All about Douwe Dabbert
* translated editions and additional information *
from Piet Wijn and Thom Roep
Bermudillo, Timpe Tampert, Daniel Dudek, Gammelpot, Dusty Dabbert, Teobald, Nicky Bommel, Danny Doodle, Bobo Pak Janggut ..... and Barbie, published by the United Arab Emirates
Introduction
The illustrator Piet Wijn was approached in 1974 by Thom Roep, who was then screenwriter and editor of Bobo magazine, to create a fairy-tale illustration. The drawing, which Wijn made was not used, but Roep saw something in the dwarf drawn by Wijn. They decided to create a one-off adventure around this figure. This resulted in the first story featuring Douwe Dabbert, "De Verwende Prinses / The Spoiled Princess". From the success of this story was born the comic series in which Douwe Dabbert plays the main role. The drawing style is realistic, detailed, colorful, historicizing and with a lot of nature.
A total of 23 comic books appeared in the Dutch language featuring Douwe's adventures. The last story "De Wonderlijke Raamvertelling / The Amazing Frame Story" was partially drawn by Dick Matena (from page 17 onwards), due to Piet Wijn's ill health.
The Douwe Dabbert series appeared as sequels in the Dutch weekly magazine Donald Duck from 1975 to 2001.
In addition to the stories, Douwe Dabbert announcements, advertisements and posters appeared with great regularity in the Donald Duck magazines.
Douwe also participated in various contests, and he sometimes appeared in corporate advertising campaigns. See page "All editions/inserts".
A then young lady, Jolanda, sent a letter to Opus One in early 2000 asking if they wouldn't also make a musical of Douwe Dabbert. They didn't like that and then she started it herself, for which she got permission from Piet Wijn and Thom Roep to perform. Using a photo program, she turned the rewritten story of The Spoiled Princess into a softcover book so that it could be used for a stage performance.
Piet Wijn ended up getting this for his 80th birthday. She also sent a copy to Thom Roep and to Father Moeskroen (she wanted to use the songs from those).
She did make attempts to get it performed at the time, but she also realized that in editing her amateur piece - professionally - the investment in actors, direction, scenery and costumes is quite involved. So now it is in the collection. See page "Curiosa".
The kind gnome Douwe Dabbert experiences fun, action-packed and imaginative adventures in which magic is never far away. For example, he has a magic knapsack that often helps him out of trouble. The nice thing about the knapsack is that it only works when Douwe uses it. The atmospheric stories are beautifully drawn with an eye for detail.
Piet Wijn was a versatile Dutch cartoonist known for his poetic style. Exactly what historical period the stories are set in is not always clear. In most stories it seems to be the 17th or 18th century, but sometimes the Middle Ages (as in "Florijn de Flierefluiter / Florijn the Loafer"). In a number of stories Douwe Dabbert encounters fairy tale characters, such as witches and wizards. Then again, a story contains some more realistic elements, such as the Dutch West India Company (which appears in "De Weg naar West / The Way to the West") and ("De Zee naar Zuid / The Sea to the South").
In Spanish, Douwe Dabbert is called "Bermudillo".
The title ("Bermudillo - el genio del hatillo") contains the typical pronunciation of Bruguera Editorial.
"El hatillo" in English is "the bundle" (and "knapzak" in the original Dutch).
The name comes from the island of Bermuda, which bears the name of the Spanish navigator who discovered them, Juan Bermudez. Bermudez, if it is a common surname, means "the son of Bermudo."
Bermudo, according to the Wikipedia is a name, used by some kings of Asturias (Bermudo I) and Leon (Bermudo Bermudo II and III). Asturias is an area in northern Spain.