Arabic Toons

How Arabic Toons looks

Arabic Toons keeps the cheerful, simple look of the site it is named after. The page has a pale grey-blue background, and a white navigation bar runs along the top under a soft shadow. At the left sits the round, smiling Arabic Toons logo, followed by bold black links to the series, the films, the storybook shelf, the Flemish shelf and the A to Z list, a neat search field with a thin border and a My List link with a small round person icon. On a phone, the links fold into a menu behind a three-line button.

The home page opens with a strip of four wide pictures from favourite films, followed by a white news bar with a red News label, just like the original. Below it, every section sits in a light grey panel with rounded corners and a thin border. Each panel has a title in large, light type with a small, colourful cartoon icon beside it: a golden star for the latest additions, a little television for the series, a red film frame for the films, a green open book for the storybook favourites and a smiling hero for the television heroes. The wide thumbnails carry a small white badge at the top corner with the year or the number of episodes, a grey name badge at the bottom and a round play button that appears when you point at them.

The colours, the Cairo type, the panels and the badges were measured from an archived copy of the original home page, so the site feels familiar to anyone who knew it, while the catalogue inside is entirely new.

Using the site

There are three easy ways into the catalogue. The first is the search field in the navigation bar: type a few letters of an English title, such as Pluck, Crumb or Pirates, or of the original Dutch title, such as Pluk, Kruimeltje or Piraten, and matching titles appear as you type. The second is the shelves: Storybook favourites, TV heroes on the big screen, Flanders, Fantasy and magic, Adventures, Holidays and seasons, Music and stage and Series, together with five decade shelves and a Top rated shelf. The third is the A to Z list, which holds every title in alphabetical order. The Finding a title page collects some handy search tips.

Every title page gives the story in English, the year, the running time or the number of episodes, the director, the main cast, the studio and the original Dutch title. Below the story there is a country menu and a Watch now button. Choose your country, press the button, and JustWatch opens with the subscription, rental, purchase and free services that carry the title where you live. Dutch and Flemish family films are widely available in the Netherlands and Belgium, and many of them also travel abroad with English subtitles or dubbing.

The My List link adds any title to a personal list that lives in your browser. The My List page explains how to export the list to a small file and take it to another device, such as the family television.

Storybook favourites

The heart of Arabic Toons is the storybook film. Dutch children grow up with a wonderful shelf of books, and almost every much-loved book has become a film. The Storybook favourites shelf holds 68 of them, and the Storybook favourites help page picks the best places to begin.

The oldest heroes come from the books of the early twentieth century. Little Crumb, from 1999, directed by Maria Peters from the book by Chris van Abkoude, tells the story of a ten-year-old orphan in a Dutch port in 1921 who longs for his mother and finds true friends on the way. It was a big success in Dutch cinemas, and in 2020 it was followed by Little Crumb Race to the Gold Mine. Maria Peters also brought Peter Bell to the screen, the cheerful, mischievous boy from pre-war Rotterdam, together with his sequel Peter Bell II: The Hunt for the Czar Crown, in which Peter and his gang chase a stolen royal crown.

Young Kees, from the classic novel by Theo Thijssen, is a gentle portrait of a twelve-year-old Amsterdam schoolboy full of dreams. Ciske the Rat, from 1984, is the story of a lively street boy from Amsterdam who needs love and finds it in a patient teacher; it is a moving film best suited to older children. Dik Trom, the plump and cheerful boy who loves food and mischief, appears in the 1958 film New Adventures of Dik Trom, in Dik Trom weet raad and in a colourful modern version from 2010.

The great adventure novels have their films too. The Letter for the King, from 2008, is based on the much-loved novel by Tonke Dragt, in which young Tiuri, on the night before he is to become a knight, is asked to carry a secret letter across the mountains to a faraway king. Crusade in Jeans, from the novel by Thea Beckman, sends a fifteen-year-old boy back to the Middle Ages, where he joins a great march of children. King of Katoren, from Jan Terlouw, follows a seventeen-year-old who must complete a series of impossible tasks to become king. All three are grand, beautiful films for older children and their parents.

Annie M.G. Schmidt

Few storytellers are as loved in the Netherlands as Annie M.G. Schmidt, the poet and author who wrote for children with endless wit and warmth, and the Annie M.G. Schmidt help page is devoted to her films. Four of them are on Arabic Toons, and each one is a small treasure.

