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{{Infobox comic strip
|title = <small>Paulus de Boskabouter</small>
|image = Arnhem-guldenbodem-paulusdeboskabouter.jpg
|caption = 
|creator = [[Jan van Oort]], aka [[Jean Dulieu]]
|current =
|status = Terminated
|syndicate =
|genre = [[Fantasy comics]]
|first = February 2, 1946
|last = 1984
}}
'''''Paulus the woodgnome''''' ({{langx|nl|'''Paulus de boskabouter'''}}) was a Dutch newspaper [[comic strip]], which ran between 1946 and 1984. Its popularity inspired a series of children's novels, a radio series and a television puppet series. It was created by [[Jan van Oort]] ([[pseudonym]] [[Jean Dulieu]]), who personally made all adaptations of his work. ''Paulus'' was translated into German, English, Swedish and Japanese.<ref name="lambiek.net">{{cite web|url=https://www.lambiek.net/aanvang/dulieu.htm|title=Jean Dulieu|author=|date=|work=lambiek.net|accessdate=14 April 2016}}</ref>

==History==
The first ''Paulus'' comic strip was published on February 2, 1946, in the Dutch newspaper ''[[Het Vrije Volk]]''.<ref name="lambiek.net"/> Like most comic strips in [[The Netherlands]] at the time it was published in [[text comics]] format, with the text below the images. During the first 12 years nearly 3500 individual strips were written and drawn. Dulieu temporarily interrupted his comic strip in 1957 to focus more on his radio series adaptation of ''Paulus''. After the show was cancelled in 1963 he continued making new comic strips until 1967–1968, when he focused on a new project: a TV puppet series. Between 1974 and 1984 Dulieu drew his final series of comics about Paulus.<ref name="lambiek.net"/>

[[File:Jean Dulieu (1962).jpg|thumb|[[Jan van Oort]], the creator of ''Paulus'']]

Apart from ''Het Vrije Volk'' the comics were also published in magazines such as ''Kris Kras'', ''[[Bobo (magazine)|Bobo]]'', ''Avrobode'' and ''Eva''.<ref name="lambiek.net"/>

==Storyline==
Paulus is a [[gnome]] who lives in the woods. His friends are Oehoeboeroe (pronounced: "Oohoobooroo") the [[owl]], Salomo the [[raven]] and Gregorius the [[badger]]. His archenemy is Eucalypta the witch and her assistant Krakras.<ref name="lambiek.net"/>

===Characters===
* '''Paulus''': A nice, good natured wood gnome who is a friend of all nature and enjoys to smoke a pipe now and then.
* '''Oehoeboeroe''': A wise [[owl]] who enjoys talking in [[archaism|archaic]] language. He is a good friend of Paulus, despite his love for eating mice.
* '''Gregorius''': A greedy, lazy and not too bright [[badger]]. He frequently makes use of [[spoonerism]]s. He too is a friend of Paulus.
* '''Salomo''': A wise [[raven]] who is another one of Paulus' friends. 
* '''Eucalypta''': An ugly and evil witch who is Paulus' arch enemy.
* '''Krakras''': A [[crow]] who was transformed into a featherless chick by Eucalypta. She often assists her.
* '''Mol''': A [[mole (animal)|mole]] who often helps Paulus.
* '''Pluim''': A [[squirrel]] and friend of Paulus.
* '''Wipper''': A rabbit.
* '''Reintje''': An evil [[fox]], who is a threat to the other animals and often works together with Eucalypta.
* '''Poetepa''' and '''Moetema''': A [[bear]] couple who have a little cub named '''Poetepoet''', who ran away from home because he wanted to be big.

==Radio series==
Between 1955 and 1964, ''Paulus de boskabouter'' was adapted for [[Omroepvereniging VARA|VARA]] [[radio]] as a series of [[audio play]]s. 900 episodes were made. [[Jean Dulieu]] did all the voices personally,<ref name="lambiek.net"/> except for Prinses Priegeltje, which was done by his daughter Dorinde van Oort. The theme music was "Dance of an ostracised imp" by [[Frederic Curzon]]. Several episodes were released on vinyl records and in the 2000s some were also made available on CD.

