Patrick Chaboud · Founder and artistic director of the Magic Land Théâtre · actor, author, travelling performer

Lollipop, the offbeat humour of RTBF's children

Lollipop's success on RTBF, at the turn of the 1980s, placed Patrick Chaboud and the puppet Malvira at the heart of a popular moment shared by a whole generation. Philippe Geluck, with the dog Bobosse, was its visible host; but the creation belonged to the Magic Land Théâtre, fed by a collective in which Patrick held the artistic line. The Malvira–Geluck duo shared the screen between 1980 and 1985.

In November 2023, for RTBF's seventieth anniversary, the two accomplices met again in front of Ciné-Télé-Revue's cameras. “But, Fifi, is that you?” cried Malvira; “I am deeply moved to look into your eyes again,” Philippe Geluck replied. Forty years on, the improvisation was intact.

Source: Antonella Soro et Youri Volckaert, Ciné-Télé-Revue / Sudinfo, 3 novembre 2023 →

The full Lollipop team, around Patrick Chaboud, Malvira and Philippe Geluck, on the RTBF set. — Lollipop, the full team

Lollipop, the 45 single of the theme tune (RTBF, 1981)

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Lollipop gathered a whole generation of children in front of RTBF. At its creation, Patrick Chaboud and the puppet Malvira were its pillars, alongside Philippe Geluck, the dog Bobosse and the entire Magic Land Théâtre team. What Carl De Moncharline remembers, as a young teenager in front of the screen, is humour that was strikingly offbeat for a children's programme: absurd, tongue-in-cheek, a freedom of tone that never talked down to its audience. That impertinence is part of what shaped him.Sleeve: Patrick Chaboud, Malvira and Philippe Geluck. Archive recording, presented here for documentary purposes.

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