Tow-Truck Pluck, from 2004, directed by Ben Sombogaart, tells the story of Pluk, a little boy with a red tow truck and nowhere to live, who finds a room at the top of a tower block called the Petteflet. There he makes friends with the neighbours, a cockroach called Zaza and a very special pigeon, and sets out to save a beautiful wild park from the plans of a fussy neighbour. It is a bright, gentle and funny film, perfect for small children.

The Flying Liftboy, from 1998, also by Ben Sombogaart, follows Abel, a boy who takes a job as a lift boy in a department store. When he presses the forbidden top button, the lift flies out through the roof and carries him and his passengers on a journey around the world. Help! I’ve Shrunk the Family is the story of Wiplala, a tiny magical man who lives behind the peanut butter jar and whose spells go hilariously wrong. My Giraffe, from 2017, grows out of the famous poem about a little boy and a giraffe, and tells the tender story of a boy whose best friend is a giraffe born on the same day as he was.

Modern book heroes

The book shelves of today's Dutch children are full of witches, werewolves and mummies, and many of them have reached the cinema. Paul van Loon is the author behind Alfie, the Little Werewolf, in which a sweet boy turns into a white, fluffy werewolf on the night of his seventh birthday, and Fuchsia the Mini-Witch, about a tiny witch who longs to do real magic. Tosca Menten's books gave us Dummy the Mummy, in which a boy in a quiet village finds a living mummy in his bedroom, followed by Dummie the Mummy and the Sphinx of Shakaba and Dummie the Mummy and the Tomb of Achnetoet, which take the friends all the way to Egypt.

School stories are just as popular. Mister Twister: Class of Fun, from the books by Mirjam Oldenhave, follows a young student teacher who gets his first class and quickly wins the children's hearts with his unusual ideas. It was followed by Mister Twister Goes Camping, Mister Twister on Stage, Mister Twister at the Pitch, Mister Twister in the Clouds and Mister Twister Moving Out, and each new film is a family favourite. Mr. Frog is another school story with a twist: the class teacher turns into a frog at the most surprising moments.

Guus Kuijer is the author behind Polleke, about an outspoken eleven-year-old girl, and Scratches in the Table, about a girl called Madelief who visits her grandfather after a loss in the family. Sjoerd Kuyper wrote the stories behind The Penknife, in which a boy sets out to return his best friend's pocket knife, and Hotel de Grote L, about a thirteen-year-old who keeps the family hotel running. Godfried Bomans wrote the classic behind Erik or the Small Book of Insects, a dreamy journey into a world of talking insects.

TV heroes on the big screen

Dutch and Flemish children grow up with a cast of television heroes who sing, clown and solve mysteries, and many of them star in their own cinema films. The TV heroes shelf holds 84 titles, and the TV heroes help page tells their story.

The oldest is Pipo the clown, the cheerful circus clown with his wife Mammaloe and his friends, who first appeared on Dutch television in 1958. In Pipo de Clown en de Piraten van Toen, from 1975, the circus meets a band of pirates. Bassie and Adriaan, the clown and the acrobat, were the next great heroes: their series Bassie & Adriaan, which began in 1978, took them on adventures across the world, chasing crooks and finding treasure, and it is still loved by children today.

Newer heroes keep the tradition alive. Super Miss follows a primary school teacher who is secretly a superhero for animals, with a sequel in Super Miss! Saves The Jungle. The Zoop films, Zoop In Africa, Zoop In India and Zoop In South America, take the young rangers of a Dutch zoo on journeys around the world. The detective dog of Snuf de Hond en het Spookslot and his friends solve mysteries in a haunted castle, and the online stars of De film van Dylan Haegens and The Big Slime Movie bring the energy of the internet to the cinema.

Plop, Piet Piraat, K3 and the heroes of Flanders

In Flanders, one studio created a whole family of television heroes for young children, and the Plop, Piet Piraat, K3 and friends help page is devoted to them. Their cinema films are bright, musical and full of gentle humour, made for the youngest viewers and the parents who watch with them.

Plop is a little gnome with a red hat who lives in a mushroom house in the forest with his friends Klus, Lui and Kwebbel. In Plop and the Gnome Treasure, a spring clean leads to a treasure map. Plop In The Clouds sends the gnomes on a journey to find a cure for a sick uncle, Plop and the Magic Wand brings a magic wand into the forest, and in Plop Becomes Gnome King a misunderstanding puts Plop on the throne. Samson is a big, friendly talking dog, and in Samson & Gert: Hotel op Stelten he and his friend Gert solve the mystery of a diamond hidden twenty years earlier.

Piet Piraat is a cheerful pirate captain who sails the seas with his crew on the ship Scheve Schuit. In Piet Piraat: The Enchanted Crown, the crew meet a cursed captain trapped in a painting, in Piet Piraat: The Sword Of Silver Tooth they hunt for a famous sword, and in Piet Piraat: The Sea Monster Piet must face a monster of the deep to join the Brave Pirate Club. Mega Mindy is a superheroine who protects her village with special powers and a lot of courage, in films such as Mega Mindy's Secret and Mega Mindy: The Black Crystal.

The pop trio K3 have sung for children for more than twenty-five years, and their films mix music, comedy and fairy tales. K3: The Magical Medallion hides a locket in the girls' dream house, K3 and the Ice Princess takes them to a fairy-tale kingdom, K3: Animal Hotel puts them in charge of a hotel full of animals and K3: The Song Of The Mermaid sends them on a seaside holiday where a spell turns them into mermaids. For older children, Het Huis Anubis: The Path Of 7 Sins and Nachtwacht: The Dark Heart bring two popular mystery and fantasy series to the cinema.

Flanders

Flanders, the Dutch-speaking north of Belgium, has its own lively family cinema, and the Flanders shelf holds 75 titles made in Belgium. The Flanders help page introduces the best of them.

The Claus Family, from 2020, is one of the great family successes of recent years. Jules, a boy who dislikes the holidays, is sent to stay with his grandfather, only to discover that the old toymaker is in charge of delivering every Christmas present, and when his grandfather falls ill, Jules must save Christmas. It was followed by The Claus Family 2 and The Claus Family 3, and the three films make a perfect December tradition.

The Flemish films for older children are bold and imaginative. Labyrinthus follows a fourteen-year-old who discovers a computer game that uses real children from his neighbourhood as players. Binti is a joyful film about a twelve-year-old girl of Congolese origin who dreams of becoming a famous vlogger. Rosie & Moussa tells the story of a girl who moves to a new part of Brussels and makes a special friend. Allez, Eddy is a warm, funny film set in a Flemish village in 1975, when the first supermarket opens its doors, and My Dad Is a Sausage follows a father who leaves his job at a bank to become an actor.

The Flemish classics of the comic strip are here too. The Dark Diamond is a live-action film of Suske and Wiske, the famous comic heroes of Willy Vandersteen, and Kiekeboe: Het witte bloed follows the Kiekeboe family of Merho's comic on a holiday adventure. The Mercator Trail revives the famous name of Zeppos for a treasure hunt across Flanders.

Fantasy and magic

The Fantasy and magic shelf holds 41 films full of witches, gnomes, werewolves, mummies and time travellers, and the Fantasy and magic help page picks the highlights.

Captain Nova, from 2021, is a lively science fiction film in which a fighter pilot from the future travels back in time to stop an environmental disaster, but the journey turns her into a girl again and nobody believes her story. Jackie & Oopjen is set in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where a twelve-year-old girl discovers that the young woman in a famous Rembrandt portrait can step out of her frame. Hotel Sinestra begins on a winter morning when all the grown-ups have vanished, leaving the children to run the town themselves.

The fairy tales are told with love. Long Live the Queen, from 1995, is a fairy-tale film about a girl who learns to play chess and, through the game, finds her father. Mariken, from 2000, retells a famous medieval Dutch story as a poetic family film. Pinkeltje, from 1978, brings the tiny gnome from the books of Dick Laan to the screen, and Eep! is the tender story of a little girl with wings instead of arms who is found by a bird watcher and his wife.

Adventures

The Adventures shelf is the biggest of all, with 104 titles full of pirates, detectives, treasure hunts and daring journeys, and the Adventures help page picks the best.

Pirates Down the Street, from 2020, is a big, funny family adventure in which a family of pirates moves into a quiet seaside town, and the children next door help them fit in while a jealous neighbour plots against them. In Pirates Down the Street II: The Ninjas from Across, a family of ninjas moves in across the street, and the old rivalry between pirates and ninjas threatens the whole neighbourhood. Both films are full of slapstick, sword fights with wooden swords and good-hearted jokes.

