Bamse and the City of Thieves is the first feature adaptation based on the Swedish cartoon series, Bamse ? The World′s Strongest Bear, which has enjoyed huge popularity for nearly half a century. Rune Andreasson, often called "the Disney of Northern Europe", created Bamse in 1966 as a character for a weekly strip and a series of TV animation. Bamse is a brown bear who gains special powers by eating "thunder-honey", specially prepared for him by his grandmother. Bamse has been widely popular for the way he realizes both the wonderful world of fantasy and an allegory of communal values by helping those in need with his powers and standing up against discrimination, violence and injustice. Bamse has been published periodically in its own comic magazine since 1973, and there are TV animation shorts, a wide selection of character merchandise and even a theme park featuring this popular bear. In the 2014 feature film, Bamse and his friends embark upon an exciting adventure to rescue his grandmother kidnapped by thieves. Bamse and the City of Thieves is an animated masterpiece from Northern Europe, which brings to life the characters and images of the original work through delicate handwork and presents a new world of imagination with its rich coloring, dynamic animating and fantastic spectacles. (HWANG Hei-Rim)