Children's film

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Children's films are for television , cinema or DVD - and video analysis produced films that are primarily at children depend. There are hardly any restrictions in terms of thematic and style, but their presentation adapts to the demands and needs of the target group.

Films made specifically for children are often about young people. Even more than films for adults, children need characters that they can identify with that offer them characters of their own age. However, if the main characters are adults, they are more likely to be in fairy tales like Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella (1973) or Verwünscht (2007).

definition

target group

In the 1950s to 1970s, children's films were designed for an age group from six to around fourteen years of age. Due to the earlier onset of puberty, the age group then shifted to around four to twelve years. Afterwards, adolescents are more interested in the range of youth films .

Children's films are based on the experience horizon of the main role. If this person is around five years old, they have very different experiences than a ten-year-old protagonist or a ten-year-old main character. Therefore, older children with more experience will find a film with a five-year-old main character less interesting. Conversely, smaller children can identify with an older character, as they can learn from the more mature children. However, if the gap in experience between the audience and the characters is too great, such a film is usually rather boring for the audience.

Movies that appeal to targeted younger children, such as the 1995 turned Astrid Lindgren - filming Lotta , have therefore a smaller target audience, which is why the film is economically more difficult to market. Therefore, films especially for smaller children are rarely found.

Differentiation from family film

In a family film , in contrast to a children's film, adults are also included as viewers. The films appeal to both younger and older viewers, ideally both genders. In this case one speaks of a four-quadrant movie . In order to achieve this goal, levels of action for adults are integrated without boring the children as spectators.

The term family film only appeared in the 1990s in order to avoid being classified as a children's film in the marketing of films. Children's films used to have to get along with low budgets and were therefore often viewed as unattractive. For example, the well-known US film critic Roger Ebert said:

"Nine out of ten children's films are pointless, stupid and show that they disregard their audience - which is also the reason why children do not like children's films."

In addition, adults, as possible companions of children, should be taught that their interests are also taken into account in the production of a film in order to win them over as additional viewers.

In fact, family films had been made before this label was launched. Here, Disney in particular stood out, although its real films also regularly addressed children as viewers, but often used adults as the main characters ( Mary Poppins from 1964, the Herbie series, The Flying Pauker [1961]) and also an older one Wanted to entertain the audience.

Family films focus primarily on light entertainment and target the family. The main characters in these films are mostly children like in Kevin Home Alone (1990), but also adults like in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). Often the main characters form a family ( Cheaper by the dozen , 2003). Animals ( A dog called Beethoven , 1992), ( Cats & Dogs - Wie Hund und Katz , 2001) or fantasy characters such as witches (in The Girl on the Broomstick , 1972) or extraterrestrials (in ET - The extraterrestrial , 1982). Many animated films are also aimed at the whole family in that, like The Incredibles - The Incredibles (2004), they relate to other films that children do not recognize. In this way, viewers of all ages should feel addressed.

The taste of the times can also change: Today, fairy tale films are considered the first German children's films, but were actually produced as entertainment for all age groups.

There is also a significant difference in differentiated exploitation in the cinema and television: Often a children's film is limited to the afternoon, while family films are also shown in the evening.

TV Shows

As a special feature of children's films, various episodes of a children's series are more often combined and shown in film length as a "special" or on television or cinema. This is especially true for Maya the Bee (1975), Heidi (1974) and Nils Holgersson (1980), but also for Pingu (1987) and the Little Mole (2002). From Pumuckl contrast, there was in 1994 a first new theater adventure Pumuckl and the blue Klabauter . From 1969 onwards, he made four of his own films from Die Peanuts . The Muppet Show has so far received six theatrical offshoots. There are also cartoon series such as Der kleine Eisbär , Pettson and Findus (from 1999), Lotte , the successful dog lady in KiKA ( Lotte in the village of the inventors from 2006) and Der kleine König Macius , which Janusz Korczak devised and who later became a serial hero meanwhile independent cinema adventure.

Children's film genres

Real film

The aim of children's films is generally to tell the children something about the world around them, to stimulate their imagination and perhaps also to let them learn something. One focus is the description of the character development of the protagonists. This develops into a special individual , as in Whale Rider (2002) or The Tenth Summer (2003). The audience should be instructed to become aware of themselves by reflecting on the main characters.

