Fantorangen

In Fantorangen’s world we meet its friends Pivi, Maurora, aunt Lis and Fantus. Fantorangen has its own toy, Eddi, a cuddly animal that can neither move nor speak. Fantorangen says that Eddi can speak and decide his own actions, so that Fantorangen can blame Eddi when something goes wrong. Eddi is registered together with Fantorangen. 

The idea for the puppet first arose at NRK. Qvisten Animasjon’s graphic designers Endre Skandfer and Stig Saxegaard designed the original Orangufanten, and these sketches eventually became Fantorangen. The next stage was a physical puppet that was made in NRK’s wardrobe department. Puppetmaker Tiina Suhonen modelled the figure and taught Christina Espedal, who is a cutter and costume maker at NRK. Espedal has produced several versions of Fantorangen. The whole story of how Fantorangen was created, may be read (in Norwegian) at NRK Beta. 

Fantorangen has been performed on television by several puppeteers: 
2007-2015: Berit Nermoen  
2015-2017: Miriam Jacobsen  
2018- : Inger Gundersen  

Fantorangen exists both as TV puppet, a mascot in full human size, and a theatre puppet. It has also been made into a soft toy for commercial sale. Several books and games based on Fantorangen have been produced on licence from NRK. 

Sources: Helgesen, Anne: Descriptions for the TV puppet exhibition "Alle tiders barndomshelter" ("Childhood heroes through the generations"), Slottsfjellsmuseet/Figurfestspillene, 19–28 January 2024.

Ownership: On loan from NRK Super.

Transmitted to Sceneweb: 13.03.2024.

Fantorangen’s world: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/fantorangens-verden 
Fantorangen: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/fantorangen 

Fantorangen’s most characteristic feature is its large mouth that can open and shut. Fantorangen has a long trunk and large ears. Its glass eyes, with black pupils on a white background, are placed high up on the head. The head was carved from foam rubber. Fantorangen’s body is small in relation to the large head. In the first version of the puppet the body was filled with feathers, but in later versions the body is also made of foam rubber. It has a lighter section on the front of the body. The arms are thin, with three fingers on each paw. The legs have hooves. A rod is fixed to each of the paws, while the legs hung loosely and moved naturally with the puppet. Fantorangen’s outer layer was made of woollen felt.

Fantorangen’s cuddly toy Eddi is made of long-haired muppet fleece and has no control mechanism. Eddi is approximately 25 cm high.  

Fantorangen is both a muppet figure with a moveable mouth, and has rods on each hand. The puppet has an openings under the body and in the neck, to allow for varied performing options for television production. The performer’s other hand can control the arms with the rods fixed to the puppet’s hands. If there are two performers, the legs can also be moved with rods fastened to the puppet’s feet. 

In 2024, Fantus moved to the puppetry stage in the play «Fantorangen på teater» ("Fantorangen at the Theatre"), written in collaboration with Oslo Nye Teater. The piece was performed at Oslo Nye Trikkestallen and on tour with The Norwegian Touring Theatre. Two sets of theatre puppets of Fantorangen, Fantus, Pivi and Maurora were made for this production. The puppets were created by Anna Granberg and Anna Marie Heinsdatter (The Norwegian Touring Theatre) and consultant Christina Espedal (NRK). 

During the Figurfestspillene ("Puppet festival") in Tønsberg in January 2024, NRK presented a new stage production showing how they make a programme with Fantorangen (Sånn lager vi Fantorangens Verden; Støperiet Scene). This was the first time that NRK revealed the process behind the television programmes.