Humming top (television broadcast)

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Television broadcast
German title Humming top
Country of production GDR
Year (s) 1982-1991
length approx. 25 minutes
genre Children's program
First broadcast January 25, 1982 on GDR 1
occupation

Brummkreisel is the title of a 25-minute German children's series that was produced and broadcast by the former GDR television. The main actors were the actors and voice actors Joachim Kaps and Hans-Joachim Leschnitz . Kaps embodied himself as “ Achim ”, a young man in a sweater, whose trademark was the colorful dungarees that he always wore. Leschnitz played his friend " Kunibert " - sometimes also called " Kunibert Männchen " - a 30 to 40 cm short man (probably a dwarf or goblin ) with a wide hat, long coat and felt slippers.

Presentation and content

The studio setting was almost always the same. The program took place in a completely black and darkened studio, in which the props that match the respective plot (for example a brightly colored wing chair in which Kaps sat reading stories) were placed. In addition, the darkened interior offered the possibility of showing animated shots and figures as well as single-colored lines via blue screen technology . The latter served u. a. as a privacy screen for puppeteers or a tread and floor for Leschnitz as Kunibert. The only recurring prop was a puppet theater , decorated with colorful motifs , in which Kunibert lived. This was closed with a curtain that opened whenever Achim wanted to interact with Kunibert.

There was no concrete concept for the show. It always began and ended with a faded in and buzzing humming top that rolled into the picture . In the course of every half-hour series episode, Achim and Kunibert interacted with each other and the children on the television screen. For example, they sang known or self-composed songs, made crafts, reading stories before or they were presented primarily from the Eastern European space originating cartoons .

Recurring elements were the so-called “ elephant magic position ” and the “ Kikifax search devices ”. In the " elephant magic pose ", the arms were crossed in such a way that one hand was touching the nose while the other arm was pushed through its crossed opposite and was supposed to stylize the elephant trunk of an elephant . The magic pose was mostly used to formulate magic spells to initiate certain actions in the studio. Achim and the spectators used the “ Kikifax search devices ”, which were shaped into fictional binoculars and held in front of their eyes, which Kaps had suggested from the breast pocket of his dungarees. After positioning the hands in front of the eyes, a short film that played at double speed was always faded in, depicting the everyday life of Kunibert's great-great-nephew Kikifax (also played by Leschnitz). In the situations shown, Kikifax acted mostly chaotically and full of misconduct. These films were intended to explain wrong behavior to the children and were always critically analyzed and discussed by Achim after they had been examined.

In later years, the two-man ensemble was expanded to include a few stocking dolls: the married couple Gret and Fred as well as the dog Pug and the white cat Hops .

Charisma

Brummkreisel was first broadcast on January 25, 1982 in the first channel DDR 1 of the television of the GDR . From this point on, Brummkreisel ran every second Saturday at 10:00 am, alternating weekly with the program “ Oops ” on the same slot. A repetition always took place on Mondays at 5:15 p.m.

After the fall of the wall

After the end of the GDR and GDR television, Brummkreisel continued to run on a regular Saturday morning slot in the program of the transitional channel DFF 1 . The original concept was retained, but varied a little in certain areas. Among other things, the stocking dolls were replaced by a nameless cartoon duck. Furthermore, they ventured into uncharted territory and produced “ Die Reise ins Pfefferland ”, a multi-part series comprising five programs. a. Actor and voice actor Gerald Schaale participated in several roles. Another new feature in this context was a competition at the end of the first four episodes, in which viewers could take part and win something. The right solutions also provided important information and hints for Achim, who went in search of his missing friend Kunibert within the plot of the multi-part.

After the DFF was transferred to the MDR or the ORB , Brummkreisel was taken over by the ARD . On behalf of this, the MDR produced some episodes with a completely new concept and a completely different presentation. The show got a cartoon opening credits with its own theme music as well as a closing credits with the credits of the show, with children's feet in socks running through the picture. The dark studio was expanded to include colorful backdrops, and other locations were faded in as cartoon backgrounds using the blue screen method. After the first episodes were broadcast as a pilot project in the morning program of ARD, but did not bring the hoped-for success with ratings, production of the series was finally stopped in the early 1990s. In the following years the episodes were repeated in loose succession. The last broadcast took place in the children's program of the RBB in 2003.

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