Almost all film genres can be found in children's real films. The palette ranges from love films ( Eva and Adam , 2001) to animal films - the American classics Lassie in Heimweh (1943) and Flipper (1963) as well as modern films such as Four Friends and Four Paws (2003), Free Willy - Ruf der Freedom (1993), Hogi's Family (2009) or Amundsen the Penguin from 2003 - from the road movie like Selma and Johanna (1997) to the crime film ( Die Distel (1992), Paula's Secret from 2005/2006). A number of children's films contain elements of adventure films ( The Goonies , 1985) or fairy tales ( The Prince's Bride , 1987). These films are to be seen as child-friendly, especially if the problems are not simply resolved with violence in the end or if the perpetrator is triumphed over.

Children’s films place a particularly high value on stimulating the child’s imagination. Often they start in the everyday world of younger viewers and then introduce fantastic elements. A further stimulation of the child's imagination is generated in modern children's films through references to fairy tales. The surprising changes to well-known stories give these films a light and cheerful tone that appeals to children in particular (in 2006, The Little Red Riding Hood Conspiracy turned the fairy tale of the same name into a modern crime story).

For other film genres, such as porn films , there are no equivalents in children's films because they are not age-appropriate. Of the horror film genre, only the weakened version of the scary stories , such as spook under the ferris wheel or spook in the skyscraper, is used. Also, The Little Vampire , 2000, and Scooby Doo 2 - Monsters Unleashed (2004) are generally considered suitable for children. Film series like Die Wilden Kerle also use fantastic and creepy effects.

A number of primarily American children's films are ultimately mere action films in which viewers can feel like small adults (such as Spy Kids , 2001) and which tend to neglect children's needs.

Documentaries can also arouse great interest in children . These are thematically not limited to depictions of animals ( The desert is alive (1953), Mikrokosmos - Das Volk der Gräser (1996), The journey of the penguins (2005)). The white planet (2006) draws attention to climate change . Mad Hot Ballroom (2004) shows how children can increase their self-confidence through a sense of achievement while dancing.

There are also typical motifs that are often repeated in children's films. This includes, for example, the subject of separated siblings who meet by chance and swap roles. Conceived by Erich Kästner for Das doppelte Lottchen , there has been a German ( Charlie & Louise - Das doppelte Lottchen , 1994), a Norwegian ( Der chaotic parent swap , 2003) and a large number of American (most recently A twin rarely comes alone from 1998) versions. In 2007 a German animation version was even made under the original title .

Animation film

Cartoons have long been perceived as children's films in Western culture. This view was established by the Walt Disney films, which were almost all adaptations of children's books and in which all elements were removed that were considered unsuitable for children.

In other cultures, however, z. B. Japan , many cartoons are expressly not aimed at child viewers. From the 1970s onwards, this attitude became increasingly widespread in America and Europe, so that films even deliberately violated the apparently traditional children's films and were no longer suitable for children. The anarchist Fritz the Cat of 1972 and his successors were considered a product of the underground movement of the time and were aimed at an exclusively adult audience.

Competing products to Disney from the 1980s, such as Mrs. Brisby produced in 1982 and the secret of NIMH , Watership Down (1979), The Dogs Are Losing (1982) and When the Wind blows (1986) were approved for ages six and up, but not intended for an exclusively child audience. With their gloomy atmosphere, their ambiguity and their very present socio-critical attitude, they also attracted an older audience who - insofar as animals were used as protagonists - recognized its fabulous character .

Don Bluth , director of Mrs. Brisby and the Secret of NIMH , directed Feivel, the Mouse Walker in 1986 and, two years later, In a Land Before Our Time , Simpler Than the Disney Movies, and each with sequels (In a Land before our time reached 2007 part 13). Increasingly, sequels are being used for children's and youth films, such as 2006 Ice Age 2: Now thaws , whereby the aging process of the human actors can be avoided in real films .

American cartoons had less and less success in the cinema at the end of the 1990s. In the early 2000s, they were supplanted by computer-animated films.

In the meantime, stylistic devices from real-life films are increasingly being used - especially when simulating special effects from common action films - so that the boundaries between animation and real-life films are disappearing. The Incredibles - The Incredibles was a mix of modern superheroes and James Bond films in 2004 , Monster House creates a scary atmosphere that is as intense for older children as modern horror films for adults.

