Frogspawn (2009)

Directed by: Simone van Dusseldorp | 75 minutes | family | Actors: Nino den Brave, Whitney Franker, Georgina Verbaan, Juul Vrijdag, Thijs Goedknegt, Remko Vrijdag, Quintis Ristie, Laura Mastwijk, Bartek Kowalczyk, Wimie Wilhelm

If we are to believe Jesse, Max’s new girlfriend in ‘Frogdril’, the film is a girl, because “everything that’s beautiful is a girl,” as the stubborn pet nurse-to-be claims. With ‘Kikkerdril’, screenwriter and director Simone van Dusseldorp pays a wonderful tribute to the innocence and fun of toddlers. We see the world again through the eyes of a six-year-old child. This makes ‘Kikkerdril’ a wonderful film that will entertain children and endear their parents.

Six-year-old Max is brought by his single mother Heleen (Georgina Verbaan) to his grandmother (Juul Vrijdag) for a sleepover. Grandma lives in a great house in the middle of nature, Max’s guest room overlooks a ditch, where just before he leaves for the hospital, Max’ brother Jannus gets a wet suit when he tries to catch frogspawn in a glass jar. Jannus is hoisted into his pajamas and travels by bus with Heleen to the hospital to have his tonsils cut. Before he leaves, however, he urges his younger brother to mainly get frogspawn, otherwise he will never be able to talk again. Feeling guilty that Jannus fell into the ditch without getting the frogspawn he wanted, Max is determined to save his brother. Grandma doesn’t give him much time for this, because animals have to be cared for (grandma helps injured animals from nature), pancakes are baked and then it’s bedtime again.

Also the next morning Max’s plan goes wrong and he is again taken to the hospital to visit the just operated Jannus. In the hospital, Jannus manages to work on his guilt even more and Max has no choice but to run away to look for frogspawn. He doesn’t stay alone for long: Jesse, a seven-year-old girl on a pink bicycle and in a nurse’s outfit, asks him to be her victim and because Max has broken the glass jar and Jesse promises him her plaster pot, he agrees. Conversely, Jesse decides to go with Max in anticipation of the sick animals at Max’s grandmother’s house.

Simone van Dusseldorp knows how to handle the genre well. She was previously responsible for the excellent series ‘Otje’, based on Annie MG Schmidt’s classic, and in ‘Deep’ and the short film ‘Koest’ she proves that she can empathize with children’s feelings. ‘Kikkerdril’ is a cheerful children’s film full of recognizable situations. The songs are very funny, you can almost sing them along with the credits. The caterpillar run song is not inferior to Fay Lovsky’s amusing sneeze and cough song on the bus and it is almost impossible not to want to eat pancakes after watching this film while singing the cheerful pancake song that Max and grandma seem to come up with spontaneously. . ‘Frogspawn’ is a great alternative for an afternoon of playing outside!