The sea has always been part of Dutch life, and many adventures happen on the water. The Skippers of the Cameleon, from the classic books by Hotze de Roos, follows twin brothers in Friesland who receive a very fast boat and use it to help their village, with a sequel in The Skippers of the Cameleon 2. De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe, from the famous novel by Johan Fabricius, follows three ship's boys on a great voyage to the East Indies in the seventeenth century.

Detectives and treasure hunters are everywhere. My Dad's a Detective and its sequels follow two friends whose father solves mysteries, Sword of D'Artagnan sends an eleven-year-old girl on the trail of a famous sword, and Missing Link is the story of a young boy with a passion for archaeology. Kidnap - Bo's Most Exciting Holiday Ever is a clever comedy about a rich boy who is kidnapped at the start of the holidays and discovers that his kidnappers are kinder than he expected. Storm: Letter of Fire, set in Antwerp in 1521, follows a young printer's son on a dangerous mission, a gripping historical adventure for older children.

Some of the adventures happen close to home. Spoon follows a boy who escapes his strict grandmother and finds true friends in a big department store, The Penknife crosses the country to return a friend's knife, and Frogs & Toads follows a six-year-old who sets out with his neighbour to find frogspawn for his big brother. In Orange is the story of an eleven-year-old football talent who dreams of playing for the national youth team.

Holidays and seasons

The Holidays and seasons shelf gathers 35 films about summer trips, camps, cruises and the magic of Christmas, and the Holidays and seasons help page gives a few ideas for each time of year.

Summer in the Low Countries means camping, cycling and long days at the seaside. Home Away follows a family who swap their planned holiday in Portugal for a simple holiday at home. Scrapwood War is set at a summer building club where two best friends end up on opposite sides, and Mister Twister Goes Camping takes the famous class on a camping trip. Kidnap - Bo's Most Exciting Holiday Ever, Casa Coco and Bon Voyage are holiday stories of every kind.

For December, the Christmas films are wonderful. The Claus Family and its sequels come first, of course. A Christmoose Story, from 2013, based on a best-selling novel, tells the story of a boy whose first Christmas after a family change is turned upside down when a large talking moose crashes through the roof of his garage. Trollie: Home Sweet Home follows a boy who spends Christmas at his grandmother's house in the mountains, where the old stories of trolls and elves turn out to be true. The holiday shelf is a cosy place to plan the whole season.

Classic family television

Dutch and Flemish television made many series that whole families watched together, and Arabic Toons holds ten of them, from the early sixties to the two-thousands. The Classic family television help page describes each one.

Swiebertje, which began in 1961, is one of the most loved series in Dutch television history. It follows a kind-hearted wanderer with a golden heart, his endless quarrel with the village policeman Bromsnor and his friendship with Saartje, the mayor's maid, and it ran for fourteen seasons. Kapitein Zeppos, from 1964, is a famous Flemish adventure series in which a mysterious man on horseback arrives in a village and sets off on a treasure hunt; it became so popular that its name lives on in The Mercator Trail.

The comedies of later decades are warm and funny. Toen was geluk heel gewoon, set in Rotterdam in the fifties, follows a Rotterdam couple and their neighbours, adapted at first from an American classic, and it ran for sixteen seasons. Oppassen!!! is a much-loved comedy about two grandfathers who look after their grandchildren so that the parents can work. Zeg 'ns Aaa is set in a busy doctor's practice, Kinderen geen bezwaar follows a lively Dutch family through the ups and downs of everyday life, Bompa is a Flemish comedy about a widowed grandfather who lives with his grandson, and Kaat & Co follows a Flemish family through everyday ups and downs. Ox Tales, an animated series made in the Netherlands and Japan, follows Ollie the ox and his friends on their funny farm.

A short history

Dutch family cinema has a long and lively history. The first great children's films of the fifties brought the heroes of popular books to the screen, beginning with New Adventures of Dik Trom in 1958. Television arrived at the same time, and its first heroes, Pipo the clown and the wanderer Swiebertje, quickly became national favourites. In 1970, the puppet animals of the famous evening programme of Fableland appeared in their own film, Weedsowers in Fableland, in which the animals of the forest join forces against an army of termites. The Before 1990 shelf holds 24 titles from these early decades.

The seventies and eighties gave us Pinkeltje, Martin and the Wizard, The Gang Next Door and Peter en de Vliegende Autobus, a gentle film about a boy in a wheelchair who wants to join every adventure. Ciske the Rat, from 1984, was one of the most talked-about Dutch films of its time. In the nineties, a new generation of directors made the films that many Dutch parents grew up with: The Penknife, Long Live the Queen, The Flying Liftboy, Scratches in the Table and Little Crumb.

