Wim Meuldijk (8 June 1922 – 27 December 2007) was a Dutch writer, illustrator, and screenwriter. He is the creator of ''Ketelbinkie'', one of the most popular Dutch comics after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and of

Pipo de Clown Pipo de Clown is a character created by writer and artist Wim Meuldijk, which became famous as the lead character of a popular early Netherlands, Dutch television series also written by Meuldijk, and which was subsequently popularized in movies an ...

, the star of a television show that ran from 1958 to 1980 which Meuldijk produced, filmed, and for which he wrote the script.

Biography

Meuldijk's career as an illustrator really started during

. While in hiding to avoid being drafted, he developed a comic (''Snowflake and the Eskimo''), and after the war started publishing a comic magazine, ''Snowflake'', which turned into ''Ketelbinkie Krant'', a magazine containing what was to be his breakthrough: ''Ketelbinkie'', a three-panel comic about a little street kid with miraculous strength. The comic first appeared in 1945 and ran in the daily newspapers for twelve years. After that, Meuldijk wrote for radio shows until he was asked by the

VARA Vara or VARA may refer to: Geography *Vara (river), in Liguria, Italy * Vara Parish, former municipality in Tartu County, Estonia * Vara, Estonia, village in Peipsiääre Parish, Tartu County, Estonia * Vara Municipality, municipality in western S ...

, one of the Dutch broadcasting organizations, to help make a television show. He drew the clown and thus created the character Pipo de Clown. For more than twenty years, Meuldijk wrote the Pipo shows. During the show's first years he actually lived and traveled in a travel trailer, just like his character, and both his wife and his daughter were recognized in Pipo's wife and daughter, Mamaloe and Petra. His daughter,

Belinda Belinda is a feminine given name of unknown origin, apparently coined from Italian ''bella'', meaning "beautiful". Alternatively it may be derived from the Old High German name ''Betlinde'', which possibly meant "bright serpent" or "bright linde ...

, first performed on the show at age six. In the early days of ''Pipo de Clown'', which was initially broadcast live on Wednesday afternoon, Meuldijk did everything himself, from writing the script and casting the supporting actors to designing the set and choosing locations; he even built and painted Pipo's travel trailer. Meuldijk also wrote screenplays for other television shows, including '' Mik & Mak'' and ''Koning Bolo'', and scenes for the Dutch ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

'', but remained pigeonholed the rest of his life as the creator of Pipo. His last creative act was the script for the 2003 film ''

Pipo en de p-p-Parelridder ''Pipo en de P-P-Parelridder'' (English translation: ''Pipo and the p-p-Pearl Knight'') is a 2003 Dutch movie based on the children's television show ''Pipo de Clown''. The film received a Golden Film for having drawn 100,000 visitors. Backgroun ...

''. At the time of filming he was 81 and could not direct the movie, but did spend a number of days on the set in

Córdoba, Spain Córdoba (; ),, Arabic: قُرطبة DIN: . or Cordova () in English, is a city in Andalusia, Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. It is the third most populated municipality in Andalusia and the 11th overall in the country. The ...

. He is praised for his imaginative use of language and is credited with coining a number of expressions that via Pipo and other characters from the show made their way into daily usage.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meuldijk, Wim 1922 births 2007 deaths Dutch comics artists Dutch male dramatists and playwrights People from Schiedam 20th-century Dutch dramatists and playwrights