It's a shame none of Pipo de Clown's serials dating from 1958 to 1974 have survived intact (not counting the five minute daily program broadcast from 1966 to 1968). This 1963 underwater adventure is probably the most complete: 9 out of 15 installments still exist. Unfortunately in four of these Pipo (Cor Witschge) and his gypsy pal Felicio (Jan Pruis) are stuck in a toy submarine while the plot moves forward at a snails pace. Even without the 6 missing installments, the combined episodes give an adequate impression of the entire story. This is because of the fact that Pipo en de Waterlanders was repeated twice (in ''68 & '77) and was reedited into an abridged form at one or both of those times (rather than spending 15 half hours on a rerun). As such, it is the reedited version that survives.
When we last saw Pipo, Mammaloe and Felicio, they were guest starring in the final episode of Mik-Mak, of which one half (Donald Jones as Mik) decided to leave the other (Mak) and join Pipo on an adventure. As we start off in 'De Waterlanders', Mammaloe has decided to sit this one out (presumably due to actress Christel Adelaar's pregnancy). So now Pipo's traveling wagon is carrying just the three men. It's funny how Clown Pipo is actually the least amusing of this trio. This is because he is the hero, the wisest and most rational of the group, leaving strong but dumb Felicio (who mispronounces 'Pipo' as 'Popi') and just plain silly Mik to entertain the viewers. Still, writer Wim Meuldijk soon goes back to concentrating on just Pipo & Felicio, first leaving Mik on his own and then out of most of the proceedings altogether. On the other hand, this adventure does introduce the villainous duo of Snuf & Snuitje (Rudi Falkenhagen & Will Spoor), who will return to bother Pipo & pals for many years to come.
Shot in black and white and performed as if it was live, the story is enhanced by the insertion of silent filmed sequences shot on location (and mostly on water). These shots are expertly edited into the live performances. Less successful are the numerous blue screen/chroma key underwater effects we are treated to during the underwater sequences. A lot of these include the aforementioned miniature submarine being manipulated amongst real life fish by a huge visible pole sticking out of the top. This so called 'Zwemmobiel' is the invention of Professor Piekhaar (played by Han König at first but soon replaced by Jaap Hoogstra) who had been looking for a couple of heroic types to explore the ocean deep. Piekhaar's assistant Toedeloe is a young girl with amnesia. She is played by beautiful Hannah van der Vlugt for the first half of the series and by the even more stunning Marijke Merckens for the remainder. It also helps that after this change, the character stops repeating her name ad nauseam.
As said, an awful long time is spend as the Zwemmobiel aimlessly cruises the bottom of the ocean. Above them, the Professor & Toedeloe track the sub in their boat (which Snuf & Snuitje try to take over). Now I realize TV shows moved at a slower pace in those days, especially children's television, but to have Pipo & Felicio stuck in a mini-sub for four episodes (broadcast twice a month) is a bit much. Occasionally the characters sing a song, which is noteworthy because they were preformed live on set, with Henk van Dijk accompanying the actors on his organ just off screen.
Things pick up when they meet underwater queen Blieb (Liesbeth Struppert), who wears a removable fishtail. She leads them to her husband Bloeb (Ab Hofstee)'s underwater kingdom where everybody had legs because more mermaid tails were presumably too expensive or too much of a burden. Apart from the feisty Queen, all the underwater folk are enormous crybabies. Snuf & Snuitje go down as well and try to steal the giant underwater pearl that reflects the sun and lights up the entire underwater realm but they are soon foiled by the heroic Pipo.
Pipo, Blieb & the sunken sea captain Nep Tinus (Paul Meyer) then set out to look for an island in the sun for the Waterlanders to move onto. Along the way Toedeloe regains her memory as well as her hermit husband Bobby Kruzo (Frits Butzelaar). After foiling Snuf & Snuitje again, the Waterlanders become island natives and Mik makes a decidedly politically incorrect decision by today's standards. He proposes to stay on Kruzo's island as his 'man-Friday', only he wants to be called 'Snipperdag' (= day off). And that's the end of Mik's appearances in the Pipo stories, until the movie revival in 2003 that featured an all new cast (with the exception of Rudi Falkenhagen as Snuf).
