‘Oerhollandse’ Fien & Teun compete with Mickey Mouse

It is almost impossible for Dutch if you drive on the roads of the Alblasserwaard. Green meadows where black -and -white cows are ruminating. A group of boys, with red cheeks and curved ridges, cycles unperturbed against the wind on endless cycle paths. Not far from here are the famous mills of Kinderdijk.

In the middle of this polder is the town of Molenaarsgraaf with 1,201 inhabitants, two churches and Van Hoorne Studios, where the film Fien & Teun go on treasure hunting was admitted. The children’s film premiered earlier in April and was now visited about 35,000 times. It is the fourth cinema film of this duo. But who are Fien & Teun? People without children or children older than 8 or 8 may never have heard of it. If you belong to the target group, the chorus of the title track, an inexorable earwig, may be immediately in your head:

Fien and Teun, a farmer and a farmer’s wife

Fien and Teun, your boyfriend and girlfriend

We love animals a lot

And we are incredibly cool

Fien a sweet peasantry

And Teun a real farmer

The brother and sister – dressed in blue dungarees, pink dress, clogs at the feet and Fien with a traditional lace hat on the head – experience all kinds of ‘adventures’ on their farm. Neefje Sem comes to stay in this latest film. They find an old boat with a box full of pirate clothing and a treasure card. So they go on treasure hunt. Fien & Teun seem to be on the road to become the Ot and Sien, or Jip and Janneke of the 21st century. Or do they compete with Mickey Mouse?

The duo has been around for eleven years and has figured in a TV series, four cinema films, books and theater shows. There is a theme park in nearby Groot-Ammers, Adventure farm Molenwaardand a holiday park Family Resort Molenwaard In the nearby Ottoland. In 2023, the first Fien & Teun-Themapark in Wenzhou opened in China and there are currently another two parks being built in China.

Disney of the Low Countries

The man behind this ‘traditional Dutch’ duo is Michael van Hoorne (44), owner of the Van Hoorne group. « We want to become the Disney of the Low Countries, » he says at the head office in Molenaarsgraaf. From the outside the collection of buildings looks like any small -scale business park, but once through the doors you enter the world that has designed Van Hoorne down to the smallest detail. There is coffee with a Teun-shaped cookie. « I never dared to dream that this would be such a success, » says Van Hoorne.

He once started in equestrian sport, with the ambition to become the new Anky van Grunsven. « In the end I had too little talent, » he says. Not much later he got a new dream: becoming a musical star. « I love being on stage. » What was less fun: the auditions that you have to do for that. « So I started for myself. » Van Hoorne started its own production of ten performances about a cook in Madurodam in 2003. Several musicals and collaborations with other companies followed.

Van Hoorne was introduced to Fien & Teun, then still owned by the company Lief! This lifestyle brand designed and sold mainly baby and children’s items, from bags to clothing and animal accessories. The characters were already loved! Developed and graphically brought to life by illustrator Anet van de Vorst.

From Hoornes company, around the corner at Lief!, Was asked to think along. « We immediately wanted to make it educational characters. They had to tell a story about land life on the farm. That is also the basis of success, I think. It’s fun for children, but they also learn about everything that grows and blooms. » For inspiration he had to be not far from home. “I am from this region. My one grandfather was fruit grower, the other had dairy cattle. This was also the period that a TV program like Farmer is looking for Woman went through the roof. And you had those gardens at Albert Heijn that you could save, that too was a great success. ”

From this collaboration, TV series followed for RTL, music albums with the songs and theater shows. Sweet! went bankrupt, Van Hoorne saw potential and decided to continue with Fien & Teun. So far the projects were still quite close to Van Hoornes Original Musical Ambitions, but he had another dream: « As a child I always said that I wanted my own amusement park. »

Pancake song

In 2018 this dream came true with the opening of Adventure farm Molenwaard. « The mayor and the foundation who managed the site wanted to redevelop that location, with an educational character. Fien & Teun fitted in seamlessly. We set up on the youngest target group from 0 to about 8 years old, that turned out to be a great niche. »

Less than three years later he took the next step. He bought a campsite in Ottoland and transformed it into family Resort Molenwaard, a holiday park with (indoor) playgrounds, theater, a riding school where you can go excursion, a craft barn and a Disney-worthy Parade on the Dorpsplein. You sleep in small farms or lovely houses. An indoor swimming pool is under construction and the purchase of surrounding country is discussed.

The slogan of the Van Hoorne group is ‘360 degrees happiness’. « That is what we sell. And we do that by making everything beat. In the parks, on stage, in the films. That’s how we test our films on a young test audience. Where should a dance song come to attract attention? »

The total experience is also outside the cinema room, in the parks. In the pancake restaurant on the table the booklet written by Van Hoorne In 10 steps to 5 stars That every employee must read.

The concept caught on, despite ‘Corona’ and the paired restrictions. Last year 300,000 visitors visited the adventure farm and 50,000 people stayed at the resort. Van Hoorne: « We don’t shy away from cliché images: clogs, milk cans, mills, cheese. People don’t mind at all, they embrace it. »

And the cliché images are not only embraced by Dutch people. In the meantime, Fien und Teun on the holiday park also their welcome song in German, there are souvenirs for tourists at Kinderdijk and there is even a Chinese theme park. « We do that under license, I am not involved in it for business. We are designing it here in the house, including the two parks that are now under construction. It is fantastic to walk around there, but my ambition is not there. I want to cross the border, but closer to home: Belgium or Germany for example. »

Woezel & Pip

Time for a tour. All buildings on this business park belong to Van Hoorne. Around four hundred people now work at the company, including his brother and his mother. In a converted truck shed is the studio where all Fien & Teun films are included and now two women are rehearsing for Shrek the musical. Van Hoorne still produces musicals.

In the office, designers are working on a new theme park that must be opened in Noord-Brabant next year. No Fien & Teun this time, but Woezel & Pip. Peuterdarlings – De Hondjes have also been owned by Van Hoorne since 2023. And then a room packed with merchandising. T-shirts, hugs, pajamas, board games, rain boots, coloring books, duvet covers, craft cases, scooters-a dizzying selection.

Van Hoorne explains: « We are a commercial company, we are now at 30 million turnover and the ambition is that in 2030 it will be around 100 million. » Van Hoorne points to a corner dedicated to ‘Mike & Molly’, the sheep of Fien & Teun, who now also have their own series on RTL and Videoland. « Neutral colors are now very much in the parents of babies, Mike & Molly fit perfectly. »

Quiet target group

The resort is a five -minute drive from the head office. Behind the parking lot are the football fields of the local football club. Van Hoorne is the main sponsor; The youth plays football in Fien & Teun-Tenues.

It is half past five in the evening, the park is fully booked, but there is complete peace. « That is also an advantage of this target group, » says Van Hoorne, « nobody is bothered by it. » Van Hoorne has no children herself, they are not planned either. Then why devote a lifetime to this target group? « I can empathize very well in their world and I am still child, I think. »

Van Hoorne makes talks with the staff, picks up papers and sets seats straight. « I really always pay attention to all the details, » he says. Every plate, every planter fits in with the world of Fien & Teun. Yet a house is out of tone, people seem to live there. « When we bought the campsite, only this piece of land was. These people still live there. » The cottage was painted in the colors of the park, in consultation according to Van Hoorne. « People often think that these are the grandfather and grandmother of Fien & Teun. They now also belong to the family. »

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