Fabeltjeskrant

Lore & Background

The series is set in a forest inhabited by anthropomorphic felt animals. Each episode is introduced by the main character, Meneer de Uil (Mr. Owl), who reads a fable to other characters upon a tree. The first episode was broadcast on 29 September 1968 on NOS. The show's characters include Juffrouw Ooievaar, Lowieke de Vos, Crox de Raaf, Bor de Wolf, and many others, each with a species-based surname. In the British version, aired on ITV from 1973 to 1975 under the title The Daily Fable, character names were anglicized, such as Mr. Owl for Meneer de Uil and Boris the Wolf for Bor de Wolf.

Reader's Guide

Fabeltjeskrant holds significance as a long-running Dutch children's program that introduced generations to classic fables through innovative puppetry and stop-motion animation. Its international reach included broadcasts in Japan, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and adaptations in countries such as France, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Peru, Mexico, and Poland. The series also spawned a 1970 film, Onkruidzaaiers in Fabeltjesland, and a 2007 musical adaptation. A CGI animation series based on the original work was broadcast in 2019 on Netflix in the Netherlands. The show's legacy is further marked by newspaper comic strips in 1969 and 1975, and its continued presence in Dutch popular culture.

Did You Know?

• The series was created in 1968 by Leen Valkenier and initially produced by Thijs Chanowski from 1968 to 1970, but the original run continued under other producers until 1973.
• The main character, Meneer de Uil, introduces each episode by reading a fable to other characters upon a tree.

Origins and Production

De Fabeltjeskrant, whose Dutch title translates to 'The Fables Newspaper,' is a children's television series built around puppetry and stop-motion animation. Leen Valkenier conceived the show in 1968, and its first episode aired on NOS on 29 September of that year. Production was handled by Thijs Chanowski for the first series and later by Loek de Levita for the second. The series ran until 1989, finding a home on Dutch channels NOS, RTL 4, and RTL 8. Beyond the Netherlands, the program reached audiences in Belgium via VRT and in Japan through NHK. Its most notable international run came in the United Kingdom, where ITV carried it between 1973 and 1975 under the English title The Daily Fable. The show's blend of handcrafted felt characters and classic storytelling gave it a distinctive visual identity that set it apart from other Dutch children's programming of the era, including the well-known Sesamstraat.

The Forest and Its Inhabitants

Each episode of the series draws its narrative from the fables of Jean de La Fontaine, Aesop, and Phaedrus, alongside original stories penned by the show's own scenographer, Leen Valkenier. The framing device is simple yet charming: an owl named Meneer de Uil, also known as Jacob de Uil, perches in a tree and reads a fable aloud to the gathered cast. The world they inhabit is a forest populated entirely by anthropomorphic felt animals, each identified by a surname tied to their species. The ensemble is remarkably diverse, featuring a stork, a fox, a raven, a wolf, two beavers, a hare, a tortoise, an ant, a pigeon, a horse, a bear, a guinea pig, a paradise bird, hamsters, a mole, a llama, a zebra, and a dog. The first two series also introduced a roster of recurring supporting figures, including the mischievous pair Tijl Schavuit and Sjefke Schelm, who first appeared in a 1970s feature film before joining the television cast.

A Fable for the World

The show's appeal transcended Dutch borders, earning it a presence in at least eleven countries. In France it aired as Le petit écho de la Forêt, in Hungary as Fabulácskahírek, in Israel as Sipurimpo, in Italy as La fiaba quotidiana, in Norway as Fablenes bok, in Sweden as Fablernas värld, in Peru and Mexico as Las Crónicas de Fabulandia, in Japan as Fachishu shinbun, and in Poland as Leśna gazetka. The production approach varied by market: Sweden, France, and the United Kingdom received entirely refilmed versions tailored to their audiences, while the Hebrew and Italian editions were dubbed from the English-language adaptation. The UK broadcast on ITV ran from 1973 to 1975, giving British children a window into the felt-animated forest under the title The Daily Fable. This multi-lingual footprint, spanning Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and East Asia, made the series one of the more widely distributed Dutch children's programs of its era.

Life Beyond the Screen

Long after the original television run concluded in 1989, the world of the felt forest continued to expand through various media. Lex Overeijnder created a short-lived newspaper comic strip in 1969, and Dick Vlottes followed with another strip published in the TV magazine Televizier in 1975. A theatrical film, Onkruidzaaiers in Fabeltjesland, premiered in cinemas in 1970, bringing the characters to the big screen. In 2007, Ruud de Graaf and Hans Cornelissen crafted a musical adaptation that introduced a new character, Fatima de Poes, an Iranian cat wearing a hijab. The most significant revival came in 2019, when a CGI-animated series based on the original work debuted on Netflix in the Netherlands. That same year brought two new-generation characters: Wally Windhond, a DJ dog whose voice and music were performed by Armin van Buuren, and Peter Panda, signaling the franchise's continued relevance for a new generation of young viewers.