The Gang

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As soon as it was suggested that I drew the Scandinavian boys as Olsen Banden (The Olsen Gang) I had to do it. It was just too perfect.

Olsen Banden is a series of 14 Danish comedies (the first was made in 1968) about a gang of three small-time criminals (Egon, Benny and Kjeld) who were never successful in their plans. They got quite popular in Germany, and to a lesser degree in Russia and Poland, because they made fun of the police, government and everybody else with power. They were even remade in Norway (Where they were called "Olsenbanden") and Sweden ("Jönssonligan").

The gang got it’s name from their leader, Egon Olsen (In this case played by Sweden). He spends most of his time in jail, and always has a plan on how to get rich when he comes out. He likes things to be in order, and admires the Germans for the same reason (Germans, not Nazis). If his two gang members mess something up he explodes, calling them lazy, useless losers who isn’t worth his time. If he himself make a mistake he gets extremely depressed and loose all faith in himself as a leader, and stays that way until Benny and Kjeld tells him it’s okay to make mistakes and that they still believe in his plan.

Benny (Denmark here) is very happy-go-lucky, and rather hyper. He is always very enthusiastic about Egon’s plans, sometimes to a point where he will giggle uncontrollably until Egon tells him to shut up. His biggest dream is to never work again, and he can always find an excuse to open a beer and read porn. Lacks anything that resembles fashion sense.

Kjeld (Norway) is a family man who is always bossed around by Egon and Benny, and the only one who owns a house (Egon’s only house is the prison, and Benny seems to live in his car). He just wants what is best for his wife and son, which is the reason why he goes along with the plans. In reality he dreams of a normal life with a nice legal job. His wife is quite bossy, and her and Egon often fight.

Here is one of the most famous clips from the movies, where they break into a theatre while an orchestra plays, by following the music [link] Same scene in the Norwegian version [link]
And another scene just to show you what an American (in the yellow car) looks like in an old Danish movie. ;) [link]

I was listening to this remix of their theme while drawing to get in the right mood [link] It's because of the tempo in the song they're running in the picture.

21st April 2010