Plop in town (2006)

Directed by: Matthias Temmermans | 60 minutes | family | Actors: Nicolette van Dam, Walter de Donder, Aimé Anthoni, Chris Cauwenberghs, Agnes de Nul, Walter Baele, Sjarel Branckaerts, Sam Gooris, Pol Goossen, Kelly Pfaff, Annemarie Picard, Harry van Barneveld, Britt van der Borght, Arnold Vanderlyde

As if the month of December wasn’t festive enough, in recent years we have also received a visit from gnome Plop in addition to Santa Claus and Sinterklaas. The difference between the first two and the last is that most adults easily survive Christmas and Sinterklaas, while with Plop it becomes a bit more difficult. ‘Plop in de stad’ is the title of the most recent Plop production and it actually turns out to be more entertaining than expected.

In the beginning it doesn’t look like that, because ‘Plop in de stad’ opens with a crackling fart concert for four gnomes. Fortunately, it only gets better after that. What distinguishes this Plop from its predecessor is that it contains some dry humor for adults. Not that you will immediately be under the table laughing, but a few smiles can be removed. The daddies in the room will also look with different eyes than those of their offspring at Nicolette van Dam, who portrays the innocent but oh so seductive brass band leader Lisa. For a moment, a romance even threatens to blossom between Lisa and Lui (who apparently does not know that romances make you very tired), but the viewer is fortunately spared that.

The next windfall is that this Plop is set in the lovely town of Veere. There the carnival is in full swing, which greatly expands the possibilities for funny scenes. Because of that carnival, the score mainly consists of swinging brass band music, which is also quite an improvement compared to the jolly songs of previous Plop films. The effects also look better than in previous years, although it is still not enough. Yet the main quality of Plop remains that he always manages to entertain the notoriously critical milk tooth people with his adventures. How exactly he does that will always remain a mystery, but that doesn’t make the quality any less.

For example, ‘Plop in the city’ has become one of the better ones in the Plop series. This gnome used to be the best reason to bring an au pair into your home as soon as possible, with this latest release, adults will also make it to the end without much effort. We can’t really ask for much more from our Plop.