Sjors van de Rebellenclub

Summary

Children’s film about popular cartoon characters Sjors and Sjimmie and their gang of friends who take on two heavies.

Sjors and Sjimmie are kidnapped when they happen to witness a burglary. The two thieves, Boris Vlekkewater and Pedro, take them to Africa where the boys manage to escape, taking the stolen diamonds with them. Having escaped from the crooks, they are then faced with wild animals and natives sporting nose rings. The confrontations with the wild animals are cleverly intercut shots of Sjors and Sjimmie on the heath at Brunssum in the Netherlands and archive footage of lions, elephants and crocodiles. The boys are rescued by a native and return home to a triumphant welcome. A final confrontation with the two crooks ends in Sjors and Sjimmie putting them in a big chest addressed to the ‘the perlice comisionar’. Waving into the camera, Sjors and his gang say goodbye.

Director Van der Linden is regarded as the pioneer of the Dutch children’s film. He made some forty feature length children’s films between 1952 and 1985, often based on popular children’s books and cartoons, such as 'De avonturen van Dik Trom' (Dik Trom’s adventures), 'Sjors en Sjimmie' (George and Jimmy) and 'Billy Turf' (Billy Bunter). Van der Linden not only directed, produced and edited the film, he also wrote the screenplay, designed the sets and worked behind the camera.