(''De'') ''Fabeltjeskrant'' (; Dutch for "The Fables Newspaper") is a Dutch

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

featuring

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...

and

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

. Created in 1968 by Leen Valkenier and produced by Thijs Chanowski (1st series) and Loek de Levita (2nd series), it ended in 1989 and was broadcast on the Dutch and Japanese channels NOS,

RTL 4 RTL 4 (Radio Télévision Luxembourg 4) is a Dutch free TV channel; it is the most-watched commercial station in the country, popular especially with those aged between 20 and 49. RTL 4 is a general entertainment channel with infotainment, televi ...

RTL 8 RTL 8 is a Dutch free-to-cable television channel that was launched on 18 August 2007 replacing Tien, previously known as Talpa. RTL 8's main target audience consists of women. It broadcasts soap operas, talk shows, films and reruns of programm ...

and

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

and on Belgian channel VRT. From 1973 to 1975 it was broadcast also in the United Kingdom, on ITV, with the title ''The Daily Fable.

Plot

Each episode is based upon

fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

s of

Jean de La Fontaine Jean de La Fontaine (, ; ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French Fable, fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''La Fontaine's Fables, Fables'', which provided a model for subs ...

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

, Phaedrus and also by the series' scenographer Leen Valkenier. The main character, the

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

"Meneer de Uil", introduces each episode reading a fable to other characters upon a tree. The setting is a forest inhabited by different

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

felt animals. The first episode was broadcast on 29 September 1968 on NOS.

Characters

Main characters

All character ''surnames'' are referred to their

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

: * Meneer de Uil (''Mr. Owl''), or Jacob de Uil, is an

and the main narrator and face of the series. In British version his name was "Mr. Owl". * Juffrouw Ooievaar (''Miss Stork'' in the British version) * Lowieke de Vos (''Mr. Cunningham'' in the British version) * Crox de Raaf (or Meneer de Raaf) (''Mr. Crow'' in the British version, in Dutch he is a raven) * Bor de Wolf (''Boris the Wolf'' in the British version) * Ed Bever (''Fred Beaver'' in the British version) * Willem Bever (''Bert Beaver'' in the British version) * Zoef de Haas (''Zippy the Hare'' in the British version) * Stoffel de Schildpad (''Shelly the Tortoise'' in the British version) * Truus de Mier (''Miss Ant'' in the British version) * Gerrit de Postduif (''Gerald the Pigeon'' in the British version) * Meindert het Paard (''Milord the Horse'' in the British version) * Droes de Beer (''Harold the Bear'' in the British version) * Jodocus de Marmot (''George the Guinea Pig'' in the British version) * Isadora Paradijsvogel * Myra Hamster * Martha Hamster * Momfer de Mol * Chico Lama * Greta Bontekoe * Zaza Zebra * Woefdram

Later generation characters

These characters were not part of the first three series: * Fatima de Poes, Iranian cat wearing a

hijab Hijab (, ) refers to head coverings worn by Women in Islam, Muslim women. Similar to the mitpaḥat/tichel or Snood (headgear), snood worn by religious married Jewish women, certain Christian head covering, headcoverings worn by some Christian w ...

, only appeared in the theater show (2007). *Wally Windhond (2019), DJ Dog; both voice and music are done by Armin van Buuren. * Peter Panda (2019)

Recurring characters from the first two series

* Tijl Schavuit and Sjefke Schelm, two dodgy characters that first starred in the 70s feature film and then became recurring characters. * Piet de Pad * Oléta Vulpécula * Teun Stier * Snoespoes * Woef Hektor * Hondje Woef * Greta 2 * Borita * Harry Lepelaar * "Mister" John Maraboe * Blinkert de Bliek and his girlfriend Frija Forel * Melis Das * Pepijn de Kater * Plons de Kikvors

In other countries

The show was adapted in some other countries under the following titles: * France: ''Le petit écho de la Forêt'' (French for ''The Little Echo of the Forest'') * Hungary: ''Fabulácskahírek'' (Hungarian for ''The Fables Newspaper'') * Israel: ''Sipurimpo'' (Hebrew for ''Stories Here'') * Italy: ''La fiaba quotidiana'' (Italian for ''The daily fairy tale'') * Norway: ''Fablenes bok'' (Norwegian for ''The book of Fables'') * Sweden: ''Fablernas värld'' (Swedish for ''World of Fables'') * United Kingdom: ''The Daily Fable'' * Peru: ''Las Crónicas de Fabulandia'' (Spanish for ''Chronicles of Fableland'') * Mexico: ''Las Crónicas de Fabulandia'' (Spanish for ''Chronicles of Fableland'') * Japan: "Fachishu shinbun" (Japanese for ''The animals of Fables village'') * Poland: ''Leśna gazetka'' (Polish for ''Forest newspaper'') In Sweden, France, and the United Kingdom, the show was refilmed especially for those specific countries. The Hebrew and Italian versions were dubbings of the English adaptation.

Adaptations

Lex Overeijnder wrote and drew a short-lived newspaper comic strip based on the TV show in 1969. In 1975 Dick Vlottes created another comic strip based on the series, which was published in the TV magazine Televizier in 1975. In 1970, a film version, ''Onkruidzaaiers in Fabeltjesland'', premiered in theaters. In 2007 a musical adaptation was created by Ruud de Graaf and Hans Cornelissen.

Comeback

3D animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Modern ...

series based on the original work was broadcast in 2019 on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in the Netherlands. In 2018 a book, an exhibition and a film were launched to celebrate the 50th anniversary.

Notes and references

External links

* * * {{IMDb title, 0294075 Dutch children's television series 1960s Dutch television series 1968 Dutch television series debuts 1989 Dutch television series endings 1960s animated television series 1970s animated television series 1980s animated television series Dutch television shows featuring puppetry Stop-motion animated television series ITV children's television shows Dutch-language television shows Animated television series about birds Television shows adapted into comics Television shows adapted into plays Television shows adapted into films 1960s preschool education television series 1970s preschool education television series 1980s preschool education television series Animated preschool education television series Television shows set in forests Children's television series about talking animals