Some people might say that 60 minutes is not much of movie, but since each regular episode of the Piet Piraat series is only 5 minutes long, this movie offers 12 times as much adventure on Piet's ship 'De Scheve Schuit'. One of Studio 100's more recent franchises, 'Piet Piraat' is to 'Kabouter Plop' what 'Big & Betsy' is to 'Samson & Gert'. Well, that's not entirely true. While Big & Betsy is exactly the same show as Samson, only with different characters, Piet and Plop are slightly less indistinguishable from one another, though they share the same duration (the aforementioned 5 minutes). Both Piet and Plop are classic children's characters (a pirate, a gnome) with their own distinctive supporting characters. Being a pirate, Piet is subject to slightly less childish catchphrases, though he does wear a patch of a teddy on his hat instead of a skull and bones. However, that did not stop the Dutch satirists of Koefnoen create their own spoof 'Ridder Rob'. Piet also has his work cut out for him if he wants to equal Plop's impressive amount of cinematic outings, though, being a pirate, he should actually have an advantage adventure wise.
And why shouldn't Piet Piraat try his luck on the big screen? As Studio 100 had the standing set of Piet's ship on hand and the 4 cast members under contract, all they had to do was add a Dutch guest actor and some CGI effects (strangely enough, there are no new songs, though the version I saw was preceded by a medley of older Piet Piraat numbers). All the characters are already established, catchphrases and all. Piet Piraat (Gert Verhulst lookalike Peter Vandevelde) is a good natured Pirate who never actually robs anybody, but spends his time looking for treasure. Piet always addresses his crew members by their first name and Piet Piraat is not related to the character of the same name that was mentioned on 'De Bereboot' (1976).
At the helm of De Scheve Schuit is big hipped, Stien Struis, the strongest woman on the seven seas. She only refers to her shipmates by their last names. Berend Brokkenpap is the ships' cook and probably the character with the most faults. He likes to refer to himself in the third person. Rounding out the alliterating bunch of sea dogs is Steven Stil, who never calls the others by any name as he is unable (or unwilling) to speak. All four of the characters keep their headgear on at all times (like the villagers of Anatevka).
At the start of the film (after the medley of Piet Piraat hits and the ominous looking opening credits) Berend is begging Piet for some time off to take a vacation in Palerimos. Berend, you see, wants to perfect his own form of Pirate-Golf. But Steven Stil has fished a portrait out of the sea, which turns out to be cursed. Kaptiein Snorrebaard (Johnny Kraaykamp Jr.) has been trapped inside it for exactly a hundred years, and has only three days and nights to find the object that cursed him, a golden crown, and get someone else to put it on and take over his curse. Luckily for him the crew of the Scheve Schuit are all rather dimwitted and easily persuaded to go along on a mad quest past singing sirens of the sea and cgi shark to find the fabled crown.
Kraaykamp is a welcome addition to the cast, funny and villainous at the same time. It has become a tradition in these Studio 100 productions to have one Dutch guest star in every film, as the pictures have their biggest audience in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, not the French half (or the German region). This means, the Dutch market is a welcome addition to make a profit. Although the story is quite obviously inspired by a certain 'Curse of the Black Pearl' and the Mis en Scene is very theatrical (the characters tend to line up behind a table instead of gathering around it) and the final sword fight between good and evil is not all that spectacular. Still, there is something lovable about Piet and his shipmates that makes their first big screen adventure very enjoyable. Especially as you're within the right age group, naturally. I mean as far as I know, most children would rather grow up to be a pirate than a garden gnome. Here to hoping Piet will give old Plop and the girls from K3 a run for their money on the big screen in many more sea-worthy adventures, accompanied by many interesting Dutch guest stars.
8 out of 10
