‘Look, Bommel socks!’ Four people over 65 are standing in the souvenir shop in the Bommelwereld amusement park. With the sound of excited children’s voices in the background and a jingle that will stay in your head like an earworm for hours.
The four are fans of Olivier B. Bommel, the comic strips by Marten Toonder 1947 and 1998 in NRC stood. They know each other from a trip to Ireland. The landscape, history and mythology inspired Toonder. And now the four are here in Groenlo, in Gelderland. In an indoor amusement park with, among other things, a roller coaster, a water course, bumper cars and a swing carousel.
Bommelwereld opened at the beginning of this month, and on this Friday morning it is quite busy with (grand)parents with children, many of whom come from Germany. They run to the gate of the imposing castle, which is higher than the church tower of Groenlo. They have themselves photographed with Olivier B. Bommel or Tom Poes, and descend via the stairs, a painting gallery or slide to the recreated town of Rommeldam, where the attractions are located.
A young visitor comes to get a hug from Ollie B. in Bommelwereld.
Photo Eric Brinkhorst
“We are not quite the target group,” says Banno Bruntink. René Nijhof: “But here a new group is being tapped for Bommel. I think it shows courage to start a commercial park with comic strips as a basis.” Peter Paardekooper: “The generation that still knows Bommel is of course starting to die out.” Lilian van Wee with a reference to the young target group behind them: “I hope they will also read the stories.”
The main goal of Bommelwereld is not to “bring Toonder’s work back to life,” says Bart Porskamp, director of operations at Marveld Recreatie, honestly. “Although we do think that the stories will become more widely known again.” No, owner Edwin Bomers’ main goal is for guests of his adjacent recreation park to stay longer. That during a rainy holiday they have something fun to do in the Achterhoek besides a day in the indoor pool. That day trippers discover the region, and perhaps also stay overnight.
Just as honestly, Porskamp says that Bomers, who is not there this Friday, first had conversations with the owner of Angry Birds, the birds from the Finnish video game. The director of the Groninger Comics Museum pointed him out to Bommel. “In retrospect it was the best choice, because it is Dutch cultural heritage after all,” says Porskamp.
As a result, there is much more attention for Bommelwereld than they had expected in advance, including from Bommel fans. And extra attention because no new amusement park has been opened in the Netherlands for fifteen years, let alone an indoor amusement park. The roller coaster attracts a third group: “Mainly men who have on their bucket list that they have been on all sixty roller coasters in the Netherlands.” “And also remember that we are close to the border…” Porskamp does not continue the sentence.
Behind him, Bommel’s cars drive slowly through the castle garden. There is a harbor with the ship Albatros, which shakes back and forth and up and down. At the back of the enormous hall, the dragon Zwelgje has to perform in the circus, just like in Toonder’s stories. In addition, the wizard Hocus Pas threatens the visitor, who – just like the dwarves in the stories – flee by getting into a miner’s cart. That’s the roller coaster.
Attractions in Bommelwereld: on the left with a car through the castle garden; the roller coaster on the right.
Photos Eric Brinkhorst
Approval had to come from the heirs. Willem Feltkamp of the Toonder Compagnie says by telephone that “every part has been submitted in advance.” He was closely involved in the creation of the park. With the idea that perhaps a new readership can be tapped in this way: “Let’s be realistic, dereading is ongoing and the old-fashioned language in the stories can be an obstacle.”
Toonder was known for his literary talent. The Van Dale contains words that he came up with, such as ‘doom and gloom’ and ‘minkukel’. “If you understand what I mean” and “Tom Poes, come up with a trick”, have become standing expressions, just like “gentleman of class”, as Olivier B. Bommel called himself.
Marten Toonder “has created an entire world, full of aspects that can be easily translated into an amusement park.”
Photo Eric Brinkhorst
Yet, according to Feltkamp, an amusement park also suits Toonder: “He has of course created a whole world, full of magic, full of aspects that can be easily translated into an amusement park.” He says: “The story goes that at the height of his literary fame he was approached by the Efteling. But Toonder didn’t think Bommel fit in there.”
Feltkamp points out the house of the Marquis de Canteclaer, which only appears in one picture in all 177 stories. In Bommelwereld it has become a three-dimensional restaurant. All attractions have a QR code that provides visitors with an explanation of the characters and parts of the storyline.
Toonder’s literary legacy is especially visible before the cash register. The Bommelzolder, a mini-museum that stood in Zoeterwoude until the beginning of this year and was the collection of Pim Oosterheert, is now part of Bommelwereld. The books and comics are there, and in a corner is Toonder’s desk, with clippings out NRC above.
The Bommelzolder, a mini-museum that stood in Zoeterwoude until the beginning of this year, is now part of Bommelwereld.
Photo Eric Brinkhorst
It has been deliberately placed in front of the cash register, says Bart Porskamp of Bommelwereld: “It gives Bommel enthusiasts who are not the target group of the amusement park the opportunity to come and have a look.” Showcases full of show how intertwined Toonder’s characters were with the Netherlands. There are not only comic strips and books, but soaps, oven mitts, mugs, glasses, ties, key rings, cookie tins.
“An amusement park is not that literary or cultural, we have delivered that,” says Oosterheert by telephone. For him, Bommel is “first and foremost language” and then “depth and content”. “The stories contain what Toonder called ‘the other world’: there is something of Irish-Celtic myths in them, of the psychologist Carl Jung, of the Chinese philosopher Lao Tse. It is socially critical, ironic, and much more.”
Oosterheert also hopes that young people will become acquainted with the stories. “Toonder was of course one of our great literary talents. Let’s be honest, the gray wave came here in Zoeterwoude. So it’s nice that the amusement park was created and that people can think ‘gosh, what a special heritage’.”
Loic (9), Maeve (6) and Ginny (10) are standing next to the cars. “Grandma showed us the movie when we knew we were going here,” says Ginny. Inge Denekamp nods: “A little preparation.” The family is enthusiastic. Loic thinks “the bears are funny”, the park “very beautifully made, especially the lights”. Maeve praises the “floating fungus”, the whirligig that goes “very high”.
The ‘Professor Prlwytzkofski’s Proton Spitz’, where visitors ‘fall’ from almost 22 meters.
Photo Eric Brinkhorst
The German Beër family is also enthusiastic. Mother Anja and her four children from Saxony-Anhalt are visiting Oberhausen, across the border from Arnhem, and read about Bommelwereld. They are waiting at ‘Professor Prlwytzkofski’s Proton Spitz’, an attraction where visitors ‘fall’ from almost 22 meters. “We didn’t know the characters. But I’m here with four to thirteen year olds and there is something for everyone.”
The park is not finished yet. There is still room for more attractions, the second floor is still empty, the police station, the supermarket and the bank in Rommelstad are still closed. Bommel fan Peter Paardekooper immediately starts fantasizing: “Of course, the bank must have a large safe, Bommel and the bosses…”
The attraction with the Bommelbolides. Bommelwereld is not finished yet. There is still room for more attractions.
Photo Eric Brinkhorst
NEW: Give this item as a gift
As an NRC subscriber you can subscribe every month 10 items give as a gift to someone without an NRC subscription. The recipient can read the article directly, without a paywall.