Also noteworthy is that Felicio the big Gypsy quietly disappears from the proceedings near the end of the adventure, owing to the fact that actor Jan Pruis's health began to deteriorate rapidly because of a drinking problem. This is why Felicio stays behind under water and is never even mentioned in the final episode.
7 out of 10
When we last saw Pipo, Mammaloe and Felicio, they were guest starring in the final episode of Mik-Mak, of which one half (Donald Jones as Mik) decided to leave the other (Mak) and join Pipo on an adventure. As we start off in 'De Waterlanders', Mammaloe has decided to sit this one out (presumably due to actress Christel Adelaar's pregnancy). So now Pipo's traveling wagon is carrying just the three men. It's funny how Clown Pipo is actually the least amusing of this trio. This is because he is the hero, the wisest and most rational of the group, leaving strong but dumb Felicio (who mispronounces 'Pipo' as 'Popi') and just plain silly Mik to entertain the viewers. Still, writer Wim Meuldijk soon goes back to concentrating on just Pipo & Felicio, first leaving Mik on his own and then out of most of the proceedings altogether. On the other hand, this adventure does introduce the villainous duo of Snuf & Snuitje (Rudi Falkenhagen & Will Spoor), who will return to bother Pipo & pals for many years to come.
Shot in black and white and performed as if it was live, the story is enhanced by the insertion of silent filmed sequences shot on location (and mostly on water). These shots are expertly edited into the live performances. Less successful are the numerous blue screen/chroma key underwater effects we are treated to during the underwater sequences. A lot of these include the aforementioned miniature submarine being manipulated amongst real life fish by a huge visible pole sticking out of the top. This so called 'Zwemmobiel' is the invention of Professor Piekhaar (played by Han König at first but soon replaced by Jaap Hoogstra) who had been looking for a couple of heroic types to explore the ocean deep. Piekhaar's assistant Toedeloe is a young girl with amnesia. She is played by beautiful Hannah van der Vlugt for the first half of the series and by the even more stunning Marijke Merckens for the remainder. It also helps that after this change, the character stops repeating her name ad nauseam.
As said, an awful long time is spend as the Zwemmobiel aimlessly cruises the bottom of the ocean. Above them, the Professor & Toedeloe track the sub in their boat (which Snuf & Snuitje try to take over). Now I realize TV shows moved at a slower pace in those days, especially children's television, but to have Pipo & Felicio stuck in a mini-sub for four episodes (broadcast twice a month) is a bit much. Occasionally the characters sing a song, which is noteworthy because they were preformed live on set, with Henk van Dijk accompanying the actors on his organ just off screen.
Things pick up when they meet underwater queen Blieb (Liesbeth Struppert), who wears a removable fishtail. She leads them to her husband Bloeb (Ab Hofstee)'s underwater kingdom where everybody had legs because more mermaid tails were presumably too expensive or too much of a burden. Apart from the feisty Queen, all the underwater folk are enormous crybabies. Snuf & Snuitje go down as well and try to steal the giant underwater pearl that reflects the sun and lights up the entire underwater realm but they are soon foiled by the heroic Pipo.
Pipo, Blieb & the sunken sea captain Nep Tinus (Paul Meyer) then set out to look for an island in the sun for the Waterlanders to move onto. Along the way Toedeloe regains her memory as well as her hermit husband Bobby Kruzo (Frits Butzelaar). After foiling Snuf & Snuitje again, the Waterlanders become island natives and Mik makes a decidedly politically incorrect decision by today's standards. He proposes to stay on Kruzo's island as his 'man-Friday', only he wants to be called 'Snipperdag' (= day off). And that's the end of Mik's appearances in the Pipo stories, until the movie revival in 2003 that featured an all new cast (with the exception of Rudi Falkenhagen as Snuf).
Also noteworthy is that Felicio the big Gypsy quietly disappears from the proceedings near the end of the adventure, owing to the fact that actor Jan Pruis's health began to deteriorate rapidly because of a drinking problem. This is why Felicio stays behind under water and is never even mentioned in the final episode.
7 out of 10