An increasing feature of the marketing of American cartoons and animated films is the introduction of sequels that are created according to the principle of direct-to-DVD production , according to which the first exploitation takes place on the DVD . Jungle Book 2 (2003) and the Pooh Bear offshoot Heffalump - A New Friend for Winnie the Pooh (2005) are examples of the fact that these films can still make the leap into European cinemas.

The best-known animation studio since the 2000s has been the Japanese studio Ghibli , whose child-friendly film Spirited Away in Magic Land won the Berlinale Golden Bear as the first animated film in competition with real-life films .

Computer animation is also increasingly being used in Germany, for example in 2004 with Back to Gaya , Urmel aus dem Eis (2006), Lissi und der wilde Kaiser (2007), and, most recently, Urmel voll in Fahrt (2008).

Another type of animation is the stop-motion technique used to produce the Wallace & Gromit films. Another example of this is the somber, black-humored Corpse Bride from 2005.

Animated films, whose image structure is strongly reminiscent of graphics engines in computer games , can be classified almost in a different genre . " Jane and the Dragon ", announced as a 3-D animation series in the children's channel , is an example of this. The individual images are clearly calculated in the output speed (24 images per second).

The children's film in German-speaking countries

Germany

The German Imperium

In the early days of film history , there were no films that were specially produced for children . Although a Hansel and Gretel film had already been made in 1897 , fairy tales were considered a general cultural asset and the films were not made primarily for children. Paul Wegener directed two early fairy tale adaptations, Rübezahl's Wedding (1916) and The Pied Piper (1918) . Paul Leni also directed Sleeping Beauty during the First World War in 1917 .

Weimar Republic

Lotte Reiniger is considered a pioneer of children's films in Germany . From 1919 she produced numerous silhouette films , not only processing the fairy tales of her countrymen, but also taking up motifs from the Arabian Nights and Doctor Dolittle and his animals .

One of the first real children's feature films with sound is the Erich-Kästner - adaptation Emil und die Detektiven (1931), for which Billy Wilder wrote the screenplay.

National Socialism

The most important children's film genre under National Socialism was the fairy tale film . Although Nazi cinema produced some child actors, these were not used in special children's films. See also children's and youth films under National Socialism .

GDR

In the Soviet occupation zone , the production of feature films was massively promoted. The aim of cultural policy in the 1940s and 1950s was to educate the German people in a humanistic , anti-fascist and democratic spirit. In 1946 DEFA was founded for this purpose .

The first film in the GDR in which children were the focus was in 1946 Somewhere in Berlin , in which Gustav and his friends turn the rubble field of Berlin into an adventure playground. The first film produced specifically for children was The Troublemakers (1953). This film is about 13-year-old Vera, who has set herself the task of raising two rebellious boys to be good pioneers.

In the 1950s, DEFA established its reputation as a company producing excellent children's films, primarily on its lavish fairy tale films such as The Story of Little Muck , Dwarf Nose and The Cold Heart . Fairytale films such as Gritta von Rattenzuhausbeiuns (1984) were made until the end of the GDR .

Due to film censorship , not all topics could be dealt with in the GDR. Children's films were therefore seen as a way of evading the constraints. For example, fairy tale films such as How do you marry a king? from 1969 and Sechse come through the world (1972) numerous subtle allusions to everyday life in the GDR.

Her realistic films were also highly regarded. As early as the 1950s, GDR children's films placed great emphasis on a realistic depiction of the children's living environment. In 1950s Berlin films such as Alarm im Zirkus (1953) or Sheriff Teddy (1957), the stories of children from West and East Berlin were told in the city that was not yet divided by the Wall. In the dramaturgy of these films, however, the socialist ideals were clearly emphasized.

From the 1960s onwards, the films increasingly abstained from political indoctrination , but without denying the effects of the political system. Despite a lack of financial resources, these films emphasized fantasy and poetry. The search for the wonderfully colored bird from 1964 is the first film to show this change of direction. This children's thriller is about residents of a children's home who are looking for the eponymous animal together. Alfons Zitterbacke from 1966 is the humorous but also thoughtful story from the life of a rascal.

The mixing of a real living environment with imaginative elements continued noticeably in the 1970s. The sound in the films becomes lighter, at the same time the social studies of the living environment of children become even more differentiated. An example of this is Susanne and the Magic Ring (1973), whose protagonist befriends her classmates despite her own interests. The Horse Girl (1979) tells of a girl's love for animals and the responsibility that arises from it. The DEFA Indian film Blue Bird (1979), on the other hand, describes the story of a white boy who grew up with the Indians.

