The elephant police

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Movie
German title The elephant police
Original title 封神榜 (Fēng Shén Bǎng)
Country of production Taiwan , China
original language Mandarin
Publishing year 1975
length approx. 82 minutes
Age rating FSK 6 and FSK 12 (see FSK approval )
Rod
Director Chang Chi Hui
script Shen Kang
production Chang Ying
Deng Youli
music Wang Juren

The elephants police , also known under the titles Tarzerix - The Avengers , Tarzerix - the elephants police, the elephants police - Tarzerix is a Taiwanese-Chinese Fantasy - Cartoons format widescreen from 1975. He is the first colored cartoon in the China and Taiwan was produced together. The film is an adaptation of the comic book "Feng Shen Bang" by the Taiwanese comic artist Cai Zhizhong . The story of the film is loosely based on the Chinese novel The Creation of the Gods . The character Tarzerix is modeled in part on the famous Chinese actor and martial artist Bruce Lee . The film had its German cinema premiere in West Germany on October 30, 1977.

action

King Zhou rules his kingdom with an iron hand. Most critics are cruelly tortured to death. His people suffer from his bondage. He has fallen for his wife, a demon named Nine-Tailed Vixen. She skillfully manipulates him for her own purposes without him noticing.

The king's tyranny is not hidden from the gods in heaven and they consult on how best to help people. Master Wu, a magician, is sent to the kingdom of Zhou. Wu kills a demon who is a sister of the nine-tailed vixen. King Zhou is then asked by his wife to build a high vantage point in the city, and she suggests Master Wu as the builder. She knows that Wu killed her sister and seeks revenge. If Wu accepts the job, she could easily attach something to him. Master Wu tells King Zhou's Chancellor that he is rejecting the job on the grounds that the people will suffer even more. The nine-tailed vixen manages to kill the Chancellor with a trick and to portray Wu as the Chancellor's murderer.

When the people found out that a pyramid was to be built, some of the people expressed their displeasure. King Zhou's soldiers want to nip a riot in the bud and attack the people. Master Wu follows the action from a safe distance. Using magic, he creates a hurricane that crushes the soldiers and brings the people into the neighboring kingdom of the wise Mandarin. King Chao rules here. The people are received kindly and are allowed to live here.

The general of King Zhou, "Hungar the Terrible", gives two officers the task of visiting Papatolati, a powerful evil wizard, in the realm of the wise Mandarin and delivering a message. So that Papatolati knows that the message comes from the general, it is hidden in a capsule. The news: He is supposed to murder King Chao, as a reward there is a sack of gold. Master Wu looks to the future and can later intercept the capsule with the secret message. For this merit, Master Wu is appointed Chancellor of the Kingdom of the Wise Mandarin.

Papatolati visits King Zhou and claims that the kingdom of the wise Mandarin wants to attack his kingdom with the help of the gods. Zhou agrees to go to war against the neighboring kingdom.

Some bloody battles follow, many people die on both sides, some demons and gods. In the battle before last, General Hungar's troops have the upper hand. The “4 giant kings” are on their side. The fate of the kingdom of the wise Mandarin seems sealed when Tarzerix appears. He defeated the "4 giant kings" with little effort. General Hungar orders the escape when he sees that Tarzerix is ​​too strong. Papatolati can be brought by Tarzerix, a fight ensues. Both transform into different animal forms during the fight. In the dragon form, Tarzerix divides Papatolati in two halves - Papatolati is instantly dead. General Hungar suffers an even worse fate: The father of the gods throws him into the "fire pot" and kills him with it. His soul comes into the "furnace of fire", one of the 18 levels of the underworld , where it must suffer torments for all eternity.

The nine-tailed fox asks her husband that you and her other sister (also a demon who can turn into a pheasant ) can try to kill Master Wu and Tarzerix, he agrees. The attack fails, the nine-tailed fox and her sister die.

In the final battle, King Zhou will stop at nothing. He uses his own people as a human shield, forcing them to stand handcuffed at the gates of the city so that Wu and his troops do not attack. Wu conjures up a hurricane that brings people to safety. Zhou's troops are overrun. It comes to a showdown: King Zhou against Tarzerix. Zhou doesn't stand a chance against Tarzerix, he kills the tyrant. After that, people celebrate their new King Chao.

The characters

Many of the main and minor characters are based on those of the Chinese novel The Creation of the Gods . Since the German names of the characters are not literal translations, it is very difficult to find their role models.

This table should help:

German name Chinese name
Nine-tailed vixen Daji
Master Wu Jiang Ziya
Tarzerix Obtain Shen
King Zhou King Dì Xīn of Shang
The 4 giant kings "The four heavenly kings"
The god father Yuanshi Tianzun
Papatolati Shen Gongbao
Zen "the wise" "Antarctic Fairy"
"Lumberjack Boy" Bukit
"Hungar the Terrible" Taishi Ci
Eagle wing Leizhenzi

marketing

The distributor, CFC-Kontakt-Film KG, was obviously marketing the film as a children's film . The title Die Elefantenpolizei, text and the design of the film poster are clearly aimed at a young, child-like audience. This has next to nothing to do with the movie. The subtitle "T ... and Bimbo" doesn't make any sense. "T ..." could stand for Tarzerix. The word bimbo is never mentioned in the film. The word bimbo has several meanings - an overview:

  • Disparaging term for a person with dark skin
  • An attractive but stupid woman
  • A stupid person
  • Translated from Italian: "Little boy"

None of these meanings fit the film.