The two-thousands were a golden age, with 58 titles on their shelf. Maria Peters, Ben Sombogaart and others brought the classic books to the screen in grand style: Peter Bell, Tow-Truck Pluck, Young Kees, Crusade in Jeans and The Letter for the King. At the same time, the Flemish studios made their first cinema films with Plop, Piet Piraat, Samson and K3, which filled cinemas across Belgium and the Netherlands.

The 2010s, with 98 titles, are the biggest shelf of all. The modern book heroes arrived, from Dik Trom and Alfie, the Little Werewolf to Dummy the Mummy and Mister Twister: Class of Fun, and Flanders added bold new voices with Labyrinthus, Binti and Rosie & Moussa. Since 2020, streaming services have carried Dutch and Flemish family films around the world, with Pirates Down the Street, The Claus Family and Captain Nova among the first to find a large international audience. The Through the decades page links every decade shelf.

Picks by age

Dutch and Flemish family films are made for very different ages, from toddlers watching their first gnome adventure to teenagers following a young knight across the mountains. The A family film night help page sums up the best choices in three short lists, and this section goes into more detail.

For the youngest viewers, choose films that are short, bright and gentle. The Plop films are made for children of three to six, with simple stories and songs. Tow-Truck Pluck and My Giraffe are warm and beautiful, Frogs & Toads follows a six-year-old on a small but important mission, and Fidgety Bram is a funny film about a seven-year-old who thinks a lot about the world around him. Samson & Gert: Hotel op Stelten and the K3 films are perfect for a first visit to the cinema.

For children of eight and up, the great adventures open their doors. The Flying Liftboy, Dummy the Mummy, Alfie, the Little Werewolf, Pirates Down the Street and Little Crumb are favourites at this age, and Mister Twister: Class of Fun is a hit with every primary school class. The Claus Family makes a lovely December evening, and Super Miss is a cheerful choice for animal lovers.

For older children and their parents, the longer films are rewarding. The Letter for the King, Crusade in Jeans and King of Katoren are grand adventures from great novels. The Zigzag Kid, from the novel by David Grossman, is a witty and touching road movie about a boy who discovers his family's secrets on the eve of his thirteenth birthday. Labyrinthus and Storm: Letter of Fire are exciting stories for children of ten and older.

Planning a family film night

Sharing a Dutch or Flemish film on a quiet evening is a lovely family ritual. Pick a theme together, save a handful of matching titles in My List and take turns choosing the film. These themed evenings are a good place to start.

A storybook evening: start with Tow-Truck Pluck and finish with The Flying Liftboy, both from the books of Annie M.G. Schmidt. A knight's weekend: The Letter for the King on Friday and King of Katoren on Saturday. A pirate evening: Pirates Down the Street for the family and Piet Piraat: The Enchanted Crown for the youngest. A Christmas marathon: the three Claus Family films across three December evenings. A museum day: visit the Rijksmuseum in the afternoon and watch Jackie & Oopjen in the evening.

Many families like to read the book aloud before watching the film. Many of the Dutch children's classics behind these films, from Annie M.G. Schmidt to Tonke Dragt and Paul van Loon, have been translated into English and other languages, and children love to compare the book with the film afterwards.

Learning Dutch with films

Family films are a lovely way to learn a language, and many learners of Dutch begin with children's films. The Learning Dutch with films help page gives a few tips.

Films for small children are especially friendly for learners: the speech is clear, the stories are simple and the same words come back again and again. Tow-Truck Pluck, Fidgety Bram and Frogs & Toads are good first films. Watch a film once with English subtitles, then a second time with Dutch subtitles, and you will be surprised how much you understand. The Flemish films, from The Claus Family to Rosie & Moussa, let you hear the soft accents of Belgium, while the Dutch films carry the voices of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the countryside.

Great directors for children

Many fine directors have devoted themselves to family films in the Netherlands and Flanders, and it is a pleasure to follow them through the catalogue. Ben Sombogaart made The Penknife, The Flying Liftboy, Tow-Truck Pluck, Crusade in Jeans and King of Katoren, a body of work that covers almost every kind of family film, from gentle comedy to grand historical adventure. Maria Peters made Little Crumb, Peter Bell, Peter Bell II: The Hunt for the Czar Crown and Mike Says Goodbye!, films with big hearts and a great sense of period.

