Abeltje is a 1998 adaptation of the 1953 Dutch children's book by Annie M.G. Schmidt.
Abeltje Roef is taken out of school by his mother to get a job as a bellhop at a department store. Thanks to a magical elevator, Abeltje and three others (his girlfriend Laura, the dimwitted salesman Jozias Tump, and the eccentric Miss Klaterhoen), visit New York City across the Atlantic and then the South American republic Perugona in search of a kidnapped boy who resembles Abeltje.
This film provides examples of:
- Action Mom: Abeltje's mother drives a motorcycle and is very protective of her son. When she discovers that he's in Perugona, she immediately rents out a waterplane and flies there to take Abeltje back, dodging fire from Perugonan soldiers in the process. Unfortunately, she actually takes the wrong boy by mistake.
- Banana Republic: The entire second half takes place in the fictional banana republic Perugona (an island micro-nation off the coast of Argentina according to the maps) where one of the main characters, a clueless moth ball salesman, is made El Presidente just after a coup by the guerillas has ousted the previous leader. There's even a scene right after the coup where the guerilla leader fantasizes about being the president, before realizing that his reign would probably be a bit too short for his own liking and appointing a puppet would be wiser.
- Identical Stranger: The Dutch Abeltje is a dead-ringer for the American boy Johnny Cockle-Smith, who was kidnapped while on holiday in Perugona. Abeltje himself is captured by Johnny's mother while visiting New York City, who believes him to be her missing son. After looking through Johnny's belongings, Abeltje makes it his mission to free his look-alike, switching places with him in the process.
- Signs of Disrepair: After a heated argument with the manager of a Department store named "Knots" (club), where her son used to work, Abeltje's mother storms out of his office and slams the door so loud it knocks the "N" off the sign, reducing the name to "Kots" (barf).
- Punch-Clock Villain: The German interpreter hired by the junta to speak for President Tump. He doesn't believe in the revolution and doesn't care about Tump's presidency either, abandoning him the moment that Tump makes himself the most unpopular man in Perugona.
- Trumplica: A surprisingly subtle version in the character of Jozias Tump. If the name didn't already clue you in, he also physically resembles Donald Trump with a business suit, black longcoat, and a Dodgy Toupee, and he and the other main characters also visit New York City. Rather than a corporate tycoon with a massive business empire, he's a lowly and clueless moth ball salesman who later becomes the President of a Banana Republic when the leader of the junta forces him to become a figurehead. He still has a bit of an ego, but is ultimately presented as an honest man who's in over his head and really misses his wife.
