Marten Toonder is born on May the 2nd, 1912 as the eldest son of a merchant navy captain, Marten Toonder sr. and Catharina Huizinga. As a child he shares a fantasy world with his two year younger brother Jan Gerhard using self-made puppets to play out adventures. He cuts out figures from the weekly comics which his father had brought from Canada, sticking them onto cardboard.

Marten's professional career starts in South America. He is allowed sail with his father as a reward for successfully finishing his secondary level high school education at then age of nineteen. In Buenos Aires he becomes so enchanted by Don Quiterno's comic studios that he decides to become an illustrator.

His career choice is spot on as he quickly finds success. His first comic series 'Bram's adventures' and 'Thijs IJs' are placed in the Dutch paper 'De Nederlander' just two years after his journey to South America and from 1934 in the paper 'Nieuwsblad van het Noorden'. On the 30th of October, 1933 Marten starts work at the Nederlandsche Rotogravure Maatschappij, a press which also publishes magazines. He makes both realistic and caricature drawings for serials and featured columns. He is also asked to continue an existing comic story.

In 1935 he marries his neighbourhood sweetheart Phiny Dick, who by that time was sharing the writing and drawing. Just before the outbreak of the Second World War the couple move to Amsterdam where Marten starts as a freelance illustrator. The ‘Leidse Rotogravure’ press is an important customer. He also engages in making and designing coloured book covers.

His comic figure ‘Japie Makreel’ adventure is placed in the 'Doe Mee!' weekly magazine in 1940. The following year he is given the opportunity to start a new comic story, the adventures of Tom Puss, in the national paper, De Telegraaf. Soon after puzzles, calendars and posters are being produced based on this comic strip.

Marten Toonder receives an offer to make a Tom Puss animation film. Together with film producer Joop Geesink he sets up the 'Toonder-Geesink Studio’s" production company to make the film. The ordering customer for the film is German which meant that all studio employees were relieved of compulsive labour in Germany. This also applied to non illustrators. At its height more than a hundred people were employed by the studios. The production company make advertisement films for Philips, Albert Heijn grocers and the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Rail). A year later, Geesink leaves the company to specialise in making puppet animation films. In 1942 Marten continues making productions with the now called 'Toonder Studio's'.

In November 1944 De Telegraaf is run by an SS editor in chief. Marten Toonder stops his Tom Puss story mid adventure by having himself declared as a manic depressive by a friendly general practitioner. With the studio's he forges documents such as identification papers, ration stamps, tokens and departmental stamps for the Dutch underground. He also makes political caricature drawings for the illegal underground paper 'Metro'.

After the war Marten Toonder and the Toonder Studio's prosper. National and international papers and magazines are eager to place comic strips and illustrated stories. With the arrival of television there is an increasing demand for advertising and company corporate films. The studios develop new recording and animation techniques.

By now Tom Puss continues his adventures accompanied by Mr. Bumble. Around 1950 their adventures are known in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, England, France, Norway and Sweden. The Toonder studios start new series. Marten Toonder creates Kappie in 1945, Panda in 1946 and Koning (King) Hollewijn follows in 1955. Phiny Dick writes and illustrates Olle Kapoen. An example is set and some talented studio employees start their own production. For example Hans G. Kresse creates Eric de Noorman (Eric the Viking).

In 1955 the Toonder family settle in Blaricum. By now Marten and Phiny have four children; two sons and two adopted daughters. Whilst on vacation in Ireland Marten Toonder realises that he has become a 'worrisome enterprising employer' rather than a 'narrative illustrator'. He quits his position as director of the Toonder Studios and 1965 moves to Greystones, Ireland were he can commit himself totally to writing and illustrating Mr. Bumble and Tom Puss adventures.

At the suggestion of Geertjan Lubberhuizen founder/director of the Bezige Bij Publishers, the stories are introduced as paperback pocketbooks in 1967. As a result the illustrations are minimalised assuring that more emphasis is placed on the subscribing, inadvertently giving the books a greater literary status. All 44 'literary monster pockets' become bestsellers. Mr. Bumble somehow takes over the leading role, and so the series becomes known as the Mr. Bumble saga (Bommlesaga).

Marten Toonder decides to retire at the age of 72. The last newspaper episode of the final episode was placed on the 20th of January in 1986, to the grieve of many attentive and loyal reading fans. During a period of almost 45 years Marten Toonder has completed a total of 177 stories consisting of 11.768 daily editions with more than 33,000 drawings, supported by more than 13 million narrative words.

Marten Toonder then devotes himself to writing his tripartite autobiography. On the 7th of August, 1990, his wife Phiny Dick dies. In 1996 he marries Tera de Marez Oyens who herself passes away just a few months after the wedding ceremony. Marten writes an epilogue to his autobiography called 'Tera' in commemoration of his second wife.

Due to an ailing health he returns to the Netherlands in 2001 to settle in the Rosa Spier artist’s retirement home. Four years later he departs this world once and for all on the 27th of July, 2005.