Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball Flying High
Encyclopedia
Charlie Strap 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 the same team in 1987, Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball
. This is the first time since before 1954 where a Kalle Stropp production features voice acting by others than only Funck himself, only with the exception of children that had participated in other productions as well. Also notable is that The Hen, one of the prominent characters in the Kalle Stropp canon, doesn't appear.
to examine it. It turns out to be an emergency signal and the two friends together with Plåt-Niklas and The Parrot set out on an expedition to resque whoever is sending the signal.
While crossing a stream, though, Froggy Ball falls down a small waterfall and ends up in a dark cave. While looking for a way out he stumbles upon the Cone
People who live there and quickly befriends the Cone King and Queen. In the meantime Charlie Strap has met up with Kottegrön, a young and impulsive female cone, and soon joins Froggy Ball and the others. It turns out that the Cone People are the ones who have been sending the signal, and when elevated up to a tree top Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball see a helicopter landing, with three evil businessmen from the company Tonto-Turbo who are planning to tear down a huge part of the forest. When the businessmen leave, Kottegrön ends up being with them on the helicopter.
Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball hang on to the landing skids, but eventually fall off high up in the air over a lake
. Luckily it turns out that Carlie's tailcoat
can be used as a parachute, and Froggy Ball even learns how to steer it by pulling the tails so they can land on a steam boat. On the boat Plåt-Niklas and The Parrot succeed to locate them so they can join them again.
The boat takes them to Gripsholm Castle
, which turns out to be where the businessmen were heading too, as their full plan is to move the old castle to the cleared space in the forest and turn it into a hyper modern luxury hotel, replacing most of its walls and floors with glass. This will be made possible by hacking the authorities' computers with a special program they are keeping on a floppy disk
. Kottegrön, who has been hiding in a briefcase, tries to steal the disk but fails. Instead she, Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball end up on the bottom of the castle well, but are soon resqued by Plåt-Niklas who has the ability to fly. In the meantime the men from Tonto-Turbo leave again in their helicopter. Plåt-Niklas calculates that they are heading to the city
, before he flies back to the cone forest with Kottegrön.
In the city, Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball walk up to Tonto-Turbo's central office and confront them, but are simply laughed at and disregarded. The businessmen then head off to the Nobel party
where they have been invited. The two friends, left in the office, discover that the men forgot to bring the floppy disk with them. They try to find out which one of the disks at the office it is that is the real one, and while trying one in the computer the frog ends up inside of a computer game and Charlie has to control him into safety with the joystick. Soon after that, one of the men returns - and takes the right disk with him.
Unable to get into the Nobel party, Froggy Ball is ready to give up when a submarine appears. Out of it come Plåt-Niklas and Kottegrön who have returned. Through the kitchen they smuggle themselves into the party by hiding in the dessert - an ice cream parade. When inside Froggy Ball holds a speech where he accuses the men from Tonto-Turbo in public. The atmosphere becomes confused, and the men capture the two friends and decide to get rid of them once and for all. But then suddenly The Fox, who had previously only been seen in a short cameo in the very beginning of the story, arrives and causes disruption. While the men are distracted everybody can escape, and Kottegrön steals the floppy disk. After a wild chase though, the men recapture the disk, but only to see an army of cones arrive and chase them into the water, where also the disk is dropped by The Parrot.
Back in the cone forest the frog is awarded a prize from the hands of the cone Minister of Flower Pots and the businessmen are given a new profession - shaving sheep, which they seem to enjoy.
Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball were frequently featured in various Swedish radio series during the summers. It was when listening to one of these Jan Gissberg got the idea of making an animated film about them and contacted Thomas Funck. Together they discussed the desirable appearances of the characters and settings. The project was to be produced by Gissberg's own recently started animation studio, Cinemation AB, where also his brother Peter Gissberg worked as a background artist. Around Christmas 1987 a short film was released, but already a year prior to that, they had begun working on a script for a feature-length film. In 1988 they started the process of making it, using a budget of 13 million SEK
.
The general Swedish reception was positive, with more or less a critical consensus claiming that it stood out as the winner among the films competing over a similar target audience, being released around the same time as Rock-A-Doodle
, The Rescuers Down Under
and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
. The playful style and rich ideas were complimented, and the poetic background art by Peter Gissberg was particularly praised.
