I’ve never managed a visit to the Anton Pieck Museum in Hattem myself, (it’s on the to-do list) but now would be a perfect time to go, because until the end of February 2021 they have an Efteling exhibition running. It is called ‘Once Upon a Time…’ and it centres around the early years of the park.

There are, as you’d expect, a lot of Pieck’s drawings included in the exhibition, of both concept art for various fairy tales in the park as well as drawings which show the inner workings of some of the stories such as Langnek and The Magic Clock. Alongside these drawings are various props (including a very large frog and a very small pair of gnome trousers) and some merchandise which has been available over the years (including 2019’s Winter Langnek jumper).

Also included are concept drawings for a haunted house, which would later become Spookslot.

Here’s a tour of the exhibition for those of us who can’t attend:

If you want to take a trip to the museum, you must book a ticket first at www.antonpieckmuseum.nl