==Television series==
Between October 1, 1967, and December 29, 1968, ''Paulus de boskabouter'' was made into a puppet series for VARA television. Dulieu made all the puppets himself and also provided the voices. [[Fred Bosman]] was the director. The series was exported to the [[United Kingdom]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], [[Canada]] [[Australia]] and [[Japan]]. The British dub was narrated by [[Arthur Lowe]], with voices by [[Peter Hawkins]] and broadcast on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]. It was produced by [[Nederlandse Televisie Stichting|NTS]] Netherlands.<ref name="beeldengeluid.nl">{{cite web|url=http://zoeken.beeldengeluid.nl/internet/index.aspx?ChapterID=1164&|title=Beeld en Geluid|author=|date=|work=beeldengeluid.nl|accessdate=14 April 2016}}</ref>

===Episode list===
* Oehoeboeroe and the Mouse
* The Falling Tree
* Visit from Pieter
* Breakfast for Paulus
* Clock 12
* Gregorius Fixes it Up
* In the Woods
* Professor Punt's Rolomobile
* Gregorius's Pitfall
* Sick Eucalypta
* Chinese Hat
* Paulus Sleeping
* The Witch Machine
* From an Oil Tie, an Oil Tie and Oil Eucalypta
* Careful in the Evening 
* Whoever Sets a Snare for Another Falls into it Himself
* Playfighting
* Telling Tales
* Eucalypta's Fur Coat
* Angry Beasts in the Woods
* Bear Bedtime
* Go Ahead, Dig Again 
* Paulus's Date
* Feeding Bugs
* Who Wants Carrots?
* A Strange Rabbit
* Japie the Unicorn 
* The Miracle Stove
* Professor Punt and a Difficult Case
* The Vampire
* Paulus's Winter Supply
* Mushroom Soup
* The Tree Ghost 
* Eucalypta's Birthday 
* The Worrelsik
* A Beautiful Morning in the Woods
* Professor Punt's Smokemobile
* Eucalypta's Alarm Clock
* The Rabbit Wedding

From September 29, 1974, until May 31, 1975, a new puppet TV series about Paulus was made. This time the puppets were made by the Brothers Slabbers and the voices were done by professional actors, such as Elsje Scherjon, Frans van Dusschoten and Ger Smith, who also worked for ''[[De Fabeltjeskrant]]''. Leen Valkenier wrote the scripts and Loek de Levita produced the show.<ref name="beeldengeluid.nl"/>

==Novelizations==
During the 1970s ''Paulus'' was also published as a series of children's novels. From 2003 onward, De Meulder Publishers has published a new series of Paulus books, the so-called ''red books''.
# "The Hay Cage"
# "The Log Plan"
# "The Sparrows Job"
# "The Heroic Mole"
# "The Outdoor Schnaps"
# "The Squat Birds"
# "The Boo Trees"
# "The Inventor"
# "Acornities"
# "The Snow Sniffer"
# "The Fly Chicken"
# "United We Stand"
# "The Jumpsuit"
# "The Trinity"
# "The Bottle Man"
# "The Annual Assembly"
# "The Frog Bride"
# "The Rooster Helmet"
# "In Dire Straits" 
# "Snails' Talk"
# "The Breton Beast"
# "The Hats Party"

Further publications are forthcoming.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://zoeken.beeldengeluid.nl/internet/index.aspx?ChapterID=1164&searchText=Jean%20Dulieu List of programmes (new catalogue)] in the archives of [[Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision]]
* [http://www.paulusarchief.nl Paulus Archives] (Dutch), website
* {{IMDb title|0295806}}


[[Category:Dutch comic strips]]
[[Category:Fictional Dutch people]]
[[Category:Fantasy comics]]
[[Category:Text comics]]
[[Category:Comics set in forests]]
[[Category:1946 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1957 comics endings]]
[[Category:1963 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1967 comics endings]]
[[Category:1974 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1984 comics endings]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1946]]
[[Category:Dutch comics characters]]
[[Category:Male characters in comics]]
[[Category:Dutch radio programs]]
[[Category:1955 radio programme debuts]]
[[Category:1964 radio programme endings]]
[[Category:Children's radio programs]]
[[Category:Fantasy radio programs]]
[[Category:Radio programs based on comic strips]]
[[Category:Comics adapted into radio series]]
[[Category:Comics adapted into television series]]
[[Category:Comics adapted into novels]]
[[Category:Dutch children's television series]]
[[Category:Dutch fantasy television series]]
[[Category:Television shows based on Dutch comics]]
[[Category:1967 Dutch television series debuts]]
[[Category:1968 Dutch television series endings]]
[[Category:1974 Dutch television series debuts]]
[[Category:1975 Dutch television series endings]]
[[Category:Dutch television shows featuring puppetry]]
[[Category:Dutch-language television shows]]
[[Category:ITV children's television shows]]
[[Category:Dutch children's books]]
[[Category:Folklore of the Benelux]]
[[Category:Comics about gnomes]]
[[Category:Comics about witches and witchcraft]]
[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic badgers]]
[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic ravens]]
[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic crows]]
[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic moles]]
[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic squirrels]]
[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic rabbits and hares]]
[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic foxes]]
[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic owls]]
[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic bears]]
[[Category:Comics about talking animals]]
[[Category:Children's television series about talking animals]]
[[Category:Radio programs about talking animals]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Paulus the woodgnome|access_date=2026-03-05}}