Sunken Bells

Content

Girl in Dutch town, along the coast, is besieged by a sexton with dishonorable intentions. His wicked plans take an unexpected turn when the church tower, sexton and all, are swept away by a tidal wave. Underwater, he begins a new life. The girl's honor is saved.

Marten Toonder, Joop Geesink, Bert Haanstra

Han van Gelder (1923 - 2012) was a film artist. Under the direction of Toonder Studios, he realized several productions that earned international acclaim. In 1949, Toonder's studio fared poorly financially and a large group of employees transferred to Joop Geesink's Dollywood. This included Han van Gelder. The exact details are not known, but probably Han retained his status as an independent filmmaker, because in 1957 he made two “paperdoll” films commissioned by Toonder. Van Gelder started his own studio on the grounds of Cinetone Studios in 1962 and became a 'neighbor' to Joop Geesink's Dollywood. During the same period, Joop Geesink came up with the idea of making paper doll films. The link to Han van Gelder's work was never mentioned, but is certainly obvious.

Sunken Bells (Verzonken Klokken) is a production of (Marten) Toonder Studios. Produced under the creative direction of Han van Gelder. This old stop-motion film deserves attention for two reasons.

1. First, the creator Han van Gelder later became an independent filmmaker himself with a remarkable track record. In numerous of his later mostly documentary-like films, Van Gelder uses animation elements.
2. Second: this film is almost certainly the first preserved application of the so-called paperdoll technique. The animated figures are made of paper. The term “paper doll” is not known at the time of production anno 1957. From 1961 this term comes into circulation.

Han van Gelder (1923 - 2012) Photo: around 1960

Inventor

In 1961, Joop Geesink claimed to be the inventor of the paper doll technique with the introduction of The Traveling Tune. (1961) In fact, The Traveling Tune (1961) is a refinement of the technique used here by Han van Gelder. Credit where credit is due! Although Van Gelder never appeared on film credits at Geesink's Dollywood, he worked at this studio for quite some time. It is very likely that he transferred his technical knowledge of the paper doll technique, as applied in Sunken Bells, to the Geesink staff.

Van Gelder's qualities were also utilized by documentary filmmaker Bert Haanstra.

For years, Han van Gelder worked for other filmmakers, like Marten Toonder, Joop Geesink and Bert Haanstra. Afterwards he became an independent producer and made mostly (commissioned) films. He was also the producer of (animated) films produced by free film artists.

Humour

The film was humorous for the time in which it was produced. The spoken text is very solid and moralistic. It was probably over the top even for the 1950s. Particularly at the end of the story, schoolmaster Piepkema stands with imploring finger to formulate a moralising conclusion. The sexton would be punished for his bad deeds, it was said, but in practice things turned out differently. Simultaneously, just the opposite can be seen in the picture. This contradiction and the slight form of spicy twist was considered humorous.

Trivia (1)

Figures in Sunken Bells are made entirely of paper. The animation possibilities are therefore limited. At times the figures are supported with nylon threads or transparent plastic supports. These were not supposed to be seen when projected. With The Traveling Tune, Geesink assumes a puppet made of sheet metal for better strength of the figure. The front was pasted with paper for artistic effect.

The film is slightly faded in hue in the view below. The cause lies in the base material: Eastmancolor is a color process that fades over time. There are older films with much more brilliant colors. However, those were shot in Technicolor.

Trivia (2)

Also noteworthy that this film is a free production, with no commercial sponsor in the credits. With Joop Geesink there was always an (advertising) message.Finally, it is a personal note from the editors that in the 1990s filmmakers Huibert and Arie den Draak were able to start their animation film studio thanks to the enthusiastic efforts of Han van Gelder. In his studio, the Den Draak brothers were able to produce their first 35 mm films.