''De Club van Sinterklaas'' (English literal title: ''The Club of Sinterklaas'', international title: ''St. Nicholas & Friends'') was a Dutch seasonal children's

telenovella A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ( ...

between 1999 and 2009 based on the legend of

Sinterklaas Sinterklaas () or Sint-Nicolaas () is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. Other Dutch names for the figure include ''De Sint'' ("The Saint"), ''De Goede Sint'' ("The Good Saint") and ''De Goedheiligman'' ("The ...

and

Zwarte Piet Zwarte Piet (; lb, Schwaarze Péiter, fy, Swarte Pyt), also known in English by the translated name Black Pete, is the companion of Saint Nicholas ( nl, Sinterklaas, fy, Sinteklaas, lb, Kleeschen) in the folklore of the Low Countries. The ...

. Since 2010, ''De club van Sinterklaas'' continues as a YouTube channel and a film series. The series attracted mass popularity in the Netherlands during its television running time. Several of the series theme songs charted in the

Dutch Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Du ...

and its 2005 and 2006 theme songs even topped the charts. It became the only Sinterklaas-related children's programme to be ever nominated for a Gouden Stuiver, where it lost out to ''

Het Huis Anubis ''Het Huis Anubis'' (English: ''The House of Anubis'') is a Dutch-Belgian children's television mystery drama based on elements of Egyptian mythology devised/created by Anjali Taneja, produced by Studio 100 and aired on Nickelodeon in the Netherla ...

''. In the wake of the zwartepietendiscussie, the original series was disregarded by its right holders

RTL Nederland RTL Nederland is a Dutch media network, a subsidiary of the RTL Group. The media company is located in Hilversum, although the licences of its TV stations are issued in Luxembourg. History The history of the network dates back to 1989 when dut ...

due to the use of black face paint on white actors and the traditional depiction of

Premise

The series follows a group of Zwarte Pieten on their misadventures on their yearly journey to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The series has a different subtitle every year in relation to the plot of the year.

Controversy

The practice of face painting white actors with black face paint was well-accepted in Dutch society until the late 2000s. However, in the early 2010s, in the wake of the zwartepietendiscussie, ''De club van Sinterklaas'' became one of the first Dutch television series to stop this practice and introduced the 'soot' version of the character in 2017. As the debate continued, RTL decided to remove the older series from its streaming platform Videoland as well as removing all the content prior to 2017 from ''De club van Sinterklaas'' YouTube channel. Earlier on,

VEVO Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

had removed all the music videos from the SinterklaasVEVO channel.

Cast

Main

*Sinterklaas -

Bram van der Vlugt Bram van der Vlugt (28 May 1934 – 19 December 2020) was a Dutch actor. He is known for playing the role of Sinterklaas for over two decades. He died on 19 December 2020, at the age of 86, after contracting COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic ...

(1999-2009) *Wegwijspiet - Michiel Kerbosch (1999-2005) *Chefpiet - Don van Dijke (1999-2002, 2005) *Muziekpiet - Win Schluter (1999-present) *Hooge Hoogtepiet- Tim de Zwart (2001, 2003-2020) *Testpiet - Beryl van Praag (2001-present) *Coole Piet - Harold Verwoert (2001-2007, 2009-2011) *Profpiet- Piet van der Pas (2003-present) *Hulppiet- Titus Boonstra (2004-2011)

Supporting

*Meneer de Directeur - Tim de Zwart (2002-2004) *Jacob - Peter de Gelder (2003-2005) *Tante Toets - Maja van den Broecke (2005)

Television series

* Season 1 (1999): De club van Sinterklaas * Season 2 (2001): De nieuwe club of Sinterklaas * Season 3 (2002): De club van Sinterklaas & De verdwijning van Wagen 27 * Season 4 (2003): De club van Sinterklaas & Het blafpoeder * Season 5 (2004): De club van Sinterklaas & De brieven van Jacob * Season 6 (2005): De club van Sinterklaas & De streken van Tante Toets * Season 7 (2006): De club van Sinterklaas & Paniek in de confettifabriek * Season 8 (2007): De club van Sinterklaas & De speelgoeddief * Season 9 (2008): De club van Sinterklaas & De grote onbekende * Season 10 (2009): De club van Sinterklaas & De jacht op het kasteel

External links

Jetix' official ''De Club'' website
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Club van Sinterklaas 1999 Dutch television series debuts Dutch children's television series Dutch-language television shows Dutch movie series Sinterklaas