In the 1980s, children's films were increasingly recognized as an opportunity to defy prescribed socialist ideals and to use their own aesthetically new forms of expression. Films were made such as Sabine Kleist, 7 Years… (1982), The Long Ride To School (1982), Moritz in the Advertising Column (1983), The Ice Sea Calls (1984), or The School Ghost (1986).

Uncomfortable topics such as disabilities ( I can also walk backwards , 1990) or persecution during the Nazi era ( Die Sprungdeckeluhr , 1990) were discussed.

Federal Republic from 1945 to the 1980s

Hardly any children's films were made in post-war Germany. Rather, the so-called comedies with Heinz Rühmann , Liselotte Pulver or Heinz Erhardt were viewed as child-friendly family films . A realistic representation of the emotional and behavioral world of children did not take place there. In all pranks in films, the children behave like Father Needs a Wife (1952) and When Father and Son (1955) are always obedient, respectful and addicted to harmony. It is always more of a dream of how the parents' generation would like to see their children. In addition, the leveling of the Youth Protection Act of 1957 banned children under six from going to the cinema. It was not until 1985 that the ban was lifted again. Accordingly, no films for smaller children were produced during this period.

It also turned out to be problematic that apart from the Erich Kästner and Heidi books, there were hardly any German-language literary models that could be used. In the 1950s and 1960s, mainly fairy tale films such as Frau Holle (1961) were made. The dramaturgy of these fairy tale films relied entirely on the conservation-pedagogical approaches of the Adenauer era, which wanted to keep children away from all things in real life. In the fairy tale films, all violence scenes were left out of the templates as far as possible and children were shown an "ideal world".

In the 1960s there was a cinema crisis in Germany. The causes lay on the one hand in the spread of television and in the lack of acceptance of German films from this period. This led to the Oberhausen Manifesto of 1962, which changed German cinema. Now the author's search for artistic expression should be the focus. However, children's films remained excluded from this development. Only 10 children's films were made in this decade.

In the 1970s, the first impetus for a changed understanding of media for children came from television. The idea of ​​no longer protecting children from everything but of giving them suggestions, imparting knowledge and supporting their social learning now also applied to children's films. This led to modernization and the development of new aesthetic narrative styles.

One of the first to implement these ideas was Hark Bohm in the realization of Tschetan, the Indian Boy (1972). The following films credibly dealt with children's problems, such as A Day with the Wind (1978) or Metin (1979). The film adaptation of the children's book Die Vorstadtkrokodile (1977), for example, tells of dealing with a disabled boy.

In addition, the successful Räuber-Hotzenplotz films were made in the 1970s . The racism allegations against Pippi Longstocking and Jim Knopf and Lukas the engine driver were typical of the difficulties that Germany had with children's books .

There were numerous films of Karl May - Western , which is now regarded as family films and the since the 1990s Rated have been provided with a Certificate "from 6".

Children's films that specifically deal with the emotional world of children were rarely made in the FRG in the 1980s. One of the few exceptions is the 1983 successful children's film River Cruise with Chicken , which is considered a modern classic of this genre. On the other hand, comedies with Thomas Gottschalk , Mike Krüger , Dieter Hallervorden and Otto Waalkes , which were classified as family entertainment, were very common . However, they usually lacked the intelligence and poetry and warmth of the films produced in the GDR at the same time.

In 1984, when the most successful German children's and youth book, The Neverending Story of Michael Ende , was made into a film , more emphasis was placed on special film tricks than on the precise implementation of the book. With the adaptation of Momo by the same author, however, it was possible in 1986 to transfer the advantages of the novel to the screen.

Germany after reunification

With the end of the GDR, the number of children's films produced fell considerably. Nevertheless, they have been the only stable area of ​​the cinema industry since the 1990s. There are now a number of books that the cinema industry can fall back on. Bibi Blocksberg , Das Sams (2001) or Die Wilden Kerle - Everything is good as long as you are wild! (2003) are all professionally produced, come up with stars in the adult roles and have been marketed at great expense. Bibi Blocksberg thus became the most successful German feature film in 2002. All of the films mentioned received sequels that also met the expectations placed in them. Erich Kästner's books were also filmed again and modernized in the process ( The flying classroom (2003), Emil and the detectives , 2001). There was also a new theatrical version of Räuber Hotzenplotz in 2006. The film adaptations of Cornelia Funke 's children's novels celebrated great success . In 2005, based on the television program of the same name with Peter Lustig Löwenzahn - the film: The Journey into Adventure was made .

