'De Avonturen van Prik en Prak'.
Joop Geesink was a Dutch TV producer and puppet film animator, best-known for creating 'Rick de Kikker' ("Rick The Frog", 1967-1968) and his signature character 'Loeki de Leeuw' ("Loeki The Lion", 1972-2004), who livened up the commercial breaks on Dutch television. The puppet shorts were made in Geesink's own animation studio, Dollywood, in close association with the Marten Toonder Studios. Both 'Rick de Kikker' and 'Loeki de Leeuw' were adapted into children's comics. Early in his career, Geesink drew the comic 'De Avonturen van Prik en Prak' (1941) for the children's magazine Doe Mee, along with various one-shot children's comics produced in the 1950s for the coffee brand Douwe Egberts.
Early life and career
Johan Louis Geesink was born in 1913 in The Hague. Together with his brother Wim, he began his career as a painter of posters and façade advertisements, working mostly for cinemas. After a while, the young entrepreneurs also got jobs as decorators for cinemas, dance halls and theaters, such as Scala in The Hague. In 1935 Joop Geesink was hired to create promotional billboards for the humorous cabaret shows of Dutch comedian Lou Bandy, at the time the biggest star of the Rob Peters Nationale Revue shows. This resulted in assignments for designing stage sets and costumes for new Bandy shows, for instance for 'Schep Vreugde in het Leven' (1937) and 'Lach Iederen Dag' (1938). In reviews, Geesink's sets were regularly praised for their cartoony playfulness and modern approach to colors and linework. His characters revealed influences from the American cartoons shorts from the Disney Studios.
1938 posters by Joop Geesink for a Lou Bandy show and the Dutch Railways.
After a while, Geesink headed for Paris, where until 1939 he worked for the renowned international costume and set design firm Wendy, known for its work for the 'Folies Bergeres' shows in Paris and London. According to newspaper reports, the French experience made Geesink a man of the world, with a cosmopolitan flamboyance he maintained for the rest of his career. Back in the Netherlands, he was hired by producer René Sleeswijk to design sets for the comedy duo 'Snip en Snap', an association he held until their 1942-1943 show. In addition, he lent his services to the young Dutch film industry, creating sets for the 1939 thriller film 'De Spooktrein', starring Fien de la Mar. Starting in 1938, Geesink also worked regularly for the Dutch Railways, creating informational posters.
Illustration for Doe Mee.
Comics and illustrations
In the late 1930s, Geesink was also contributing illustrations to the tabloid-sized Dutch comic magazine Doe Mee, a juvenile publication of the newspaper Algemeen Handelsblad. While the magazine originally ran translated American newspaper comics, the early years of World War II called in a period of mostly local comic artists, among which Auke Tadema, Marten Toonder and Pax Steen. In 1941, Joop Geesink drew the humor comic 'De Avonturen van Prik en Prak', about two mischievous boys whose sole purpose in life seems to be pranking the local police officer Krelis Snor. In the 1939-1940 period, Joop Geesink also drew cartoony postcards with military humor for the publisher EMNA.
Military humor for the "Soldier Series" of postcard publisher EMNA (1939-1940).
For the Dutch novelist A.D. Hildebrand (famous for the children's book series 'Bolke de Beer'), Geesink created the fairy tale picture book 'De Reuzen Belfloor en Bonnevu in het Land van Koning Kaskoeskilewan' (Van Holkema & Warendorf, 1941). While staying with King Kaskoeskilewan and his jester Krokeledokus, the good-natured giants Belfloor and Bonnevu unintentionally prove to be difficult guests. For breakfast, they eat six meters of bread, three hundred eggs, a few barrels of butter, and three tubs of milk for breakfast - and when Belfloor laughs, the goldfish bowl in the throne room wobbles. It was the second installment in the book series about the two gentle giants, the first (1936) and third (1941) volumes had artwork by George van Raemdonck.
