Pipo en de p-p-Parelridder

Pipo receives a letter from Aunt Anouschka asking him for help with mysterious events in a nearby castle that appears to be haunted. Pipo leaves the circus in the hands of his wife Mamaloe and daughter Petra, to the chagrin of circus director Dikke Deur —a circus without Pipo sells fewer tickets. When Pipo arrives at the castle there is no ghost; instead, he finds a knight who has been asleep for 500 years. He is awakened, but the next problem is finding and waking his lady lover, who has also been asleep that long.

• Joep Dorren as Pipo the Clown
• Mariska Van Kolck as Mammaloe
• Meta Speksnijder as Petra
• Daan Schuurmans as Knight Didero van Donderstein
• Karin Bloemen as Aunt Anouschka
• Hero Muller as Dikke Deur
• Rudi Falkenhagen as Snuf
• Felix-Jan Kuypers as Snuitje
• Harry van Rijthoeven as Miriardo
• John Wijdenbosch as Mik
• Tara Elders as Jonkvrouw de Bonban

From the late 1950s on, Pipo de Clown was one of the earliest and most popular children's television shows in the Netherlands.{{cite book|last=Kratsborn|first=Wim|title=Onvoorspelbaar verleden: geschiedenis van prehistorie tot heden|year=2005|publisher=Van Gorcum|isbn=978-90-232-4085-3|page=223|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UGOTAMAIvvAC&pg=PA223}} The show finally ended in 1980. In the late 1990s, the return of Pipo was touched upon when television talk show host Ivo Niehe interviewed Belinda Meuldijk, the daughter of Pipo's creator (Wim Meuldijk), and her husband, singer Rob de Nijs. Niehe tried to sell the idea to various broadcasters but without success, and the rights were bought by Endemol.{{cite news|last=Gelder|first=Henk van|title=Wim Meuldijk over de comeback van zijn schepping Pipo de Clown|url=http://vorige.nrc.nl/kunst/article1629507.ece/Wim_Meuldijk_over_de_comeback_van_zijn_schepping_Pipo_de_Clown|accessdate=2 March 2011|newspaper=NRC Handelsblad|date=17 November 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720132512/http://vorige.nrc.nl/kunst/article1629507.ece/Wim_Meuldijk_over_de_comeback_van_zijn_schepping_Pipo_de_Clown|archive-date=20 July 2011|url-status=dead}} Auditions were held, and Joep Dorren was chosen as the new Pipo. The script for a pilot and for six episodes was written, and the 40-minute-long pilot (filmed in 1999 on Rob de Nijs's estate) proved very popular, selling 100,000 copies on video; still, the public broadcasting corporations had no faith in Pipo's chance of success and thought it would be too expensive.{{cite news|title=Man achter Pipo de Clown begon als striptekenaar|url=http://www.depers.nl/entertainment/156386/Wim-Meuldijk-de-man-achter-Pipo.html|accessdate=3 March 2011|newspaper=DePers.nl|date=27 December 2007}} In the end Endemol decided to make the series into a feature film instead.

The script is loosely based on a 1960 TV series, Pipo en het zingende zwaard, filming took place in Spain. The role of Snuf, one of the two crooks, was played by Rudi Falkenhagen, age 72. Falkenhagen was the last survivor of the original television show and Snuf was his first big role. He died two years later.{{cite news|title=Rudi Falkenhagen overleden|url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2676/Cultuur/article/detail/666040/2005/01/26/Rudi-Falkenhagen-overleden.dhtml|accessdate=2 March 2011|newspaper=de Volkskrant|date=26 January 2005}} Tara Elders, who starred in a number of Theo van Gogh movies, plays the part of the titular character's lady lover.{{cite news|title=Tara Elders|url=http://vorige.nrc.nl/kunst/article1629825.ece/Tara_Elders|accessdate=3 March 2011|newspaper=NRC Handelsblad|date=15 December 2004}}

The movie cost about €3.5 million to make. It brought in €692,665 in 2003 and €815,120 in 2004.{{cite web|title=Box office / business for Pipo en de p-p-Parelridder (2003)|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0344204/business|publisher=IMDB|accessdate=2 March 2011}}

In 2007, rumors circulated that a second Pipo film was to be made, Pipo & Het Geheim Van De Barkini Driehoek, written by Meuldijk and directed by Lagestee, with Joep Dorre returning as Pipo. The Indian Klukkluk, notably absent from Pipo en de p-p-Parelridder, was to make his return. According to Meuldijk, the film was set to be released at the end of 2008.{{cite news|title=Tweede Pipo-film volgend jaar in de bioscoop|url=http://www.gelderlander.nl/algemeen/kunst/article1329265.ece|accessdate=2 March 2011|newspaper=De Gelderlander|date=19 April 2007}} However, Meuldijk died in 2007, and though a musical, Pipo en de Gestolen Stem, was produced in 2009, no movie has been released.

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0344204|Pipo en de p-p-Parelridder}}

Category:2003 films

Category:2000s Dutch-language films

Category:Dutch children's films

Category:Films based on television series

Category:Films shot in Spain

Category:Comedy films about clowns

Category:Circus films

Category:Universal Pictures films