Children's films from Germany that are shown in the cinema without a successful template or extensive advertising, on the other hand, have a much more difficult time with the audience. This applies to both the drama Who already kisses an iguana? from 2004, in which a 13-year-old boy who is neglected by his mother finds a new surrogate father, like for The Bastard of 2001, in which a similar story is told as a comedy.

A committed film for children and young people is the road movie Paul's Journey (1999) about a boy with leukemia . The tenth summer (2003) turns out to be a small, poetic film, while Die Blindganger (2004) thematizes the growing up of the blind. In 2006, Mondscheinkinder was about dealing with the incurable disease Xeroderma pigmentosum and the death of a child (the main character's brother is not allowed in the sun) with the help of fantasy and a first love.

Max Minsky and I (2007), a film about a 13-year-old girl who is influenced by her German-Jewish roots on the one hand, but who discovers the sport and the boys on the other , shows that you can tell funny and realistic stories . Holly-Jane Rahlens' submission was awarded the German Youth Literature Prize.

For the successful German adventure films exemplifies The three ??? - The secret of the ghost island from 2007. In 2008 Kurt Held's classic children 's book Die Rote Zora was adapted for the cinema .

The animation industry in Germany is also enjoying increasing success. This is where the film adaptations of the international picture books Der kleine Eisbär , Pettson and Findus and Felix - A Hare on a World Tour , as well as Little Dodo (2008), in which an orangutan finds a violin and access to music, and The Three Robbers (2007) were made. . With Back to Gaya 2004, the first complete German Digital movie was in theaters.

The performance at the 22nd Chicago International Children's Film Festival 2005 is indicative of the reputation of German children 's films . There four films received awards: My brother is a dog , Bibi Blocksberg and the secret of the blue owls , The treasure of the white falcons and Laura's star . In addition, the Christmas film Es ist ein Moose sprung and Villa Henriette achieved success in the cinema that year.

The winner of the German Film Award 2006 for Best Children's and Young People's Film also speaks for the extraordinary breadth of German children 's films : The Yellow Dog's Cave is set in Mongolia and provides deep insights into the Mongolian faith and into the everyday life of a traditional Mongolian nomad family .

Among the German television films, too, children's films are still being made that deal with the specific problems of adolescents, for example in Pik & Amadeus - Friends against Will (2006) or The Seal of Sanderoog (2006).

Eating French fries from 2012 was the first children's cinema film by a German production in 15 years that was based on an original script and not on a novel.

Austria

As early as 1907, Dr. Alto Arche educational films shown in cinemas in 1912. In these films, which are still preserved today, glassblowers, a master potter and fabric dyer could be seen at work, but also a freestyle gymnastics.

After children were legally banned from going to the cinema in 1910, Austrian film was unable to develop an independent children's film genre for a long time, especially since the national film industry was synchronized with the German one during National Socialism . In the Second Republic, the Ministry of Education supported numerous productions in the second half of the 1950s and early 1960s, but was limited essentially to filming plays. Films, especially children's films, received only minimal funding.

In the children's and youth film sector, which is only gradually establishing itself in Austria, the soulful children's film Jonathana and the Witch from 1976 stands out. This film is about a girl who lives alone with her busy father and finds comfort in an old woman.

In the 1990s, Bernd Neuburger ( Holidays with New Year's Eve (1990), Lisa and the Saber-Toothed Tiger (1995)) and Wolfram Paulus were the most active directors. He had 150 children help design his Ein Rucksack Full Lies (1996), which was also successful in Germany .

The Knickerbocker Gang: Das Sprechende Grab (1994) and The 3 Posträuber (1998) let their protagonists experience wild adventures.

Due to low film funding for children's films, Austria often appears as a co-producer of children's films, such as Sommer mit den Burggespenstern (2002).