Ineke Houtman made Scratches in the Table, Polleke, The Indian and Hotel de Grote L, tender films that take children's feelings seriously. Johan Nijenhuis made Fuchsia the Mini-Witch, Bennie Brat and Monkey Business, lively comedies full of colour. Dennis Bots made Het Huis Anubis: The Path Of 7 Sins, Sword of D'Artagnan, Storm: Letter of Fire and Engel, and Pim van Hoeve made the three Dummie films and both Pirates Down the Street films. In Flanders, Bart van Leemputten directed many of the first Studio 100 films, from Plop and the Gnome Treasure to Samson & Gert: Hotel op Stelten.

Music and stage

Music is everywhere in Dutch and Flemish family entertainment, and the Music and stage shelf holds 20 musical films and stage shows. The K3 films are full of songs, and K3: Love Cruise puts the girls on a cruise ship where everything goes wrong before the big show. Hart Beat is the story of a shy girl who loves making music and finds her voice again. Sing Song follows a sixteen-year-old who travels to Suriname for a song contest while secretly searching for her mother.

The great musicals for children are recorded for the screen too. Snow White The Musical and De Kleine Zeemeermin: De Musical are lavish stage versions of the fairy tales, Little Crumb: The Musical brings the story of Kruimeltje to the stage with songs, and Nijntje op vakantie is a musical about Miffy, the little rabbit of Dick Bruna, going on holiday with her parents. Woezel and Pip at the Magical garden brings two of the sweetest dogs of Dutch children's television to the theatre. These recordings are a lovely way to share the magic of a theatre visit with children who live far away.

Hidden gems

Beyond the famous titles, the catalogue holds many smaller films that deserve a wider audience. The Zigzag Kid, directed by the Flemish filmmaker Vincent Bal, is a joyful road movie with a fine international cast. Cloudboy follows a city boy who is sent to his mother in Lapland and learns to love the snowy north. The Day My Father Became a Bush is a poetic film about a girl from a bakery who sets out to find her father. Eep! is a gentle fable about a little girl with wings. Erik or the Small Book of Insects is a dreamy, beautiful journey into a world of insects.

A few more: Missing Link follows a boy's passion for archaeology, The Indian tells the story of an adopted Peruvian boy who wants to look like his Dutch father until he meets a band of Peruvian musicians, and Tony 10 is a timeless family story about a boy whose father rises from crane driver to secretary of state. My Grandpa the Bankrobber follows a girl who goes to great lengths to find her father in Suriname, and Monkey Business is a lively adventure about orphans around the year 1900 who outsmart their greedy principal.

Through the year

These films follow the seasons of the year, and many families like to watch them at the right time. In winter, The Claus Family, A Christmoose Story, Trollie: Home Sweet Home and Hotel Sinestra are perfect for the long December evenings. In spring, Frogs & Toads follows a boy in search of frogspawn, and My Giraffe takes you to the zoo.

In summer, the holiday films come into their own: Scrapwood War, Mister Twister Goes Camping, The Skippers of the Cameleon and Pirates Down the Street, with its sunny seaside town. Autumn is the season for mysteries and magic: Alfie, the Little Werewolf, Dummy the Mummy, Labyrinthus and Piet Piraat Special: The Pumpkin King, in which the pirates sail to Pumpkin Island to find pumpkins for a Halloween party. A new school year is a good time for the Mister Twister films and Fidgety Bram.

How Watch now works

Every title page on Arabic Toons has a country menu and a Watch now button. Choose your country, press the button, and JustWatch opens in a new tab with the services that carry the title where you live: subscription services, rental and purchase stores, and free services with advertising. Dutch and Flemish family films are widely available in the Netherlands and Belgium, and many of the newest films also appear on international services with English subtitles or dubbing.

Arabic Toons keeps fifteen countries in the menu, from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Luxembourg to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, South Africa, Suriname, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Egypt, and your choice is remembered in your browser for the next title. The How to watch page explains every step.

Growing up and friendship

Many of the most moving Dutch and Flemish family films are about the everyday adventure of growing up. They follow children through new schools, new neighbourhoods, first friendships and family changes, and they do it with honesty, humour and a lot of heart. These films are wonderful for watching together and talking about afterwards.

