Smrlo become musicians, and the harder the problem seems, the louder and fiercer their playing becomes. Their type is “problematicus” because they represent problems, accidents, mistakes, failures, shame, powerlessness, bad luck, unlucky loves, but they present these same problems as solvable, sometimes banal, laughing and playing, having fun and making fools of themselves, so that children banish fear and get strength for all challenges (after all, with the help of Glulo and Smrlo, little Erin drank the syrup more easily when their concert in her stomach seemed like a pain whose medicine was a little too bitter :)).

In order for Glulo and Smrlo to help children all over Croatia and come to life through other content, with the help of about fifty other characters of the Glulo and Smrlo world, in 2008 the brand “G&S World” was protected by the State Institute for Intellectual Property, while the other characters of the problematicus world were pictorially and textually stored in the Croatian Copyright Agency in Zagreb. In the same year, the entire collection of marketing products for sports, recreation and other things called “G&S World Collection” is created for the company Crocon d.o.o. – calendars, backpacks, memory games, bookmarks, bags, caps and t-shirts – through which the outside world gets to know Glulo and Smrlo.

Our problematicus also experienced a very interesting incarnation when in 2009 the Maltese painter, expressionist Carmel Bonello, showed them in his vision and included them on his website, while the academic artist from Rijeka, Vedrana Stipić, made them in the form of one-meter-high dolls that made their first trip to the Kindergarten Olympiad at the Kantrida Stadium, where they capture the attention of adults and children alike. Thus, the Glulo and Smrlo brand has slowly expanded its circle of friends who recognized the value of problematicus.

The time came for Glulo and Smrlo to come to life through animation, so in 2010 we entered into a pilot project with the company Hyper dizajn d.o.o. from Zagreb. We find the animator, Siniša Ercegovac, whose top references spoke for themselves (video for the song “Shlapa” (Give me more of that funk) by Dina Dvornik and TBF, mascot of the SMS-food factory product, music video “My love my angel” by Klapa Kampanel , “Croatia records” web design, “TZ Split” web design, “Blue Film” web design, newspaper illustrations, etc.) Glulo was voiced by the Croatian actor Kruno Klobučar (TV series Stipe Visiting, Biba’s World, Some other stories, Pride of the Ratkajs, theater plays Cowboys, etc.), while Smrlo was voiced by animator Siniša Ercegovac.
Four animated films were made – Frontman, Metro, Fudo and Flying Game. Frontman and Metro were voice-recorded in the AVC Studio, one of the strongest studios for recording and video production, as well as the dubbing of animated cartoons in Croatia.
In the same year, Glulo and Smrlo became the main presenters of systems and equipment on the official website of Crocon and enjoyed great trust, the problematicus who were always up to the task! 🙂
In 2011, the animated film Aspirin was made, which was also filmed in the AVC studio, as well as Televoting sabotage for the purpose of announcing the invited singer at the first organized presentation of the IBS system in Croatia called “IBS – Synapsis”, which took place in the Hotel and restaurant Kukuriku in Kastav, under the patronage of company Raytheon Anschuetz GmbH from Kiel, Germany. The audience and guests were delighted with the innovation and boldness and were entertained like never before.

In 2012, cooperation with Rijeka City Puppet Theater actor David Petrović began the creation of the mascots Glulo and Smrlo so that the brand would continue to win the hearts of the audience, and Nataša Tepša, actress and director (Ri Teatar, Miraculous Cloud) joined the team. Together, they wrote the synopsis for the play “Glulo and Smrlo in Štrigiland” which would enter the 7th Legendfest – a festival of legends, myths and stories in the Istrian town of Pićno.

A total of eleven plays and puppet shows for children “Glulo and Smrlo in Štrigiland” were performed – nine performances for the duration of Legendfest, then one at the request of the 101 Dalmatian kindergarten from Poreč and one as part of the Children’s Week at the Ri Theater in Rijeka.

The song “Bugov Buger” was also recorded, which would be released on a CD single, and other promotional materials were made for the further promotion of the brand: the Glulo and Smrlo Buganka (coloring book, notebook, cartoon…) and stickers of Glulo and Smrlo.

Nataša Tepša wrote a script for an interactive Christmas story about Glulo and Smrlo based on the ideas and imagination of children from the 101 Dalmatians kindergarten in Poreč. The performance of “Glulo and Smrlo’s Christmas Tales” was held in Poreč as part of the program for preschoolers under the name Poreč Fairytale. The performance ended with a coordinated dance choreography by kindergarten children to the song of Glulo and Smrlo.

In 2013 the brand “Glulo and Smrlo” was nominated for the Creativity and Innovation Award for Children’s autochthonous brand, which was awarded at the 6th Days of Creativity and Innovation in Pula, thus sealing its status as one of the freshest and most vivid creations of that period in the Republic of Croatia.

Glulo and Smrlo still live in most of their incarnations – puppets, pictures, animated films, songs – and play their gigs whenever a child (or an adult!) feels stress, pain, wholeheartedly conspiring to overcome all these life pains as a symbol of resistance and an inspiration to never give in to despair. And when we get stuck, the troublemakers are there, just behind the scenes. >:)