Thomas Funck - Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball

Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball

Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball had appeared as parts of Swedish radio shows since the mid 40s, but portrayed by regular actors. In the early 50s Funck started to do the voice of Charlie Strap. The big breakthrough came in 1954, when all voices for the first time were provided by Funck himself, only with help of a guitar for sound effects. The radio performances were followod by several records with the same concept, a cartoon drawn by Nils Egerbrandt and from 1955 a series of books with illustrations by Einar Norelius.

In 1956 there was a musical film made, Charlie Strap, Froggy Ball and Their Friends (Kalle Stropp, Grodan Boll och deras vänner), with actors in costumes miming while Funck provided the voices. Some parts were also animated with dolls.

After the 50s the interest seemed to fade, but in the 70s the characters saw a revival after appearing on radio again. In the late 1980s and early 90s two animated films where produced, directed by Jan Gissberg.