Dagens Nyheter
claimed that although it might lack the virtuosity of Disney
's films, it is to its credit that it also lacks their sentimentality and delight for violence. And further, that it is "pretty sophisticated when it allows the sportively drawn characters to appear against a backdrop of aquarellic soft nature poetry, signed by Peter Gissberg."
Jan Gissberg
Jan Gissberg is a Swedish cartoonist, animator and film director. After studying at Konstfack in Stockholm he started working as an animator under Stig Lasseby, and later went on to direct by himself...
after an original script by Thomas Funck
Thomas Funck
Thomas Fredrik Georg Funck was a Swedish baron , author of children's literature, radio personality and voice artist, most famous for his stories about Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball .-Early career:Funck, who started out writing literature aimed for adults, has claimed to never have had...
, using Funck's already well-established characters. It follows a shorter film made by the same team in 1987, Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball
Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball (film)
Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball is a 1987 Swedish animated short film directed by Jan Gissberg about the two eponymous characters created by Thomas Funck...
. This is the first time since before 1954 where a Kalle Stropp production features voice acting by others than only Funck himself, only with the exception of children that had participated in other productions as well. Also notable is that The Hen, one of the prominent characters in the Kalle Stropp canon, doesn't appear.
Synopsis
Something strange has been spotted over the tree tops in the forest where Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball live, and Plåt-Niklas quickly builds a monocularMonocular
A monocular is a modified refracting telescope used to magnify the images of distant objects by passing light through a series of lenses and sometimes prisms; the use of prisms results in a lightweight telescope. Volume and weight are less than half those of binoculars of similar optical...
to examine it. It turns out to be an emergency signal and the two friends together with Plåt-Niklas and The Parrot set out on an expedition to resque whoever is sending the signal.
While crossing a stream, though, Froggy Ball falls down a small waterfall and ends up in a dark cave. While looking for a way out he stumbles upon the Cone
Conifer cone
A cone is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta that contains the reproductive structures. The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The male cones, which produce pollen, are usually herbaceous and much less conspicuous even at full maturity...
People who live there and quickly befriends the Cone King and Queen. In the meantime Charlie Strap has met up with Kottegrön, a young and impulsive female cone, and soon joins Froggy Ball and the others. It turns out that the Cone People are the ones who have been sending the signal, and when elevated up to a tree top Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball see a helicopter landing, with three evil businessmen from the company Tonto-Turbo who are planning to tear down a huge part of the forest. When the businessmen leave, Kottegrön ends up being with them on the helicopter.
Mälaren
Lake Mälaren is the third-largest lake in Sweden, after Lakes Vänern and Vättern. Its area is 1,140 km² and its greatest depth is 64 m. Mälaren spans 120 kilometers from east to west...
. Luckily it turns out that Carlie's tailcoat
Tailcoat
A tailcoat is a coat with the front of the skirt cut away, so as to leave only the rear section of the skirt, known as the tails. The historical reason coats were cut this way was to make it easier for the wearer to ride a horse, but over the years tailcoats of varying types have evolved into forms...
can be used as a parachute, and Froggy Ball even learns how to steer it by pulling the tails so they can land on a steam boat. On the boat Plåt-Niklas and The Parrot succeed to locate them so they can join them again.
The boat takes them to Gripsholm Castle
Gripsholm Castle
Gripsholm Castle is a castle in Mariefred, Södermanland, in Sweden and is regarded as one of Sweden's finest historical monuments. It is located by lake Mälaren in south central Sweden, in the municipality of Strängnäs, about 60 km west of Stockholm....
, which turns out to be where the businessmen were heading too, as their full plan is to move the old castle to the cleared space in the forest and turn it into a hyper modern luxury hotel, replacing most of its walls and floors with glass. This will be made possible by hacking the authorities' computers with a special program they are keeping on a floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
. Kottegrön, who has been hiding in a briefcase, tries to steal the disk but fails. Instead she, Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball end up on the bottom of the castle well, but are soon resqued by Plåt-Niklas who has the ability to fly. In the meantime the men from Tonto-Turbo leave again in their helicopter. Plåt-Niklas calculates that they are heading to the city
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, before he flies back to the cone forest with Kottegrön.
