While this VHS and DVD title for this series is "Dag Vogels, Dag Bloemen, Dag Kinderen", which was Pipo de Clown's way of saying goodnight, this daily five minute show was originally referred to as simply 'Pipo de Clown'. Pipo, his wife Mamaloe and his daughter Petra had already appeared in five serialized adventures starting in 1959 and one environmentally sound TV special in 1964. Two years after that, writer Wim Meuldijk was asked to come up with a short story to be broadcast every night just before young children went to bed at 18.50 - on both Dutch channels simultaneously. If I am not mistaken, this was the first programme shown in this a time-slot and with this frequency. Setting the stage for many successful five minute shows such as De Fabeltjeskrant, Ti-ta Tovenaar, Paulus de Boskabouter and De Bereboot.
Over 555 bedtime stories were produced in glorious black and white. Each episode would start with Mamaloe telling Pipo it's Petra's bedtime. Sat beside her, the fatherly clown would recount something funny that happened to him that day. Because many of these tales were shot on location (mostly Wim Meuldijk's backyard), as well as the daily aspect of the show, this was probably the first Pipo series that was entirely pre-recorded. The result of this was that most if not all of the episodes were archived and are still in existence today, which can not be said of most of Pipo's other adventures made before 1975.
Next to Pipo's family, returning characters from earlier series included Willy Ruys as our hero's nemesis Dikke Deur, Herbert Joeks as the silly circus Indian Klukkluk and pearl obsessed thief Snuitje (Rudi Falkenhagen). Chances are Snuitje's partner in crime Snuf also appeared. Pipo's former traveling buddies Felicio (Jan Pruis) and Mik (Donald Jones) could be glimpsed in a framed picture hanging above little Petra's bed. However, the original Mamaloe, Christel Adelaar, who had been absent from Pipo en de Waterlanders in 1963, had left the show. This was apparently because of a pregnancy according to her replacement, Marijke Bakker.
While the actor behind the clown make-up, Cor Witschge never had any children of his own, his love for the little girl playing Petra is clearly apparent every time he wishes her goodnight. As always, Joop Reynolds provided incidental music on his organ. Wim Meuldijk clearly had no problem coming up with countless bedtime stories for Pipo to tell, even if the actors didn't receive their scripts until the day of shooting, and on some occasions, the episodes were still being edited an hour before being broadcast.
The daily frequency gave the already very popular clown an enormous boost. His catchphrases, as well as those of Kluk Kluk and Dikke Deur's becoming ingrained in the Dutch language for all eternity. Two volumes with 8 episodes each were released on VHS and more recently, a further two on DVD. This reviewer hasn't been able to compare the digital versions with the taped ones to see if all the episodes are the same, but either way, there are over 500 more stories to go. Most of these are listed on the Beeld & Geluid database (where they can also be converted to DVD individually on request) so maybe somebody will transfer all that information to IMDb one day. It's on my to do list, but any help would be much appreciated...
8 out of 10
Over 555 bedtime stories were produced in glorious black and white. Each episode would start with Mamaloe telling Pipo it's Petra's bedtime. Sat beside her, the fatherly clown would recount something funny that happened to him that day. Because many of these tales were shot on location (mostly Wim Meuldijk's backyard), as well as the daily aspect of the show, this was probably the first Pipo series that was entirely pre-recorded. The result of this was that most if not all of the episodes were archived and are still in existence today, which can not be said of most of Pipo's other adventures made before 1975.
Next to Pipo's family, returning characters from earlier series included Willy Ruys as our hero's nemesis Dikke Deur, Herbert Joeks as the silly circus Indian Klukkluk and pearl obsessed thief Snuitje (Rudi Falkenhagen). Chances are Snuitje's partner in crime Snuf also appeared. Pipo's former traveling buddies Felicio (Jan Pruis) and Mik (Donald Jones) could be glimpsed in a framed picture hanging above little Petra's bed. However, the original Mamaloe, Christel Adelaar, who had been absent from Pipo en de Waterlanders in 1963, had left the show. This was apparently because of a pregnancy according to her replacement, Marijke Bakker.
While the actor behind the clown make-up, Cor Witschge never had any children of his own, his love for the little girl playing Petra is clearly apparent every time he wishes her goodnight. As always, Joop Reynolds provided incidental music on his organ. Wim Meuldijk clearly had no problem coming up with countless bedtime stories for Pipo to tell, even if the actors didn't receive their scripts until the day of shooting, and on some occasions, the episodes were still being edited an hour before being broadcast.
The daily frequency gave the already very popular clown an enormous boost. His catchphrases, as well as those of Kluk Kluk and Dikke Deur's becoming ingrained in the Dutch language for all eternity. Two volumes with 8 episodes each were released on VHS and more recently, a further two on DVD. This reviewer hasn't been able to compare the digital versions with the taped ones to see if all the episodes are the same, but either way, there are over 500 more stories to go. Most of these are listed on the Beeld & Geluid database (where they can also be converted to DVD individually on request) so maybe somebody will transfer all that information to IMDb one day. It's on my to do list, but any help would be much appreciated...
8 out of 10