During the early settlement of Australia by Europeans, the idea that the bunyip was an actual unknown animal that had yet to be discovered became common. A large number of bunyip "sightings" by settlers were recorded during the 1840s and 1850s, especially in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. Various written stories of bunyips were made by Europeans in the early and mid-19th century. Stories were commonly told to children to make them stay away from dangerous areas of water.
There are many different descriptions of what the bunyip looks like. Features that were often reported in newspapers in the early 19th-century included dark fur, a face like a dog, sharp teeth and claws, flippers, tusks or horns, and a duck-like bill. One writer, Robert Brough Smyth, recorded many different descriptions of the bunyip. But he concluded that most people did not really know much about what it looked like or its behaviour, and that they were too afraid of the creature to be able to take note of its appearance.
Scholars have suggested that the story of the bunyip may have been passed down from a time when megafauna still existed in Australia. Comparisons have been made to extinct marsupials like the "Diprotodon" or "Thylacoleo". Other scholars have suggested that people finding the fossilised remains of such animals would identify them as the bunyip.
The first written account of the bunyip was in July 1845. A newspaper reported on the finding of some fossils near Geelong. When the bones were shown to an Aboriginal man, he was said to have immediately recognised it as the bunyip. He was asked to draw a picture of the bunyip. The newspaper described it as having a head like an emu and the body and legs of an alligator. Its legs were said to be strong, with thick and short hind legs and long legs in front. It was said to have long claws. When in the water, it was said to swim like a frog, but when on shore it would walk on its hind legs, standing high.
In January 1846, a weird-looking skull was taken from the banks of Murrumbidgee River in New South Wales. The person who found it said that all the natives it had been shown to had called it a bunyip. The skull was put on display in the Australian Museum in Sydney. Crowds came to see it, and "The Sydney Morning Herald" wrote that many of the visitors told stories about their "bunyip sightings".
Another early story about the bunyip was written in 1852 by an escaped convict named William Buckley. He wrote that in many of the lakes he had visited, there lived an "amphibious animal, which the natives call Bunyip". He wrote that he only ever saw the back of the animal, which he said was covered in grey feathers. He described it as being the size of a small cow. He claimed the bunyip was believed to have supernatural powers.
Peyo
Pierre Culliford (25 June 1928 – 24 December 1992), known as Peyo, was a Belgian comics artist. He is best known for making "The Smurfs" comic strip.
Peyo was born in 1928 in Brussels. He was the son of an English father and a Belgian mother. On Christmas Eve 1992, Peyo died of a heart attack in Brussels at age 64.
He went to the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Peyo began work at the Compagnie Belge d'Animation (CBA), a small Belgian animation studio. There he met a few of his future colleagues, like André Franquin, Morris and Eddy Paape. He made his first comics for the newspaper "La Dernière Heure" (The Latest Hour). From 1949 to 1952, he drew "Poussy", a stop comic about a cat, for "Le Soir". For the same newspaper, he also made "Johan".
In 1952, Franquin introduced Peyo to "Le Journal de Spirou". It was a children's comics magazine published by Dupuis which was first in Belgium in 1938. Peyo wrote and drew a lot of characters and storylines. His favourite was "Johan et Pirlouit" (translated into English as "Johan and Peewit"). Set in the Middle Ages in Europe, "Johan et Pirlouit" stars a brave young page to the king, and his faithful, if boastful and cheating, midget sidekick. Johan defends the meek on his trusty horse, while Peewit gallops behind on his goat, named Biquette.
The first smurf appeared in "Johan and Peewit" on 23 October 1958 in the album "La Flûte à Six Schtroumpfs" ("The Six Smurfed Flute"). As the smurfs became more popular, Peyo started a studio in the early 1960s. Many talented comic artists started to work. The most notable artists to come from this studio are Walthéry, Wasterlain, Gos, Derib, Degieter, and Desorgher.
In 1959, the Smurfs got their own series. Many authors of the Marcinelle school worked together on the writing or as an artist. These include Willy Maltaite (aka 'Will'), Yvan Delporte, and Roger Leloup. Peyo became more of a businessman and supervisor. He let his son, Thierry Culliford, lead the studio. His daughter Véronique was responsible for the merchandising.
The merchandising of the Smurfs began in 1959. The PVC figurines were the most important piece until the late 1970s. Then, with the success of the Smurf records by Father Abraham, the Smurfs got more international success. Some of the toys reached the United States. Hanna-Barbera made a Saturday morning animated series in 1981. Peyo was story supervisor.
André Delvaux
André, Baron Delvaux (21 March 1926 – 4 October 2002) was a Belgian movie director. He is widely called the founder of the Belgian national cinema. Born in Heverlee, he died in Valencia, Spain. He received the Magritte Honorary Award at the Magritte Awards 2011.
Stijn Coninx
Stijn, Baron Coninx (born 21 February 1957 in Neerpelt, Belgium) is a Belgian movie director. He is best known for the movie "Daens". He was made a Baron by King Albert II of Belgium. He studied movie directing at HRITCS.
Jan Decleir
Jan Decleir (born 14 February 1946) is a Belgian movie and stage actor. He was born in Niel, Antwerp.
His first big role was in Fons Rademakers' "Mira" (1971). He starred in Academy Award winning movies "Karakter" and "Antonia" and the Oscar-nominated social drama "Daens".
For his role in "The Barons", he received the Magritte Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Marie Gillain
Marie Gillain (born 18 June 1975) is a Belgian actress.
In 1996 Gillain received the Prix Romy Schneider. She is single but has two daughters, Dune (born in 2004, from musician Martin Gamet) and Vega (born in 2009, from French-Italian actor Christopher Degli Esposti).
Mutitjulu
Muṯitjulu is an Indigenous Australian town in the Northern Territory. It is inside Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park, just east of Uluṟu. It is named after a knee-shaped waterhole at the base of Uluṟu. Its people are mostly Pitjantjatjara. There are also some Yankunytjnatjara, Luritja and Ngaanyatjarra families living there. Almost everybody works in the national park.
The community had a population of 283 in the 2006 census. It was reported to have dropped to around 150 in 2012, after alcohol was banned.
The Alzheimer Case
The Alzheimer Case (also called The Alzheimer Affair or The Memory of a Killer) is a 2003 movie directed by Erik Van Looy. It is based on the novel "De Zaak Alzheimer" by Jef Geeraerts.
Albert Namatjira
Albert Namatjira (28 July 1902 – 8 August 1959), born Elea Namatjira, was an Indigenous Australian artist. He is one of Australia's most well-known painters. He is best known for his watercolour paintings of the Australian outback landscape. His works were not in the traditional style of Aboriginal art. But they became important to forming the style of modern indigenous art in Australia.