Film career
In March 1942, Geesink started his film career, assembling a team of about fifteen co-workers and forming Joop Geesink Filmproducties. Among his earliest employees were Lou den Hartogh, Henk Kabos, Geertje Knoef, Frans van Lamsweerde, John van der Meulen, Mary Oosterdijk, Carol Voges and Henk Zwart. They initially worked in Geesink's house apartment in the Vijzelstraat in Amsterdam on a film by commission of the Dutch Railways: 'Pierus in de Contramine'. Geesink, however, lacked experience and professional material, and later that year, he joined forces with Marten Toonder. Geesink, Toonder and Toonder's business partner Jan Bouman to set up the animation studio "Geesink Toonder Teekenfilm-productie". Geesink's brother Wim Geesink was brought in as chief of staff and finances. The studio expanded and attracted new employees like Henk Albers, Albert van Beek, Wim Bijmoer, Wim Bodewes, Wim Boost, Jan Dirk van Exter, Piet Gertenaar, Richard Klokkers, James Ringrose and Henk Sprenger, while moving into a larger building in the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal.
Despite everyone's efforts, the 'Geesink-Toonder' collaboration fell apart after only a year. Toonder wanted to make hand-drawn animated films, while Geesink was more interested in stop-motion and puppet films. In 1943, the Geesink brothers set up their own Dollywood Studios, specialized in documentaries, advertising films and instruction films. In 1955, they also set up a live action division under the name Starfilm. Among the famous names who have worked for them throughout the years were Ton Beek, Piet de Groot, Harrie Geelen, Lo Hartog van Banda, Henk Kabos, Patty Klein, Frits Kloezeman, Georges Mazure, Mary Oosterdijk, Wil Raymakers, Koos Schadée, Han van Gelder, Jan van Haasteren, Carol Voges and Henk Zwart. In addition to commercial assignments, Geesink also produced personal projects, such as 'Het Wonderlijke Leven van Willem Parel' (1955), a film based on the popular comedy character Willem Parel, played by Dutch comedian Wim Sonneveld.
'Okido'.
Dutchy
The earliest recognizable character from Geesink's Dollywood Studio's was Dutchy, a stereotypical Dutchman, dressed in traditional costume, complete with clogs. The stop-motion puppet character starred in a series of advertisements for The Dutch Dairy Company and technology multinational Philips.
Rick de Kikker
Between 1967 and 1968, the Geesink studios produced 'Rick de Kikker', a TV puppet series for broadcasting company TROS. Jan van Haasteren en Frits Kloezeman adapted the show into a 1967-1968 newspaper comic strip for De Telegraaf. There is no relation between Geesink's 'Rick de Kikker' and the frog mascot of the same name of amusement park Duinrell in Wassenaar.
Dollywood advertising and children's comics
Apart from 'Rick de Kikker', Geesink's Dollywood Studios also produced various advertising comics in the 1950s, like 'Pukkie Planta' (1953) by Henk Kabos and Johan Veeninga for the packaged goods multinational Unilever, and 'Piet Spriet en Ko de Koe' for the labels of the milk brand Friesche Vlag. The studio also produced straightforward children's comics, like studio co-workers Henk de Wolf and Henk Zwart's newspaper comic strip 'Fokkie Flink' (1946-1948) for newspaper Trouw. Geesink himself made two picture books with Henk de Wolf: 'In het Rijk van Koning Leeuw' (1944) and 'Bolletje Dam' (1946). Together with Han Hoekstra, he also made four sticker collecting books sith the two dogs 'Flip en Flap' (1950-1951) for the coffee brand Douwe Egberts. The characters had previously appeared in a couple of similar books by Daan Hoeksema in 1930. Also for Douwe Egberts, Hoekstra and Geesink later cooperated on pop-up books based on the fairy tales 'Little Red Riding Hood' (1958) and 'Cinderella' (1959).