Polleke, from the books by Guus Kuijer, follows an outspoken eleven-year-old girl through first love, family turmoil and the expectations of two cultures. The Secret Letter is the story of an eleven-year-old girl who decides to run away and hide with her best friends while her parents sort out their differences. Mike Says Goodbye!, by Maria Peters, follows a brave ten-year-old who has recovered from a serious illness and sets out to find his way home. Binti, from Flanders, is full of joy and energy, and Rosie & Moussa is a gentle story of a new friendship in Brussels.

Horses and animals bring their own kind of friendship. Whitestar follows a girl with a special bond with a show-jumping horse that everyone else has given up on, and in Silverstar she runs her own riding school and trains Whitestar's son. My Giraffe is the story of a boy and his giraffe at the zoo, and Super Miss turns a teacher's love of animals into a superhero adventure. The Ball follows a lonely eleven-year-old girl whose best friend is a stray dog, until a magical old leather ball helps her save the junkyard where her dog lives and brings new friends into her life.

Sport is another great theme. In Orange follows a young football talent who dreams of the national youth team, Bigman is the story of two best friends who dream of becoming football players and must find new dreams when one of them is injured, and football fans will enjoy the energy of Mister Twister at the Pitch, in which the famous teacher takes his class onto the football field.

Cities, villages and the sea

The films on Arabic Toons are also a lovely way to travel through the Netherlands and Flanders. Rotterdam, the great port city, is the home of Peter Bell and of the family in Toen was geluk heel gewoon. Amsterdam is the city of Young Kees, Ciske the Rat and Jackie & Oopjen, with its canals, narrow houses and the Rijksmuseum. The Frisian lakes are the setting of The Skippers of the Cameleon, where the twins race their boat across the water.

The North Sea coast appears in many films, from the sunny town of Pirates Down the Street to the fishing village of Bennie Brat, whose hero is a fisherman's son with a heart of gold. Brussels is the setting of Rosie & Moussa and Binti, and the Flemish villages come alive in Allez, Eddy and the Plop films, with their forests and mushroom houses. The theme park of Family Fox on Expedition and De legende van familie Vos will be familiar to every Dutch family that has spent a summer day among its fairy-tale forests.

Some films travel much further. The Zoop rangers visit Africa, India and South America, Sing Song and My Grandpa the Bankrobber travel to Suriname, Casa Coco takes place on the island of Bonaire, Cloudboy goes north to Lapland, and the Dummie films sail all the way to Egypt in search of pyramids and sphinxes. Wherever they go, the films keep their warm, down-to-earth Dutch humour.

A perfect first night

If you are new to Dutch and Flemish family films and want just one evening to begin, here is a simple plan. For a family with small children, watch Tow-Truck Pluck: it is gentle, funny and beautiful, and it shows the whole charm of the Dutch storybook film. For a family with older children, watch Pirates Down the Street or The Flying Liftboy, and see if everyone wants another film the next evening. For a December evening, choose The Claus Family. For a family with teenagers, choose The Letter for the King.

After the first evening, open the shelves and follow your taste. If the family loved the storybook magic, go on to Little Crumb, Peter Bell and Help! I’ve Shrunk the Family. If they loved the adventure, go on to The Skippers of the Cameleon and Crusade in Jeans. If they loved the songs, go on to the K3 films and the Plop films.

Why these films matter

Dutch and Flemish family films are made with great care and respect for children. They take their young heroes seriously, they tell stories about friendship, courage, family and kindness, and they are full of the humour and warmth of the Low Countries. Many of them are based on books that children read at school and at home, so the films become part of a shared culture that whole generations recognise.

They are also a window onto a small and fascinating part of Europe: its canals and port cities, its villages and seaside towns, its winter skating and its summer camping, its comic strips and its songs. For Dutch and Flemish families living abroad, they are a way to share the language and the stories of home with their children. For families everywhere else, they are a delightful discovery.

The help pages

Arabic Toons has fifteen short help pages, each linked from the Shelves panel on the home page. They cover how to watch, storybook favourites, Annie M.G. Schmidt, TV heroes, Plop, Piet Piraat and K3, Flanders, fantasy and magic, adventures, holidays and seasons, classic family television, family film nights, learning Dutch, the decades, finding a title and My List.

Happy viewing

Arabic Toons is an independent English guide. Posters and production data come from TMDB, the services in the Watch now menu come from JustWatch, and the guide and the help pages are written for Arabic Toons. We hope it helps your family find a new favourite, whether it is a boy with a red tow truck, a flying lift, a family of pirates, a gnome in a mushroom house or a grandfather who delivers every Christmas present. Happy viewing.

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