Maybe the title sponsor / marketing thought that the word bimbo in connection with the word elephant police and the two blue elephants on the movie poster would be associated with Dumbo. Dumbo is a famous Disney character - a little blue elephant - from the films of the same name from 1941 and 2019 .

publication

The film was released in German cinemas under the title Die Elefantenpolizei on September 30, 1977. On the release certificate of the film, a running length of 82 minutes is specified and it was approved by the FSK from the age of 6.

The film was released on video and DVD under various titles . The FSK approval differs depending on the publication.

The studio Jaguar-Video (Madison) released the film in three parts on video. All parts have been approved by the FSK from the age of 12 (duration approx. 30 minutes each):

  • Tarzerix the Avenger 1 - The Kung Fu man
  • Tarzerix the Avenger 2 - Battle of the Demons
  • Tarzerix the Avenger 3 - Tarzerix intervenes

These three parts were published on video by Studio Carrera-Video in 1989 under the title Tarzerix - the Avenger (FSK approval: from 12 years, running time approx. 75 min.).

The film was released under the title Die Elefantenpolizei by the Pront-Video studio on VHS (FSK approval: from 6 years, running time approx. 77 min).

The film from the studio "Retrofilm" was released on DVD 2012 under the title Tarzerix - Die Elefantenpolizei. The DVD contains the theatrical version with a running length of approx. 77 min. And, as a bonus, a long version with a running length of approx. 79 min. (FSK approval: from 6 years).

The film was released by Imperial Pictures under the title Tarzerix - Die Elefantenpolizei on DVD 2012. Running time approx. 77 min. And as a bonus there is a long version with 79 min. (FSK approval: from 6 years; content identical to the version from VZ -Handels GmbH).

The film was released by VZ-Handels GmbH under the title Tarzerix - Die Elefantenpolizei on DVD 2014. The FSK has approved the film for ages 6 and up. The content of the DVD is identical to that of Imperial Pictures. The running time of the film is approx. 77 min.

FSK approval

There are two FSK approvals for the film for no relevant reason. Under the title Die Elefantenpolizei it has been approved by the FSK from the age of 6 (DVD and cinema). In the case of releases from the labels Jaguar-Video (Madison) and Carrera-Video, however, the film has been approved by the FSK from the age of 12.

One could assume that the film was cut for the lower rating (the film has some violent scenes that are not suitable for children). But only the different run lengths speak for this. An Amazon customer (verified purchase) writes on July 24, 2015 about the DVD version (VZ-Handels GmbH), which is approved for ages 6 and up: “ Various violent scenes in which a man's heart is cut out or a demon eats human limbs [...] ”. These scenes are in the versions that were approved by the FSK for ages 12 and up (note: the man cuts out his own heart in the scene).

In terms of violence, the German version does not differ from the various international versions. There are two striking differences:

  • In the German version, a scene is missing in the opening credits: You can see General Hungar falling into the "fire pot", next to it is an explanatory text.
  • After the opening credits there is an approximately 30-second sequence, which does not contain any violence.

It is therefore very likely that all German versions have the same content. Thus, all German versions should actually have the same FSK approval. It's unlikely that the film was downgraded, the violence scenes are too drastic for that.

music

A separate song was produced for the German and Spanish versions of the film.

Trivia

  • The film was released as a 6-part comic in Spain.
  • All the material that was needed to produce the film was imported from Japan.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Feng shen bang (1975) Release Info. Accessed May 27, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Tarzerix - The elephant police (uncut). Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b c “Tarzerix the Avenger” (1985) CARRERA video 1989. Retrieved on May 28, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Tarzerix - The Elephant Police. Retrieved May 27, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Tarzerix - The Elephant Police - (Story Of Chinese Gods). Retrieved May 27, 2019 .
  6. ↑ a b Zhang Zhihui directed a cartoon in 1975. Retrieved May 29, 2019 (Chinese).
  7. ↑ a b Advertising advice + slide + release note * Die Elefantenpolizei - Tarzerix * EA 1977. Retrieved on May 27, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Movie poster * Cinema poster * A1 * The Elephant Police - Tarzerix Part 1 * 1977. Retrieved on May 27, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Commentary by elite stallion. Retrieved May 27, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Tarzerix the Avenger 1 - The Kung Fu Man. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Tarzerix the Avenger 2 - Battle of the Demons. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Tarzerix the Avenger 3 - Tarzerix intervenes. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Elephant Police, Die - Tarzerix (Pront). Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Tarzerix - The Elephant Police - Unabridged large hard box from Retrofilm. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Tarzerix - The elephant police (uncut). Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  16. ↑ a b Tarzerix (DVD). Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Tarzerix - The Elephant Police. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Tarzerix Los Peque Diver. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  19. ↑ COLECCION COMPLETA DE 6 NUMEROS. TARZERIX. VALENCIANA 1978. Retrieved May 28, 2019 (Spanish).