'Flip en Flap'
Loeki de Leeuw
Geesink's Dollywood Studios remain most fondly remembered for their signature character, 'Loeki de Leeuw' (1972-2004). Loeki was a stop-motion animated lion who appeared in hundreds of TV shorts used as bumpers during commercial breaks. Each five seconds-long short featured Loeki in an absurd situation, which usually left him befuddled. When something went above his head, he uttered his catchphrase: "Asjemenou!" ("Well, I ever!"), a filler word studio member Han van Gelder often used. Occasionally, Loeki was able to put a situation to his hand and triumphantically declared: "Voila!" ("There you go!"). Other shorts featured a synchronized interpretation of the jingles that opened and closed off each commercial break. While Loeki was the protagonist, the shorts also featured occasional side characters, like his lioness girlfriend Roosje, Welpie the lion cub, Piep the mouse, Guusje the duck and Filiep the blue elephant. A small team of about ten animators worked on the shorts, including Henk Kabos and Cor Icke. For a staggering period 32 years, over 7.000 'Loeki' shorts were made, running non-stop on the Dutch small screen for decades. Some were also broadcast in Austria, France, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Despite the short run of each individual 'Loeki' cartoon, the character was very beloved with three generations of viewers. In 1986, the character also received his own pantomime gag comic, created by Wil Raymakers for the children's magazine Okki. Each gag was printed on the final page of each issue, usually in a six-panel format.
In 2004, the final 'Loeki' short was broadcast on television. Distributor-producer STER (Stichting Ether Reclame) discontinued the production because it became too costly. Loeki lives on as the Dutch TV award De Gouden Loeki ("The Golden Loeki") for "Best TV Commercial", first awarded in 1995. The prize also has a Belgian counterpart named De Gouden Welp ("The Golden Lion Cub") and a pejorative counterpart for the "Worst TV commercial" named De Loden Leeuw ("The Lead Lion"). Loeki is also the mascot of the theme park Huis ten Bosch in Nagasaki, Japan.
Joop Geesink with Loeki and trademark cigar (Leeuwarder Courant, 12 December 1981).
Dusty
In the 1970s, the Toonder Studios produced a series of animated TV shorts, aimed to create environmental awareness. The starring character was Dusty, an antropomorphic kangaroo whose tail ends in a broom. In 1977, Geesink's studio launched a daily comic strip adaptation, also named 'Dusty', sponsored by Sorbo and printed in the newspaper De Telegraaf. A color version also ran in Troskompas, the network magazine of TROS. 'Dusty' was sold to several foreign TV networks, including RAI Due in Italy, where it became a tremendous success. Among the many merchandising items was Dusty's own monthly comic magazine published by the Milanese publisher Epierre Edizioni, which ran for 24 issues between November 1978 and December 1979. The comics were produced by the Biereci Studios, which included such authors as Carlo Chendi, Luciano Bottaro, Giorgio Rebuffi, Enzo Marciante, Tiberio Colantuoni and Maria Luisa Uggetti. In the Netherlands, the strips were drawn by artists associated by Geesink Artists, among them Frits Kloezeman.
'Dusty', from De Telegraaf.
Toonder Studios
Althought the Dollywood Studios were lucrative, they couldn't compete with several smaller TV production companies who could offer similar but faster services for a more affordable sum. From 1963 on, Geesink tried to establish an educational theme park, Holland Promenade, but lost a lot of money since no invester was interested. By 1972, Dollywood went bankrupt, but through Geesink's old business partner Marten Toonder, a trimmed version of the studios could be relocated from Amsterdam to Castle Nederhorst in Nederhorst den Berg. They also started a collaboration with Cinestone Studio's. Of the 150 puppet film co-workers, only 15 remained. Geesink himself also left the studios, and continued to work from his home in Amsterdam. Geesink continued to work until the very end of his life. His final designs were for the Carnaval Festival attraction in De Efteling, a theme park based on the illustrations of Anton Pieck.
Death, legacy and influence
When Geesink passed away in Amsterdam in 1984, his daughter Louise took over the company. She began an association with artist Wil Raymakers to work on new character and mascot designs, as well new projects with 'Loeki de Leeuw', such as the 1986 comic page for children's magazine Okki. Joop Geesink's name lives on in the Joop Geesink Prize, an annual award distributed during the Holland Animation Filmfestival.
The looks of Bul Super, a shady businessman from Marten Toonder's 'Tom Poes' comic, were largely based on Joop Geesink. The character's first appearance was in the story 'De Superfilm-onderneming' (1944), in which Toonder reworked his disappointment over the failure of their joint studio. It must be said that the two men ended their business relationship on good terms, though.