Marten Toonder
Encyclopedia
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
. He was probably the most successful comic artist in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and had a great influence in the Dutch language
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
by introducing new words and expressions.
Tom Puss/Oliver B. Bumble series
His most famous comic series were the Tom PussTom Puss
Tom Puss is a fictional anthropomorphic cat and one of the two main characters, the other being Oliver B. Bumble Tom Puss (Tom Poes in Dutch language) is a fictional anthropomorphic cat and one of the two main characters, the other being Oliver B. Bumble Tom Puss (Tom Poes in Dutch language) is a...
(Tom Poes in Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
) and Oliver B. Bumble
Oliver B. Bumble
Oliver B. Bumble is a fictional anthropomorphic bear and one of the , the other being Tom Puss in an originally Dutch series of comic books bearing the name of either one main characters in their name, written by Marten Toonder.-Publication history:The first Tom Puss stories were told as...
(Olivier B. Bommel in Dutch) series that appeared in a Dutch newspaper from 1941-1986. It has a very characteristic format. Every day there were three drawings and an accompanying text (about a book-page long). It started out as a children's cartoon, but gradually became more relevant to adults. Nowadays his texts are sometimes considered literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and Marten Toonder received several literary prizes for them. He invented many new words and expressions and some of those are now widely used in the Dutch language
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, or referred to as Prlwytzkofsky
Prlwytzkofsky
Prlwytzkofsky is a fictional written variant of the Dutch language, based on the idiolect of the Polish-German Professor Zbigniew Prlwytzkofsky , as featured in the Tom Puss and Oliver B. Bumble series by Marten Toonder...
language. Because of his specific writing style, so far, it has been impossible to translate adequately. His drawing style is very detailed and might be compared to Pogo, with more room for background drawings, since there are no text 'balloons' in the drawings.
Personal details
Toonder was born in Rotterdam on May 2, 1912. He lived in IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
from 1965 until the early 1990s. His first wife was Phiny Dick, his second composer Tera de Marez Oyens
Tera de Marez Oyens
Tera de Marez Oyens was a Dutch composer.De Marez Oyens was born as Woltera Gerharda Wansink. She studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with a major in piano. Here, her talent for composition was discovered as she wrote her first pieces. These included chamber music and song cycles...
. Together with his brother, author Jan Gerhard Toonder, he assisted his father, (Captain) Marten Toonder Sr., a seaman born in the Dutch northern province Groningen
Groningen (province)
Groningen [] is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea...
, to write a book about his life, in which Toonder Sr. describes many details about the ending era of professional cargo
Cargo
Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...
sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
, the Rotterdam Lloyd (Line to East Indies), the Holland America Line
Holland America Line
The Holland America Line is a cruise shipping company. It was founded in 1873 as the Netherlands-America Steamship Company , a shipping and passenger line. Headquartered in Rotterdam and providing service to the Americas, it became known as Holland America Line...
and about pre-war Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
.
According to his family, Marten Toonder died in his sleep on July 27, 2005.
Tom Puss/Oliver B. Bumble series
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(Cock-song), poems by Quereljn Xaverius, Marquis of Barneveldt, compiled by M. Toonder"
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(Wing-ed years), poems by Quereljn Xaverius, Marquis of Barneveldt, compiled by M. Toonder |
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Autobiographical material
- Vroeger was de aarde plat (1992). Amsterdam: De Bezige BijDe Bezige BijDe Bezige Bij is one of the most important literary publishing companies in the Netherlands.-History:The company was founded illegally in 1943, during the German occupation of the Netherlands by Geert Lubberhuizen; its fist publication was a poem by Jan Campert called De Achttien Dooden , which...
. ISBN 9023432584. - Het geluid van bloemen (1993). Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij. ISBN 9023433300.
- Onder het kollende meer Doo (1996). Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij. ISBN 9023435621.
- Tera (1998). Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij. ISBN 9023438256.
- We zullen wel zien (2001). Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij. ISBN 9023462416.
Awards
- 1982: StripschapprijsStripschapprijsThe Dutch Stripschapprijs is a prize awarded to comic writers and cartoonists for their whole work. It is awarded annually by the Stripschap, the Dutch Society of comics fans. The prize is non-pecuniary.-Winners:...
, the Netherlands - 1992 : TollensprijsTollensprijsThe Tollens Prize, Dutch Tollensprijs, is an quinquennial award in the Netherlands designed to provide a five prominent literary honor. The prize is awarded for a body of work that, in the opinion of the jury, had the highest literary value in the preceding five years.The award, established by the...
- 1997: Adamson Gold AwardAdamson AwardsAdamson Awards is a Swedish award awarded to notable cartoonists, named after the famous Swedish comic strip "Adamson" .They have been presented by the Swedish Academy of Comic Art at the annual Gothenburg Book Fair since 1965...
for Lifetime Achievement, SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
External links
- Biography
- Toondertijd A Dutch site for collectors of Marten Toonders stories
- Bommel zolder The one and only Toonder museum
- Panda and the clocktower fight One of Toonder's Panda stories (in Norwegian)