Pipo de Clown liked to say there were 'plenty of places left in the world in which he hadn't yet stood on his hands' and he certainly does a lot of traveling in this 1978 adventure: from windmill filled Holland to an unidentified Scandinavian country, down beneath the ground into troll territory and right back up all the way to the Northpole (pas the singing wood). However, he never takes the time to stand on his head in any of these places, so I guess he'll have to travel to each of them at least once more in order to make them really count.
Originally broadcast in seven parts, this tall tale by Wim Meuldijk has less of a strong story arc than previous (shorter) Pipo adventures such as 'Het Grachtengeheim' and 'De Piraten Van Toen'. Pipo just seems to go about traveling from place to place and being instructed to go somewhere on each arrival. This does make ample opportunity for unexpected guest appearances, as well as a whole lot of fantasy characters.
During one of their celebrated children's performances, Pipo de Clown (Cor Witschge) and his wife Mammaloe (Marijke Bakker) meet strong-man Per Pleksen (Frits Hassoldt) who has been banned from his hometown in the North. Pipo is only too happy to help Per find his way home because he's been craving a big adventure for a while. As usual Mammaloe does not agree, she would rather dispense with adventures altogether. But also as usual she is deprived of the bulk of the daring do anyway, leaving her to do what she does best: worry about her husband.
On arriving at Per's hometown, it turns out the villagers are afraid he causes bad luck and immediately try to throw him off a bridge into a waterfall. It seems that his wood-chucking leads to earthquakes instigated by the trolls who live beneath the ground. So, Pipo travels beneath the Earth (as usual in Meuldijk's story's, Pipo is the only one brave enough to do so). Mammaloe has to stay behind because Trolls take a fancy to human females and probably wouldn't let her return above ground if she did. There he learns from King Kneus (Onno Molenkamp) that his ugly troll wife Knakke (Jennifer Willems) has traveled to the ice-palace of Queen Frigite (Carola Gijsbers van Wijk) on the Northpole in an attempt to get rid of her lumberjack induced headaches. Yes, you guessed it, Pipo and Per have to get her back in order to settle things with the underground trolls.
A mountain climber (Joost Prinsen doing his Erik Engert routine) tells P & P to avoid the singing woods, which musical powers have the same kind of effect on men as the sea faring sirens of old. When the two travelers are ensnared by the singing bushes anyway, by some stroke of fortune they run into Pipo's clown sister Plom (Janine van Wely) who appears to be immune. She also appears to have changed her look again, be it ever so slightly: the red spot on her nose is gone. Of course their greatest challenge is still ahead of them: to infiltrate the Ice castle (which is off limits to humans), defeat Frigite's strong man Kletser (wrestler Anton Geesink) and bring Knakke home to her Kneus. On top of that, Per Pleksen has to settle into a life without woodcutting if he doesn't want to end up in the local waterfall.
Shot mostly on location in Scandinavia, and with some very interesting celebrity cameos (perhaps there were even more in the complete serialized version as opposed to the VHS edit reviewed here) this Pipo adventure is never dull. However, the story could have been a bit tighter, the characters more fleshed out and fan favorite Plom turns up far too late (like she was written in at the last moment). Despite of these nitpicks, it still holds up as some quality children's entertainment that couldn't be made today without resorting to computer effects. Koekeloerikoe!
7 out of 10
Originally broadcast in seven parts, this tall tale by Wim Meuldijk has less of a strong story arc than previous (shorter) Pipo adventures such as 'Het Grachtengeheim' and 'De Piraten Van Toen'. Pipo just seems to go about traveling from place to place and being instructed to go somewhere on each arrival. This does make ample opportunity for unexpected guest appearances, as well as a whole lot of fantasy characters.
During one of their celebrated children's performances, Pipo de Clown (Cor Witschge) and his wife Mammaloe (Marijke Bakker) meet strong-man Per Pleksen (Frits Hassoldt) who has been banned from his hometown in the North. Pipo is only too happy to help Per find his way home because he's been craving a big adventure for a while. As usual Mammaloe does not agree, she would rather dispense with adventures altogether. But also as usual she is deprived of the bulk of the daring do anyway, leaving her to do what she does best: worry about her husband.
On arriving at Per's hometown, it turns out the villagers are afraid he causes bad luck and immediately try to throw him off a bridge into a waterfall. It seems that his wood-chucking leads to earthquakes instigated by the trolls who live beneath the ground. So, Pipo travels beneath the Earth (as usual in Meuldijk's story's, Pipo is the only one brave enough to do so). Mammaloe has to stay behind because Trolls take a fancy to human females and probably wouldn't let her return above ground if she did. There he learns from King Kneus (Onno Molenkamp) that his ugly troll wife Knakke (Jennifer Willems) has traveled to the ice-palace of Queen Frigite (Carola Gijsbers van Wijk) on the Northpole in an attempt to get rid of her lumberjack induced headaches. Yes, you guessed it, Pipo and Per have to get her back in order to settle things with the underground trolls.
A mountain climber (Joost Prinsen doing his Erik Engert routine) tells P & P to avoid the singing woods, which musical powers have the same kind of effect on men as the sea faring sirens of old. When the two travelers are ensnared by the singing bushes anyway, by some stroke of fortune they run into Pipo's clown sister Plom (Janine van Wely) who appears to be immune. She also appears to have changed her look again, be it ever so slightly: the red spot on her nose is gone. Of course their greatest challenge is still ahead of them: to infiltrate the Ice castle (which is off limits to humans), defeat Frigite's strong man Kletser (wrestler Anton Geesink) and bring Knakke home to her Kneus. On top of that, Per Pleksen has to settle into a life without woodcutting if he doesn't want to end up in the local waterfall.
Shot mostly on location in Scandinavia, and with some very interesting celebrity cameos (perhaps there were even more in the complete serialized version as opposed to the VHS edit reviewed here) this Pipo adventure is never dull. However, the story could have been a bit tighter, the characters more fleshed out and fan favorite Plom turns up far too late (like she was written in at the last moment). Despite of these nitpicks, it still holds up as some quality children's entertainment that couldn't be made today without resorting to computer effects. Koekeloerikoe!
7 out of 10
