Thomas Fredrik Georg Funck (26 October 1919 – 30 December 2010) was a Swedish baron (

freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

), author of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

, a

radio personality A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

and a

voice artist Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-scr ...

, most famous for his stories about Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball (Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll).Thomas Funck kändis över en natt
" (in Swedish) ''Västerviks-Tidningen'' He is the brother of Hasse Funck. He was married to Eva Funck and they have a son

Gustav Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

Early career

Funck, who started out writing literature aimed for adults, has claimed to never have had any permanent employment. During the 1940s he primarily worked as a

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

teacher. He performed his original songs in Norwegian radio on guitar. During this time he began to have stories sold, in order to have them read and performed on Swedish radio as well.Svenskfilmdatabas' entry on the animated film with partial biography
" (in Swedish) ''

Swedish Film Institute The Swedish Film Institute () (SFI) is a statutory body located in Stockholm, Sweden that supports the Swedish film industry. Founded in 1963, the institute is responsible for administering the annual Guldbagge Awards, and for managing the Swed ...

Charlie Strapp and Froggy Ball

Charlie Strapp and Froggy Ball had appeared as parts of Swedish radio shows since the mid 40s, but portrayed by regular actors. In the early 50s Funck started to do the voice of Charlie Strapp. The big breakthrough came in 1954, when all voices for the first time were provided by Funck himself, only with help of a guitar for sound effects. The radio performances were followed by several records with the same concept, a

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

drawn by Nils Egerbrandt and from 1955 a series of books with illustrations by Einar Norelius. In 1956 a

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

also came out of it, ''

Charlie Strap, Froggy Ball and Their Friends Charlie may refer to: Film and television * ''Charlie'' (2015 Malayalam film), an Indian Malayalam-language film * ''Charlie'' (2015 Kannada film), an Indian Kannada-language film * ''Charlie'' (TV series), a 2015 political drama series based ...

'' (''Kalle Stropp, Grodan Boll och deras vänner''), with actors in costumes

miming A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a theatrical medium o ...

while Funck provided the voices. Some parts were also

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

with dolls.Svenskfilmdatabas' entry on the first film
" (in Swedish) ''

'' After the 1950s, interest allegedly seemed to fade, but then the 1970s saw a revival of the characters after appearing on radio again. In the late 1980s and early 1990s two animated films were produced and directed by

Jan Gissberg Jan Gissberg (born 13 August 1948) is a Swedish cartoonist, animator and film director.''Nationalencyklopedin'' bibliographical entry about Gissberg, retrieved 16 November 2013 After studying at Konstfack in Stockholm he started working as an ani ...

Characters

* ''Charlie Strap'' – A grasshopper dressed in a green

tailcoat A tailcoat is a knee-length coat (clothing), coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt (known as the ''tails''), with the front of the skirt cut away. The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse-riding ...

(pink

in the animated films) who speaks of himself in third person. He is very controlled on the border to neurotic and owns an umbrella with a silver ferrule. * '' Froggy Ball'' – A rough but very kind frog who speaks in a sloppily with much slang and wears a

waistcoat A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit) or vest ( US and Canada) is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wea ...

(shirt in the animated films). * ''Sheet-Niklas'' (Sheet Metal Niklas; roughly "Tin Man") – A robot with extraordinary abilities. * ''The Hen'' – A good friend of Charlie Strap who lives in a chicken coop. * ''The Fox'' – A fox who might not always be completely trustworthy. Speaks in a slow way with random pauses for laughs. * ''The Parrot'' – A parrot who grows tired of sitting in her cage all day and prefers to join Charlie Strap and the others.

Filmography

* '' Kalle Stropp, Grodan Boll och deras vänner'' (''Kalle Stropp, Grodan Boll och deras vänner'') (1956) (voice) * ''

Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll räddar Hönan ''Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll räddar Hönan'' is a 1987 Swedish animated short film directed by Jan Gissberg about the two eponymous characters created by Thomas Funck. Funck also provides all voices. The film was released theatrically in Swed ...

'' (''Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll räddar Hönan'') (1987) (voice) * ''

Charlie Strapp and Froggy Ball Flying High ''Charlie Strapp and Froggy Ball Flying High'' () is a 1991 Swedish animated feature film directed by Jan Gissberg after an original script by Thomas Funck, using Funck's already well-established characters. It follows a shorter film made by th ...

'' (''Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll på svindlande äventyr'') (1991) (voice)

References

External links

Official website via the Wayback Machine
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Funck, Thomas 1919 births 2010 deaths People from Linköping Writers from Östergötland County Swedish children's writers