Gordon & Paddy and the Case of the Stolen Nuts – Gordon & Paddy (2017)

Directed by: Linda Hambäck | 62 minutes | animation, fantasy

The Dutch illustrator Gitte Spee has built up an excellent track record in her long career. Her best-known book series are ‘Mr. Big’, ‘Monkey and Mol’, ‘Dierendorpje’ (together with musical star and TV personality Kim-Lian van der Meij), ‘Millie’, ‘Rosa the rose fairy’ and ‘Inspector Gordon’. She created the latter series together with the Swedish children’s author Ulf Nilsson. At the center is the title figure, an elderly toad who mans a small police station in the Grote Dierenbos. His assistant is the clever little mouse Paddy. Together they experience exciting adventures; they are real detective stories for children that are not only published in Swedish and Dutch, but also in German, English, Polish, Spanish, Turkish and Korean. In Germany, Spee and Nilsson received the Kinderbuchpreis from Nordrhein Westfalen in 2015 for the first book in the series – ‘De Nootjesroof’. The first animated film about Inspector Gordon – ‘Gordon & Paddy and the Case of the Stolen Nuts’ (2017) is also based on that book.

Old Inspector Gordon leads a quiet life; in the peaceful Dierenbos he does not have to perform much. Although the dangerous fox poses the necessary threat, although no one has ever really seen her and the fear is mainly based on stories that do the rounds. In any case, the animals never let their children play outside alone and no animal goes out after sunset. One evening, when the snow is swirling, Gordon is visited by Valdemar, the neurotic squirrel who teaches at the animal school. In a panic, he tells that someone has pushed back his large winter supply of nuts. Inspector Gordon suspects that the fox is involved in the theft and investigates. Then he meets a bright mouse who has no name, no family or home. When Gordon discovers how smart she is, he takes her under his wing, names her Paddy and appoints her as his assistant. A genius move, because it doesn’t take long before they have solved the case of the missing nuts. Gordon sees Paddy as his dream successor and decides to retire. As soon as Paddy is on his own, a new and complicated case arises. Can she solve it on her own? And what does that mysterious fox have to do with it?

‘Gordon & Paddy’ is a charming, authentic animation film with a wonderful Scandinavian feel. Not only – in this case – the Swedes are traditionally good at crime, both for adults and for youth, but the atmospheric wooded setting inhabited by families of rabbits, squirrels and blackbirds fits perfectly into the picture. The animation style – after Spee’s illustrations – is reminiscent of pop-up books because of the fairly static backgrounds; depth is created by placing layer by layer. The effect of this can be compared to looking through a diorama. The creatures are simple yet charming thanks to the fine voice cast (in the original Gordon is voiced by Stellan Skarsgård) and the soft, natural use of color that has more in common with ‘The Wind in the Willows’ (1983) than with the average Disney /Pixar movie. Although the message (friendliness and acceptance) is not too original, ‘Gordon & Paddy’ does have a nice, quirky approach and the film is always slightly different than you would expect. Thanks to the modest length (62 minutes), this film is also easy to handle for the little ones.

‘Gordon & Paddy’ is a sweet, beautifully animated, authentic animated film about the special bond between a growling old toad and a bright little mouse who together solve the mysteries of the Great Animal Forest and in the process dispel the prejudices about a misunderstood enemy.