‘De Fabeltjeskrant‘ (the Fables Paper) was first broadcasted in 1968. Leen Valkenier wrote the stories and Thijs Chanowski was the producer. The fables of De La Fontaine were used as a basis, but after Leen had used up all 30 useful fables, it was decided to concoct the fables themselves. Every episode carried a moral, to teach the children something. This was preserved throughout all the series.
The first personages where: Jacob, the wise owl, Lowieke, the sly
fox, Mister Raven and Lady Stork. Later on more personages were added,
all with diverge characters like Zoef the Hare, Bor the Wolf and
Meindert the Horse.
Mister Owl always read from the ‘Fabeltjeskrant’, with in it all the news from the ‘Dierenbos’ (the Animal Forrest).
In the first four years, the series developed into the best watched program of its time. The first series was broadcasted between October 1868 and August 1974, 1046 episodes in total. After about ten years a new series began in September 1985, till October 1992. In which many new personages were introduced. In total there were 1524 episodes made of ‘De Fabeltjeskrant’.
The Brothers
Droes the Bear, was one of the personages which was added later. Droes was an ill-natured bear, he always stamped up and down the ‘Dierenbos’ and was always displeased with everything. Droes lived together with Jodokus. They were inseparable, but could irritate each other a fair bit. Around 1977 Droes had a relationship with Martha the Hamster, but it never got really serious. The voice behind Droes was Frans van Dusschoten.
Droes the Bear also had a friendly brother, Wasa. He was known for his big strength, but only appeared in ‘De Fabeltjeskrant’ in 1969. The voice behind Wasa was also from Frans van Dusschoten.
the Horn of Droes
Droes drives Jodocus Marmot and Stoffel Turtle to despair with his honking.