30/05/2011

Norwegian-Canadian director Torill Kove, who won an Oscar for her animated short The Danish Poet (2007), will bring Swedish author Gunilla Bergström’s children’s character from 22 books, Albert Åberg, to both the big and the small screen.

The Norwegian Film Institute (NFI) has backed the feature, Hey Presto, Albert Åberg! and the 13x13min television series, with NOK 5m (€0.6m) and NOK 1.5m (€0.2m), respectively. The package will be produced by Kristin Ulseth for Maipo on budgets of NOK 20.1m (€2.9m) and NOK 15.1m (€1.9m).

The 2D animated films will shoot back-to-back, starting next month (June), both from Hans Åke Gabrielsson and Tora Berg’s screenplays. Hey Presto, Albert Åberg! will be released by Nordisk Film at the turn of 2013, preceded by the TV series aired by Norwegian state broadcaster NRK.

Another cartoon, Norwegian director Rasmus A Sivertsen’s Ploddy the Police Car Makes a Splash, which took 130,000 admissions domestically and won an Amanda – Norway’s national film prize – will have a sequel, Pelle & Pjusken.

The NFI has chipped in NOK 4.6m (€5.9m) for the new adventures of the talking vehicle, which will again be realised by Sivertsen from Arthur Johansen’s script, and produced by Aage Aaberge for Neofilm. Production will start in September, and Nordisk Film will release the result in September 2013.

Ploddy the Police Car is based on a fictional character, Norwegian policeman Åge Marcussen, developed in the 1980s originally for children’s radio, then appearing on television and in books. Total budget for the film is NOK 16.3m (€2.1m).