Switzerland

When you hear Swiss children's films, everyone immediately thinks of Heidi . This novel by Johanna Spyri has been filmed several times in Switzerland, from Heidi in 1952 to the first Swiss color film Heidi and Peter (1955) to a modern version from 2001 ( Heidi ).

But Switzerland is also involved as a co-producer in films that do not automatically come to mind, such as Die Rote Zora (1979), Anna, Anna (1992), and Henriette from 2004. The animation films produced also include Pingu .

My name is Eugen from 2004 is a purely Swiss film . In the 1960s, four boys set out to find the “King of Rascals” and travel through half of Switzerland.

There are two film adaptations of the picture book Schellen-Ursli from 1964 and 2015 . The Schellen-Ursli (1964) by director Ulrich Kündig is more closely related to the original than the remake Schellen-Ursli (2015) . The director is Xavier Koller .

The children's film in other countries

(Note: The countries are in alphabetical order.)

Australia

The comedy Fatty Finn (1980), which is held in the style of the Little Rascals , is the film adaptation of the comic strip of the same name by Syd Nicholls .

France

Władysław Starewicz 's puppet cartoons, made in France from around 1920, are among the first French children's films .

A classic in French children's films is the 1962 film adaptation of the War of the Buttons .

Films like Don't Bite, One Loves You , (1975), The Great Way (1987) and Me, Caesar. 10 ½ years old, 1.39 meters tall (2003) are characterized by their sensitive depiction of the playful awakening of childish sexuality. In addition, the film adaptations of Marcel Pagnol's childhood memories The Glory of My Father (1990) and My Mother's Castle (1990) achieved great success. These films are about a nostalgic portrayal of the holidays in Provence at the beginning of the 20th century. In The Butterfly from 2002, an old man takes a girl on an expedition and is forced to get involved with the child. Also, The Fox and the Child include a 2,007-adventurous fairytale friendship that Luc Jacquet staged.

Arthur and the Minimoys (2006), devised by Luc Besson, about a boy who goes into the fairy world to save his parents' house, offers a modern adventure story with many special effects .

French cartoons can achieve worldwide success; In 2003, The Great Race of Belleville was nominated for an Oscar for best animated film. Another great success was The Secret of the Frogs (created in 2003) about a new flood . Efforts to produce real - life films after the waning interest in the Asterix and Lucky Luke cartoons were commercially successful, at least at Asterix. In the meantime, the third film of this kind was made with Asterix at the Olympic Games in 2007 .

An important aspect of French cinema are successful animal documentaries such as Mikrokosmos - The People of the Grasses from 1996, which made use of the most modern techniques and thus found completely new types of images. The Journey of the Penguins (2005) was given a controversial setting that lets the animals "speak". In his films The Bear (1988) and Two Brothers from 2004 (which is about tigers), Jean-Jacques Annaud placed animals at the center of a plot in which the animal characters were only moderately humanized.

Other French films are considered child-friendly without explicitly taking child needs into account. Jacques Tati's films are somewhat similar to those of Charles Chaplin . Especially The Holidays of Monsieur Hulot from 1953 combines pantomime and slapstick in a way that otherwise only Chaplin or Buster Keaton succeeded in doing. Even Louis de Funes performance of its rabid appearance in the films that made him seem like a big naughty child, great success in this. The same applies to Pierre Richard in his star role as a chaotic and clumsy man , who regularly messed up his entire environment. The Asterix real-life films follow on from this humor .

Great Britain

Children's films from Great Britain are wide-ranging. A very unusual film, for example, is the comedy Bugsy Malone (1976). In this film all roles are played by children, whereby they represent adults.

Social issues are also addressed without having to forego entertaining the audience. In The Greatest Department Store in the World (1999), a homeless family can be locked in for Christmas. Im Doppelpack (2002) is a coming-of-age film about the individual personality development of twin sisters. The 2003 film David's Wonderful World is about everyday racism in sport.

Given the large number of British children's books, the number of film adaptations is rather low, as most of the adaptations are made by Hollywood. A typical example are the numerous film adaptations of Roald Dahl , of which only a purely British version made it to theaters - Danny, the 1989 champion . This is why the film adaptations of the Harry Potter novels by Joanne K. Rowling are so remarkable because the author prevails that the actors are almost all British.

Hong Kong

In the course of the kung fu wave in the 1980s, some of these films were dubbed in German , in which children acted as the main actors. The films summarized in the Lucky Kids film series or as Lucky Seven are suitable for slightly older children.

