The Flying Liftboy (Dutch: Abeltje), also known as Abel, the Flying Liftboy is a 1998 Dutch family adventure film directed by Ben Sombogaart and written and produced by Burny Bos, based on the 1953 Dutch children's book Abeltje by Annie M.G. Schmidt. It stars Ricky van Gastel, Soraya Smith, Frits Lambrechts, Marisa van Eyle and Annet Malherbe. It is the first feature film to be adapted from Schmidt's books.
Bos first acquired the rights to adapt Schmidt's works in 1990 before development of the film began in 1994. However, various issues such as the budget delayed production of the film. It was filmed in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain and New York.
The film was released on 26 November 1998 in the Netherlands by Warner Bros. under their Family Entertainment label. The film received mixed reviews, but it became a major success in the country. It won the Golden Calf for Best Feature Film. The film was later re-edited into a seven-episode miniseries for television by AVRO in 2000.
