Pelle Politibil

 (translated Pelle The Police Car, pronounced "Pe-la Po-la-ti-beel" and known as "Radar", "Ploddy" or "Plody" in some dubs) is a character in and the main protagonist of the 1993-1997 Norwegian children's TV series Pelle Politibil, the 2002 movie of the same name, and 2 later CGI movies released internationally in 2009 and 2013. He is currently on display at the Bodø Police Station in Bodø, County Of Nordland, District of Salten, Norway. Pelle was created by a Norwegian police officer named Åge Magnussen and was the star of an NRK radio show in 1986 before getting his own live-action TV series in 1993 and then 3 movies in 2002, 2009, and 2013, the latter 2 CGI. Åge Magnussen also plays Pelle's police officer and driver, Rikhard, in the TV Series. Pelle is voiced by Lars Andreas Larssen in the TV series, who also narrates, and by Fredrik O. Knutsen (now Fredrik Steen) in the 2002 movie.

Appearance
Pelle is a 1973 Volkswagen Beetle who works for the Norwegian Police Service. His body is black with white fenders. He has his name written on his hood and trunk lid (in the font Balloon, the same used for his registration plates) along with the word "POLITI" (Norwegian for "police") on his doors. His irises are simple blue circles, although in Seasons 1 and 2 his headlights are covered with white tape to simulate his scleras. This is removed in Season 3 however, and his irises are more detailed along with gaining black pupils. Pelle sports a blue rotating beacon on his roof and a siren speaker on his trunk lid where the Volkswagen logo would be. Pelle has a white curve to represent a smile on his trunk lid. His registration plates read "PELLE", his name.

For the 2002 movie a new model of Pelle was made, with the following differences from TV Pelle: It is unknown what happened to Pelle's 2002 model after filming was completed.
 * No registration plates.
 * No trunk curve (representing a smile) since Pelle's bumper acts as his mouth.
 * No headlight stickers representing eyes, since Pelle's eyes were represented in CGI for the 2002 movie.

TV Pelle's hood smile was removed in 2004 along with his name lettering ("PELLE" on hood and trunk) being made smaller.

History
In 2009 Pelle apparently had some form of engine failure or other mechanical problem and had to be sent to a garage in Rana. The mechanics at said garage fixed the problem but removed Pelle's chrome hood trim and never put it back. Pelle was back on the road by May 2010.

Sometime between the 2002 movie and today the Norwegian Police Service changed Pelle's real-life appearance quite a bit, removing his eye stickers, painting his rims black, and replacing his siren speaker with a car alarm. He still has his original radio and beacon from the show, though his beacon now seems to rotate slower. He has also been given an actual voice in the form of a trunk-mounted speaker and sound system.

Around January 2020 Pelle had serious problems with rust eating away at his chassis, meaning once again he had to be sent to a garage to be serviced. He spent 8 months at T1 Motor A/S in Tynset before finally heading back to the Bodø police station around April 2021. During his time there his black rims were replaced with gray ones, returning his wheels to their TV series look.

Behavior
Pelle is generally friendly, though sometimes he is shown to be greedy and demanding.

Appearances
Pelle made his first "appearance" in the 1986 NRK children's radio show "Barnetimen for de minste", ("Children's class for the little ones") alongside Rikhard, Sally, and Janne.

Pelle Politibil (TV series)
Pelle appears in every single episode of the TV series as he is the main character

Season 1

 * Pelle Politibil Får En Venn ("Pelle The Police Car Gets A Friend")
 * På Besøk I Barnehagen ("Kindergarten Visit")
 * Pelle Blir Syk ("Pelle Gets Sick")
 * Tyven/Pelle Blir Bortført ("Thief/Being Abducted")
 * Festen ("Feast")

Season 2

 * Krangel Og Spetakkel ("Argument And Litter")
 * Tyvjakta
 * Pelle Rømmer ("Pelle Escapes")
 * Pelle Fâr En Ide ("Pelle Gets An Idea")
 * Belønninga ("Reward")

Season 3

 * Den Store Bølgen ("The Big Wave")
 * Skurkene Kommer ("The Villains Are Coming")
 * Leteaksjonen ("Exploration Campaign")
 * Tyven ("Thief")
 * Arrestasjonen/Pelle's Bursdag ("The Arrest/Pelle's Birthday")

Pelle Politibil (2002 movie)
Pelle appears as the main character in this film.

Pelle Politibil går i vannet
Pelle appears as the main character in this film.

Pelle Politibil på sporet
Pelle appears as the main character in this film.

Trivia

 * Pelle has a standard European hi-lo siren, unlike Sally who has a wail-yelp siren more characteristic of an American emergency vehicle. Pelle uses his siren in almost every episode. The only exceptions would be Season 3 Episodes 4 and 5.
 * Pelle and the narrator are both voiced by Lars Andreas Larssen
 * Pelle like Sally has number/license plates bearing his name, written in the font Balloon, the same font used for his name written on his hood and trunk.
 * Pelle's eyes at first didn't move very much, but as the series went on his eyes were animated more often. His mouth however has only been seen moving once, in Season 1 Episode 3.
 * In the two later CGI movies Pelle was renamed in several dubs, to "Plody" in the Czech dub of Går I Vannet, "Ploddy" in the English and Spanish dubs of the same movie, and then "Ploddy" again in the English dub of På Sporet.
 * Pelle's interior contains a Kienzle Chronoquartz clock and a Sonab radio, the latter of which he and Rikhard use to communicate with other police officers. In Leteaksjonen it's also revealed that Rikhard apparently bought Pelle a special keychain for him, bearing his picture and the words "POLITIET TRYGGER HVERDAGER" (meaning "POLICE SAFE EVERYDAY" when literally translated).
 * Sometime around the start of 2020, Pelle was designated the official ambassador of the city of Bodø.
 * Pelle is not actually 3 meters long as his theme song claims; he is 4 meters long.
 * Pelle has become so popular in Norway that other police stations in the country have made their own versions of him: Petra Politibil, based at Hamar Trafikkstasjon ("Traffic Station"), & Pernille Politibil, first based in Sjøvegan & later Setermoen after 2018.
 * Pelle has apparently regularly attended Bodø's Constitution Day parade on May 17. In 2020 however he was experiencing rust problems with his chassis & so was towed on a trailer by an ambulanse named "Olga Sykebil". Pelle was back to parading under his own power by the following Constitution Day.