Hatschipuh (1987)

This is "Hatschipuh", a West German German-language film from 1987, so this one will have its 30th anniversary next year. The writer and director is Ulrich König and he is most known today for his work on Pumuckl. But this film here takes actually a similar path as it also mixes live action with animation and the animation are a bunch of gnome characters, which makes this a fantasy film as well. And honestly, the whole setting and premise sometimes feels as if taken right out of Pumuckl as Hatschipuh and the gang also love playing pranks, but not for the sake of it, instead just to people who are the antagonists. And the gnome gang has a honorable purpose here, namely protecting the farm that is their home and keeping it from being sold to the bad guys. The movie runs for 90 minutes approximately and huge (German) film buffs will find a familiar name here and there in the cast. Co-writer Franz Marischka is also fairly known. He usually made films that were really only for adults, but this one here is actually almost exclusively for children. I guess you must have seen and appreciated it as a child in order to like it as an adult too. I watched it for the first time a couple years ago and now I saw it the second time. It's not bad I guess and there is some charm here and there and sometimes the gnomes are pretty creepy too, so you would not want them as your enemies. But still I overall would say that this is really only a good watch for children. I found the voices more annoying than funny, even if they somehow fit the characters. The story and plot may not be enough to stay interesting for 1.5 hours. I have to give it a thumbs-down. Not a failure, but not recommended either. I prefer Pumuckl!

The movie not only presents the famous German actor Gustl Bayrhammer in his best role. It also presents the "Butzemaenner" (gnomes) Hatschipuh, Schmirgli and the sweet rabbit Otto. The movie wouldn't be so good without the "nearly" Oscar-nominated soundtrack, including the Smash-Hit of Nena (99 red balloons) "Jung wie du". Don't miss it - watch it (again and again and...)!!!

A few days ago i watched the german movie "Hatschipuh" for the 23rd time and even as a grown up i still find it very very funny. Then i decided to search for it here on imdb. Bingo! there it was and here is my comment: For the first time i saw this movies at the age of 6. Since then i watched it again and again. It is sooo funny. Forget Eddy Murphy and Chris Tucker. The little gnomes know how to make you laugh. And you´ll laugh your head of throughout the whole movie. I promise.The Soundtrack is also superb and features a brilliant song made by Nena. Nena had a huge hit in the 80´s with her smash-single "99 Luftballons" ( 99 red ballons ).The movie is directed by Ulrich König who created the famous Pumuckl series, which was an incredible success in Germany. So you see, this movie has it all. Great acting, lots of fun and even some well made special effects. Go and rent or buy it.10/10

This movie is one of the funniest i have ever seen. Especially german actor Gustl Bayrhammer who is well known from the "Pumukl" series comes up with an amazing performance. Although being made for kids even adults can have a great deal of fun watching this movie. I give it 10 /10