Sprookjesboom, also known as "The Fairy Tale Tree", "Märchenbaum" and "L'Arbre des Contes", is an animated television series for children from the

Efteling Efteling () is a fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands. The attractions reflect elements from ancient European myths and legends, fairy tales, fables, and folklore. The park was opened on May 31, 1952. It evolved from a ...

theme park. The show is produced by the animation studio Motek Entertainment in Amsterdam, based on a concept from Efteling's director, Olaf Vugts. The television program is broadcast daily in several international markets including the Netherlands on

TROS TROS, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting ("Television Radio Broadcasting Foundation"), was a Dutch television and radio organisation part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. This broadcasting association was partic ...

and z@ppelin, in Germany on NRW and in Belgium on

Ketnet Ketnet is a Flemish public children's television channel in Belgium owned and operated by the Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie, VRT, Flemish public broadcaster. It broadcasts a mix of locally produced and imported productions on the VR ...

and Club RTL. ''Sprookjesboom'' is similar in theme to DreamWorks' ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...

''. It tells the story of the characters that live in the Sprookjesbos, or ''Fairy Tale Forest'', including

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" () is a fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th-century European Fable, folk tales. It was later retold in the 19th-century by the Broth ...

, and

Tom Thumb Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. ''The History of Tom Thumb'' was published in 1621 and was the first known fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, ...

. The narration is provided by a talking tree. Behind every 5-minute episode is a subtle moral message. Episodes are in Dutch, with some having been translated to German, French and English. The

character animation Character animation is a specialized area of the animation process, which involves bringing animated s to life. The role of a character animator is analogous to that of a film or stage actor and character animators are often said to be "actors ...

is based on

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mocap or mo-cap, for short) is the process of recording high-resolution motion (physics), movement of objects or people into a computer system. It is used in Military science, military, entertainment, sports ...

performance. A feature-length film titled Sprookjesboom, de Film was released in 2012 and was awarded the 100th Dutch Gouden Film. The film was based on the characters and stories from the series.

Sprookjesbos

In the Efteling theme park there is a puppet theater in the Sprookjesbos (Fairy Tale Forest) where hand puppets of characters from the series are the heroes. There is also a feature-length live musical show based around the characters which is performed in the park. In 2008 Efteling began to build an interactive tree in the Sprookjesbos, which was opened in 2010. The old oak sits in the Sprookjesbos, opposite The Little Match Girl. The structure is 9 meters wide and 9 meters high.

Episodes

Film

A 3D feature-length film, titled ''Sprookjesboom de Film'', was released on February 15, 2012 in Belgium, and on February 22 in the Netherlands.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 1043350
Motek Entertainment

Efteling
Dutch children's animated fantasy television series 2006 Dutch television series debuts 2009 Dutch television series endings Computer-animated television series Works based on amusement park attractions Fictional trees Anthropomorphic trees Television series about talking trees Television shows about magic Television series about witchcraft Television series based on Grimms' Fairy Tales Television shows based on fairy tales