Fabeltjeskrant


Fabeltjeskrant is a Dutch children's television series featuring puppetry and stop motion. Created in 1968 by Leen Valkenier and produced by Thijs Chanowski and Loek de Levita, it ended in 1989 and was broadcast on the Dutch and Japanese channels NOS, RTL 4 RTL 8 and NHK 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 fables of Jean de La Fontaine, Aesop, Phaedrus and also by the series' scenographer Leen Valkenier. The main character, the owl "Meneer de Uil", introduces each episode reading a fable to other characters upon a tree. The setting is a forest inhabited by different anthropomorphic felt animals. The first episode was broadcast on 29 September 1968 on NOS.

Characters

Main characters

All character surnames are referred to their species:Meneer de Uil, or Jacob de Uil, is an owl and the main narrator and face of the series. In British version his name was "Mr. Owl".Juffrouw Ooievaar Lowieke de Vos Crox de Raaf Bor de Wolf Ed Bever Willem Bever Zoef de Haas Stoffel de Schildpad Truus de Mier Gerrit de Postduif Meindert het Paard Droes de Beer Jodokus de Marmot Isadora Paradijsvogel Myra HamsterMartha HamsterMomfer de MolChico LamaMargaretha "Greta" BontekoeZaza Zebra
  • '''Woefdram'''

Later generation characters

These characters were not part of the first three series:Fatima de Poes, Iranian cat wearing a hijab, only appeared in the theater show.
  • Wally Windhond, DJ Dog; both voice and music are done by Armin van Buuren.
  • '''Peter Panda'''

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 PadOléta VulpéculaTeun StierSnoespoesWoef HektorHondje WoefGreta 2BoritaHarry Lepelaar"Mister" John MaraboeBlinkert de Bliek and his girlfriend Frija ForelMelis DasPepijn 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
  • Hungary: Fabulácskahírek
  • Israel: Sipurimpo
  • Italy: La fiaba quotidiana
  • Norway: Fablenes bok
  • Sweden: Fablernas värld
  • United Kingdom: The Daily Fable
  • Peru: Las Crónicas de Fabulandia
  • Mexico: Las Crónicas de Fabulandia
  • Japan: "Fachishu shinbun"
  • Poland: Leśna gazetka
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

A CGI animation series based on the original work was broadcast in 2019 on Netflix in the Netherlands.