The Disney of Duivendrecht

The Disney of Duivendrecht

Over fifty years ago, the Netherlands had a professional film studio specialising in puppet animation: the Geesink Studio. From the 1940s to the 1970s, this company was run by producer Joop Geesink (1913-1984) and conceived hundreds of puppet films under the name Dollywood. The studio has won over 80 international prices among which several Lions awards from the renowned international advertising festival in Cannes.

Joop Geesink was one of the big animation pioneers in the Netherlands, along with Marten Toonder and George Pál. The Geesink Studio mainly produced commercials. Apart from their biggest Dutch client Philips, Geesink's international clientele was quite impressive: Mackeson, Ballantine, Campari, Coca-Cola, Knorr, Heineken, Heinz, and many more. The studio produced commercials for markets in Europe, Asia, South and North America.
Germany and Italy were particularly important markets for Geesink; he even opened offices in Dusseldorf and Rome. In its heydays the studio employed over a 100 people.
The puppet films are little gems that strike the eye by their professional animation techniques, immaculate backgrounds, cute puppets and funny stories. The productions typically show a safe world populated by cheerful characters.

This documentary shines light on the innovative entrepreneurship of Joop Geesink and the unique talents of his animators through interviews with former employees and numerous memorable film fragments.

Premiere:
• 32nd Netherlands Film Festival 2012, Utrecht, Netherlands

Screenings:
2012
• EYE Film Institute Netherlands, Geesink programme, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival, Netherlands

2013
• Het Wonder van Eindhoven (The Miracle of Eindhoven) Melkweg Cinema Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 16th edition Holland Animation Film Festival, Utrecht, Netherlands
• 8th Annual Sunscreen Film Festival, St. Petersburg Florida, USA
• Netherlands television broadcast at NTR: Het Uur van de Wolf, Netherlands
• 20th Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Stuttgart, Germany
• Kloosterkino - Hoogte 80 festival open air cinema, Arnhem, Netherlands
• StopTrik International Film Festival, Niepołomice, Poland

2014
• Cultura24, Cultural Theme Television Channel broadcast, Netherlands
• Le Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, Annecy, France
• Fest Anča International Animation Festival, Žilina, Slovakia
• The Golden Orchid International Animation Festival, Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania, USA
• Great Lakes International Film Festival, Erie Pennsylvania, USA
• XVII International Festival of Animation Films Animajovka, Mogilev, Belarus
• StopTrik International Film Festival, Maribor, Slovenia
• Be there! Corfu Animation Festival, Corfu, Greece
• Anim!Arte - International Student Animation Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• StopTrik International Film Festival, Bielsko-Biala, Poland
• Animpact Korea, Seoul, Korea

2015
• Slovenske kinoteke, Ljubljana, Slovenia
• 8th International Children's Film Festival Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Anima Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
• MONSTRA's 2015 DOKAnim, Lisbon, Portugal
• NPO Cultura, television broadcast, Netherlands
• 10th Athens ANIMFEST, Athens, Greece
• 7th Heaven, ANIMAZE le MIAFF!, The Montreal International Animation Film Festival Montreal, Canada
• New York Film Screenings, USA
• IN.S.A.N.E. animation film festival, Malmö, Sweden
• 12th China International Animation and Digital Arts Festival (CICDAF), Changzhou, China
• The School of Visual Arts, New York City, USA

2016
• Animatricks Animation Festival, Helsinki, Finland

2017
• SICAF 2017, Seoul, Korea
• NPO Cultura, television broadcast, Netherlands

2018
• StopTrik International Film Festival, Maribor, Slovenia
• Slovenian-Polish festival of stop motion animation, Lodz, Polen

2020
• Animest International Animation Film Festival 2020, Bucarest, Romania
• ....

  OFFICIAL SELECTION: ATHENS ANIMFEST 2015
  AWARD: Critic's Choice Award of Feature Animation, Golden Orchid International Animation Festival 2014
  NOMINATED: Best Use of Footage in an Arts Production, FOCAL INTERNATIONAL AWARD 2014
  OFFICIAL SELECTION: Documentary Feature Award, Great Lakes International Film Festival 2014

• Documentary
• 59 minutes
• Recorded on: XDCAM / DVCAM XD
• Screening: DCP 25 / Blue Ray / DVD