Dick Laan
Encyclopedia
Dick Laan was a Dutch
children's writer and film pioneer. He is best-known for his Pinkeltje series.
). The Laan family moved in 1902 to Bloemendaal
. Dick Laan started working in his father's factories in Wormerveer, and was included in the company's direction in 1916, but when production at this factory temporarily dwindled during the First World War, he started spending more and more time on his main hobby, filming. He made his first movie in 1917 and another 50 movies and documentaries followed. He was the first to make children's movies, filmed with children he knew from his football club, Koninklijke HFC
, and the scouting club De Zwarte Pijl where he was a Scout Leader. In 1927 he founded with several other directors the Dutch Film Collective. In 1929 he produced and directed the film Voetbal, the first artistic movie about the sport. The famous movie director Joris Ivens
once stated that he had learned a lot from Dick Laan.
, German
, French
, Portuguese
, Swedish
, Danish
, Norwegian
, Finnish
and Icelandic
.
In 1978, 5 years after Dick Laan's death, Harrie Geelen
directed and wrote the screenplay for a movie about Pinkeltje
, which was quite successful in the Netherlands and starred Aart Staartjes
as Pinkeltje and Wieteke van Dort
as his female companion Pinkelotje. Pinkeltje's popularity in The Netherlands is witnessed by the forty-plus nursery schools and kindergartens named Pinkeltje, Pinkelotje or after another character from the books. In Heemstede, where Laan spent the last years of his life, a street was named the Dick Laanlaan (laan = lane) in his honor, later changed to the "Laan van Dick Laan". Almere
has also a Dick Laan street and in his birthplace Wormerveer is a Dick Laan square.
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
children's writer and film pioneer. He is best-known for his Pinkeltje series.
Early career and movies
Laan was the son of Jan Cornelis Laan and the grandson of Teunis Crok, the founders of the oil and fat processing company Crok & Laan (since 1971 part of UnileverUnilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
). The Laan family moved in 1902 to Bloemendaal
Bloemendaal
Bloemendaal is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. According to the Dutch Central Statistical Bureau, Bloemendaal is the wealthiest place in the Netherlands.-Population centres :...
. Dick Laan started working in his father's factories in Wormerveer, and was included in the company's direction in 1916, but when production at this factory temporarily dwindled during the First World War, he started spending more and more time on his main hobby, filming. He made his first movie in 1917 and another 50 movies and documentaries followed. He was the first to make children's movies, filmed with children he knew from his football club, Koninklijke HFC
Koninklijke HFC
Koninklijke HFC is a football club in Haarlem, the Netherlands. It is the oldest club in Dutch history, founded by Pim Mulier in 1879. During the first years the only team played rugby but due to financial problems they switched to association football...
, and the scouting club De Zwarte Pijl where he was a Scout Leader. In 1927 he founded with several other directors the Dutch Film Collective. In 1929 he produced and directed the film Voetbal, the first artistic movie about the sport. The famous movie director Joris Ivens
Joris Ivens
Joris Ivens was a Dutch documentary filmmaker and committed communist.-Early life and career:...
once stated that he had learned a lot from Dick Laan.
Pinkeltje
His writing of screenplays for movies led to the writing of books. He first wrote a number of boy's juvenile (adventure) books, but Laan is by far best-known for his Pinkeltje series of children books, featuring a pinky-sized hero. The first entry in this series, "The Adventures of Pinkeltje", was published in 1939 and went on to sell 3 million copies in Dutch (compare the total number of 20 million Dutch-speaking people). He would write another 28 entries in the series, though the last four volumes were published only posthumously. From the second volume on Dick Laan himself is a character, appearing in the beginning of each book, when Pinkeltje visits Meneer (Mr) Dick Laan to tell him about his adventures. Translations of Pinkeltje have been made in EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
, Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
and Icelandic
Icelandic language
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
.
In 1978, 5 years after Dick Laan's death, Harrie Geelen
Harrie Geelen
Harrie Geelen is Dutch illustrator, film director, animator, translator, writer and poet.He studied Dutch in Amsterdam, where he met his wife Imme Dros, a writer of Dutch children's literature. Geelen wrote and directed several television programs and translated Disney films into Dutch. He...
directed and wrote the screenplay for a movie about Pinkeltje
Pinkeltje (film)
Pinkeltje is a 1978 Dutch film directed by Harrie Geelen. The movie is based on the books of Dutch writer Dick Laan about the fictional character Fingerling .-Cast:* Aart Staartjes ...Pinkeltje...
, which was quite successful in the Netherlands and starred Aart Staartjes
Aart Staartjes
Aart Staartjes is a Dutch actor, director, television presenter and documentary maker from Amsterdam. He is well-known for his role on Sesamstraat, the Dutch co-production of Sesame Street. On this show, his character's name is Meneer Aart Aart Staartjes (born March 1, 1938, Nieuwendam) is a...
as Pinkeltje and Wieteke van Dort
Wieteke van Dort
Louisa Johanna Theodora van Dort is a Dutch actress, comedienne, singer, writer and artist of Indo descent...
as his female companion Pinkelotje. Pinkeltje's popularity in The Netherlands is witnessed by the forty-plus nursery schools and kindergartens named Pinkeltje, Pinkelotje or after another character from the books. In Heemstede, where Laan spent the last years of his life, a street was named the Dick Laanlaan (laan = lane) in his honor, later changed to the "Laan van Dick Laan". Almere
Almere
Almere is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, the Netherlands, bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde. The municipality of Almere comprises the districts Almere Stad, Almere Haven, Almere Buiten, Almere Hout, Almere Poort and Almere Pampus .Almere is the youngest city in the...
has also a Dick Laan street and in his birthplace Wormerveer is a Dick Laan square.