In the city, Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball walk up to Tonto-Turbo's central office and confront them, but are simply laughed at and disregarded. The businessmen then head off to the Nobel party
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
where they have been invited. The two friends, left in the office, discover that the men forgot to bring the floppy disk with them. They try to find out which one of the disks at the office it is that is the real one, and while trying one in the computer the frog ends up inside of a computer game and Charlie has to control him into safety with the joystick. Soon after that, one of the men returns - and takes the right disk with him.
Unable to get into the Nobel party, Froggy Ball is ready to give up when a submarine appears. Out of it come Plåt-Niklas and Kottegrön who have returned. Through the kitchen they smuggle themselves into the party by hiding in the dessert - an ice cream parade. When inside Froggy Ball holds a speech where he accuses the men from Tonto-Turbo in public. The atmosphere becomes confused, and the men capture the two friends and decide to get rid of them once and for all. But then suddenly The Fox, who had previously only been seen in a short cameo in the very beginning of the story, arrives and causes disruption. While the men are distracted everybody can escape, and Kottegrön steals the floppy disk. After a wild chase though, the men recapture the disk, but only to see an army of cones arrive and chase them into the water, where also the disk is dropped by The Parrot.
Back in the cone forest the frog is awarded a prize from the hands of the cone Minister of Flower Pots and the businessmen are given a new profession - shaving sheep, which they seem to enjoy.
Cast
- Thomas FunckThomas FunckThomas Fredrik Georg Funck was a Swedish baron , author of children's literature, radio personality and voice artist, most famous for his stories about Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball .-Early career:Funck, who started out writing literature aimed for adults, has claimed to never have had...
- Charlie Strap, Froggy Ball, Plåt-Niklas, The Parrot, The Fox etc. - Thorsten FlinckThorsten FlinckThorsten Flinck, born April 17, 1961 in Solna, is a Swedish actor, director, and musician. He is known for mostly playing psychopaths and villains, and also for his outrageous personality both on stage and in real life...
- Hacke (Tonto-Turbo) - Peter DallePeter DalleDan Peter Dalle is a Swedish actor, comedian, writer and film director. Most famous for Lorry.Dalle grew up in Täby outside Stockholm.-External links:...
- Macke (Tonto-Turbo) - Claes Månsson - Acke (Tonto-Turbo)
- Åsa Bjerkerot - Kottegrön
- Eva Funck - Queen Cone
- Stig Grybe - King Cone
Production
In the early 80s1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball were frequently featured in various Swedish radio series during the summers. It was when listening to one of these Jan Gissberg got the idea of making an animated film about them and contacted Thomas Funck. Together they discussed the desirable appearances of the characters and settings. The project was to be produced by Gissberg's own recently started animation studio, Cinemation AB, where also his brother Peter Gissberg worked as a background artist. Around Christmas 1987 a short film was released, but already a year prior to that, they had begun working on a script for a feature-length film. In 1988 they started the process of making it, using a budget of 13 million SEK
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
.
Reception
Rock-A-Doodle
Rock-a-Doodle is a 1992 American animated re-telling of Edmond Rostand's comedy, Chantecler. This film was directed by Don Bluth, produced by Goldcrest Films for The Samuel Goldwyn Company, and originally released in the United States on April 3, 1992.-Plot:Chanticleer is a proud rooster whose...
, The Rescuers Down Under
The Rescuers Down Under
The Rescuers Down Under is a 1990 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution on November 16, 1990...
and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West is a 1991 American animated film produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio and released by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to An American Tail, and the fourth installment in terms of the series' fictional chronology...
. The playful style and rich ideas were complimented, and the poetic background art by Peter Gissberg was particularly praised.
Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
claimed that although it might lack the virtuosity of Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
's films, it is to its credit that it also lacks their sentimentality and delight for violence. And further, that it is "pretty sophisticated when it allows the sportively drawn characters to appear against a backdrop of aquarellic soft nature poetry, signed by Peter Gissberg."
Awards
- GuldbaggeGuldbagge AwardThe Guldbagge Award is an official Swedish film award awarded annually since 1964 by the Swedish Film Institute.-Etymology:Guldbagge is the Swedish name for Cetonia aurata, a beetle also known as rose chafer. The name of the award could also be interpreted as a play on the Swedish word skalbagge,...
for Best Creative Achievement (Jan Gissberg) - Honorary Award in the section for children's and youth films at the Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
1992