‘Yeah, tell us the story about the Candybeetles…’
Summarised, Where the Candybeetle dwells… is a comic strip about the quest for the secret of the candybeetle.
What the secret is, is not really clear to anyone nor is it to Willem Kolvoort himself.
The series of drawings he made for this project are ordered in a certain way. This order more or less seems to suggest a certain narrative structure where there really is none.
In other words: the series is an open narrative that can be interpret by themselves and now, initially, by the songwriters participating in the project. Their contributions in the shape of a pop song will undeniably create a story and, in one way or another, draw the listener/viewer/reader into the secret of the candybeetle…
On the island where the candybeetle dwells, there are several other fantasy animal creations by Kolvoort. Animals that we see regularly on his posters and illustrations, but who now star in this fantastic story together for the first time.
Meet the owlbat, for instance. A cross between an owl and a bat. He is looking for a secret, but which secret? And can it even be found? And what is the reason for his zealous quest?
But there are also more ordinary inhabitants, like mole and rat. What are their parts in the story?
And then of course there are the candybeetles. What are they trying to tell the owlbat?
Similarly intriguing inhabitants are the plaice-ravens, who hang upside down from the branch of a tree, but for heaven’s sake why? For some strange reason they have a special effect on the owlbat’s mood.
The extraordinarily rare thick-billed swan on the other hand, has a more modest presence due to its shy nature. But every island inhabitant is in awe of this mysterious animal.
And finally, there are two types of moths on the island: one type is extremely curious and the other has no eyes and needs a tiny trunk to feel its way around.
What can this open setting invoke in the songwriters? Can they each – for there will be no mutual deliberation about their contributions – write an episode about Kolvoort’s candybeetles creating a more or less coherent narrative? Enabling us to finally learn about the intriguing secret of these strange creatures and their fellow island inhabitants?
