Professor Balthazar

Professor Balthazar was an inventor. One day he thought up a pair of quite extraordinary shoes. These shoes could fly, dance, jump, chase around like an automobile; very extraordinary shoes indeed. Being the good fellow that he was, Professor Balthazar made a present of them to all his friends. For many, these extraordinary shoes solved various problems and made life easier.

Balthazar travels to the Alps where he meets a man who spends his whole life yodeling although he is disturbed by avalanches. Soon after that he meets a lighthouse keeper in the South Seas who is unable to eat his continuously melting ice-cream. Finally, they both change places, so that one can yodel to his heart's content on the small island and the other is able to eat ice-cream in the Alps.

Balthazar's friend, the famous conductor Horatio, loses favor because of the misfortune which suddenly strikes - at every concert he loses his trousers. In order to help his friend, Balthazar invents the strongest suspenders in the world, which are so elastic they enable the most fantastic jumps. Thus, Horatio is rehabilitated and a new form of entertainment is created.

Professor Balthazar's friend Fabian, the tram driver, is a nice fellow who takes care of a hungry and freezing bird in the wintertime. Grateful, the little sparrow teaches Fabian to fly the next spring. However, Fabian loses his job after causing an accident. Professor Balthazar helps his unemployed friend by inventing a flying tram.

Elephant Koko, the famous musician, plays music on his trunk and loves to eat enormous quantities of ice-cream. But one day, he catch a terrible cold and cannot play any more. Koko is desperate and disappears from the town. His friends, together with professor Balthazar, search the whole world to find him.

Martin is a man whom nobody seems to notice, despite his efforts to attract attention. So Balthazar presents him with a book on how to climb to success. But Martin dissappears and only then does everybody notice that he is missing. Finally, Balthazar finds him at the top of a high mountain where, together with his friend the eagle, he happily makes paper airplanes from the book he has received.

The famous clock-maker Oscar repairs Balthazar's clock. Inside the clock they find the source of the problem, Igor the dancing mouse, whose highest dream is to see the Big Ben in London. Sometime later, Professor Balthazar is visiting London when a catastrophe happens: Big Ben stops working. Master Oscar discovers Igor inside.

Leo the painter is unhappy because the people do not understand his art. Nobody really cares about his particular motif until Leo appears on television with his friends the dancing butterflies, Florian and Fib. Leo becomes famous but he continues to live modestly with his two inseparable friends.

Many of Balthazar's friends hide their childish hobbies which imperil their careers: a grown man is not allowed to perform funny extravagances in public. Because of this, Professor Balthazar decides to invent a magic formula which enables each of them to enter a freer and more leisurely world than this one.

Two aunts enjoy knitting for their friends more than anything else. When they mistakenly knit a pullover with eight sleeves, they decide to present it to the star of the theatre, the octopus with its eight arms. The pullover is such a success with his friends from the bottom of the sea, they all rush to the two aunts with requests for pullovers.

Victor and his Egg-O-Mat - a machine for perfectly Boiled eggs - is the main sensation in Professor Balthazar's town. When the egg-o-mat and all the clocks in town break down - numerous problems appear and Professor Balthazar is asked for help.

Suddenly in Balthazar Town there is no wind. The flags are not flying and the kite festival is cancelled. Then there is a strange shower of hats and a peculiar shower of umbrellas. When a load of letters and a postman fall from the sky, Professor Balthazar solves the mystery once and for all.

Three of the little town's inhabitants are music lovers. The tailor likes to play on his scissors, the street sweeper loves playing on the garbage bin and the glass blower plays music with the bottles he makes. However, the rest of the city is not equally fond of their music. Professor Balthazar discovers a lonely singer in space. He invents a flying washing machine to help them form a quartet.