# The Flying Liftboy

The Flying Liftboy (Dutch: Abeltje) is a 1998 Dutch family adventure film directed by Ben Sombogaart and written and produced by Burny Bos, based on the 1953 Dutch children's book Abeltje by Annie M. G. Schmidt. It is the first feature film to be adapted from Schmidt's books.
The film was released on 26 November 1998 in the Netherlands by Warner Bros. under their Family Entertainment label. The film became a major success in the country. It won the Golden Calf for Best Feature Film. The film was later re-edited into a seven-episode miniseries for television by AVRO in 2000.

## Plot

After a humiliating incident involving his girlfriend Laura, Mother Roef takes her son Abeltje away from school and gets him a job as a lift boy at department store KNOTS. After a tour of the job, his manager Schraap tells him not to push the green button under any circumstances, under pressure, Abeltje pushes the green button and the lift takes off. This to the horror of Roef, the management, and the other inhabitants of the lift, Soon after the lift flies out of the department store, Abeltje finds out how to steer the lift.
His traveling companions - Laura, mothball salesman Jozias Tump, and singing teacher Miss Klaterhoen - are also embroiled in his adventure. Abeltje manages to land the lift on a New York parking lot. There Abeltje sets off to look for work. Millionaire Mrs. Cockle-Smith thinks he is her long-lost son Johnny and kidnaps him. Locked up in the luxury penthouse of his 'second' mother, Abeltje finds out that he does bear an uncanny resemblance to Johnny, this makes his next destination clear: he wants to find Johnny. Mr Tump helps Abeltje to escape and immediately after they reach the lift they set off at top speed for Perugona in South America, the spot where Johnny disappeared.
In Perugona, their visit happens to coincide with a coup. they end up in the hands of the guerrillas who appoint the vain Mr Tump as President. Everyone knows that Tump is only a puppet, Mr Tump himself is convinced that this career leap is a justified confirmation of his personality. Mr Tump's position makes it possible for Abeltje to set off with Laura in search of Johnny. In The Netherlands and New York, it has become clear that the lift and its inhabitants are in Perugona and the mothers of Abeltje and Johnny set off to look for their offspring. The exciting hunt for Abeltje has started. The hunt gets even more exciting when Abeltje does indeed manage to find Johnny.
Roef arrives in Perugona and accidentally takes Johnny back in her plane and sets off to The Netherlands. When Mr Tump is then deposed, it's high time for the lift travellers to set off for the safety of their own home. But then in front of the eyes of Mother Roef, Mrs. Cockle Smith and the guerrillas the lift disappears into the volcano Quoquapepapetl. During the memorial service for our four heroes in the department store, the lift pops up in the elevator shaft and everyone is reunited.

## Cast

* Rick van Gastel as Abeltje Roef / Johnny Cockle Smith
* Soraya Smith as Laura
* Frits Lambrechts as Jozias Tump
* Marisa Van Eyle as Miss Klaterhoen
* Annet Malherbe as Mother Roef / Mrs. Cockle-Smith
* Victor Löw as Schraap
* Kees Hulst as Schoolmaster
* Nora Kretz as Sofie Tump
* Elleke Vervat as a friend of Laura
* Roxanne Stam as a friend of Laura
* Afroditi-Piteni Bijker as a friend of Laura
* Taina Moreno as a friend of Laura
* Arnita Swanson as TV presenter
* Philip van Lidth de Jeude as Generallissimo
* Herman Koch as Mr Tump's Interpreter
* Joseph Gudenburg as Policeman

## Release
### Critical response

Dana Linssen of NRC Handelsblad wrote a positive review and states that the film "offers great entertainment for Schmidt purists" and that "every joke and every storyline is catchy on several levels, including the art direction full of searching pictures and unexpected discoveries." She concluded her review saying that the film "is more intelligent and witty than many of its American counterparts and the film should definitely be able to win the race with the traditional Christmas Disney releases."

### Home media

The film was released on VHS and DVD by Warner Home Video on 19 May 1999.

## Awards

* Golden Calf for best motion picture (1999)
* Public choice award at the Montreal International Children's Film Festival