Over the years, Pardoes has gone through numerous transformations. In this article, we are going to walk you through the most significant stages and show the evolution of Pardoes. On top of these changes, the wizard jester also adopts different looks depending on his role, the season or special events.
Pardoes was introduced to the world in 1989 by Henny Knoet (“Bedenker mascotte Efteling dood”, 2013). However, the first sketch was made years before, in 1985, and kept secret for about two years. Knoet was also the author of Pardoes’ background story. But at that time, nothing was done with this story, as Pardoes was not yet recognized as an important figure in Efteling. This was mainly due to Knoet’s supposed lack of experience, as he was ‘only’ an assistant designer.
A direct quote from Knoet reflects the attitude of that time: "In those days, it wasn’t really about what was conceived, but who conceived it." (originally in Dutch: “Het ging er in die tijd eigenlijk niet om wat er bedacht werd, maar wie het bedacht had.”) (“Uit de gesprekken met Eftelist: Henny Knoet”, 2013, p. 10).
At the start, Pardoes was designed to resemble medieval jesters, and his appearance was very muppet-like. This look was specifically made to make Pardoes a good and welcoming host for the Efteling. A smoother, more animated design followed, making him seem more alive and expressive. Pardoes’ most recent outfit was inspired by the opening of the Symbolica dark ride in 2017 and still includes elements of the jester look, but it is transformed with magical details, like a wizard hat and cape (“Pardoes”, n.d.).
Images in 3D space credits: