In the 1970s and 1980s, animated series first appeared on German television on a large scale. The series were often produced by ZDF, for example, in co-production with Japanese animation studios. These include the children’s series ‘ Die Biene Maja’, ‘Heidi’ or ‘Wickie und die starken Männer’. But also, series like “Alice im Wunderland’ (“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, ‘Nils Holgersson’ (“The Wonderful Adventures of Nils”, ‘Pinocchio’ or ‘Sindbad’ (“Sindbad the Sailor”).
At ITFS, Studio 100 presents one episode of each of these unforgotten series, the main characters of which were the heroes of many people’s childhood.
The series is based on the classic book of the same name by Lewis Carroll. Alice’s journey to wonderland begins with a shopping trip in London, where she buys a dusty top hat. Inside the hat she discovers a white rabbit that invites her home to its burrow. In this wonderland of surprises, logic, sanity and reason no longer apply: there is cake that makes you grow very tall, a very strange forest where no one can remember anything, there are talking flowers, little flying elephants, and a host of other amazing characters.
The series is based on the children’s book of the same title by Selma Lagerlöf. Nils, a farm boy, constantly torments the animals on the farm. After a goblin turns him into an imp as a punishment, the animals want to take revenge on him. But Martin the grey goose gives him a second chance. Nils climbs onto his back, and they join a flock of wild grey geese. On the long, exhausting, and dangerous journey, Nils and the wild geese become friends and he begins to respect the animals. After learning his lesson, he grows back to his normal size.
At a time when people still believe the earth is a disc, a brave boy lives in the great Arab city of Baghdad. His name is Sindbad. When he upsets the king by breaking some jars, he decides to go to sea with his uncle. His journey takes him to islands where man-eating birds live and to deserts regularly haunted by ghosts. The adventurer also comes across castles that only appear once every hundred years and kingdoms completely turned into marble. Together with his friends Ali Baba, raven Sheila and boatman Aladdin, Sindbad fights fearsome giants, warlike dwarves, fire-breathing dragons, and demons made of ice. But thanks to his courage and cleverness, Sindbad defeats all the evil spirits of Arabia.
Soon after the cheeky puppet Pinocchio has been carved from a piece of wood by old Gepetto, he leaves his “father” to explore the world. Together with the cautious duck Gina, Pinocchio stumbles from one adventure to the next. He would like nothing better than to become a real boy of flesh and blood and is all too easily influenced. Along the way, he meets a mangy fox and a stray tomcat who are always plotting new ways to lead Pinocchio astray. His friend Gina and the good fairy have their hands full to save Pinocchio from the worst.