Italy

The Italian children's film is mostly with movies of the famous children's book Pinocchio associated . However, most of the film adaptations of this book that have appeared in Germany are American. The last version by and with Roberto Benigni in 2002 was unsuccessful outside of Italy.

In addition, the comedies with Adriano Celentano as well as Bud Spencer and Terence Hill are very popular with children. Due to the coarse humor and their brawls, however, they are more suitable for young people. The comedies about Don Camillo and Peppone were also considered suitable for children . A realistic representation of the emotional and behavioral world of children does not take place in any of these films.

Japan

The anime from Japan are very popular with children . The first anime film to be shown in Germany was Der Zauberer und die Banditen (1959). Series like Heidi (1974) were subsequently released as a film version. Films by Studio Ghibli contributed significantly to the fact that Germany, too, was noticed the qualities of some anime. This includes Kiki's small delivery service (1989).

In addition to the animes, the monster films from Japan offer entertainment for children. The films by Godzilla (1954 to 2004) are very well known . More suitable for children, however, are the Mothra films such as Mothra 3 - King Gidorah Returns (1998). There is an additional opportunity for identification by using children of the same age as the main characters.

There are also some animal films from Japan such as Flecki, mein Freund (1991) or A Dog Called Quill (2004).

Canada

From Canada, especially some children's films from the TV series Tales for All have been dubbed in German, including The Mop Gang (1992) and The Secret Fortress (2001). The latter tells the story of two groups of children who play war and recognize its futility.

In addition, the animal film Kayla - My friend from the wilderness, shot in 1999, comes from Canada.

Netherlands and Belgium

In the Netherlands and Belgium, films from abroad are usually not dubbed. The number of self-produced children's films is therefore very high in order to offer children a larger selection of Dutch-spoken films.

Often the creators try to create an imaginative plot that is embedded in a real environment. So the films are not set in a pure fairytale world. Examples are Abeltje, the flying lift boy and Long live the queen , while Winky wants a horse brings the Dutch Sinterklaas culture closer to the audience.

In the very successful film The Mysterious Minush (2001), the children's film is mixed with the classic fairy tale film . The historical children's stories include Kruimeltje and Pietje Bell , of whom two films have been made so far: 2002: Pietje Bell and the secret of the black hand , 2003 Pietje Bell 2 - The hunt for the tsar's crown . A Dutch / Belgian coproduction was made in 2000 with Mariken .

Poland

Children's films from Poland, such as The Story of the Saffian Shoe (1961), The Little Magician (1987) and Crows (1994), are often touching and often combine a low production budget with artistic demands.

Russia

The fairy tale film from Russia is world famous. This applies, for example, to Adventure in the Magic Forest (1964), The Little Humpbacked Horse or the films about the witch Baba Jaga. In addition, many imaginative children's films were made, such as The Adventures of Petrow and Wassetschkin (1984). The animated films produced in Russia include the series Hase und Wolf (18 films, 1969–1994) and the films about crocodile Gena and Tscheburaschka (from 1969).

Scandinavia or Nordic countries

The number and quality of the films from Scandinavia and the Nordic countries , which are very often made as co-productions, are astonishing . One reason for this is the consistent inclusion of children's films in the culture of these countries. In Denmark, for example, it has been legally stipulated since 1982 that 25 percent of the funds in film subsidies must be used for children's and youth films.

It is not just the numerous Astrid Lindgren films that account for the international success of Scandinavian children's films. Rather, films like Zwei kleine Helden , Kim und die Wölfe (both from 2003) or SOS - Petter ohne Netz (2005) see themselves as modern children's films that take their audience seriously and always remain at eye level with their protagonists. Often difficult topics such as the struggle for individuality and self-confidence of the characters, but also social problems such as understanding between religions or unemployment are addressed. The behavior of adults in all its human facets and contradictions is also mostly presented realistically. Many happy family comedies such as The Unbeatable Andersens (1997) are created in the process.

The successful films Buster, the Magician (1984), Hodder saves the world from 2003 and The Fakir (2004) are based on novels by the most successful Danish children's author Bjarne Reuter . Tsatsiki - octopuses and first kisses (1999) and Tsatsiki - friends forever (2001) are literary adaptations by the author Moni Brännström . Other well-known adaptations are Mein Freund der Scheich (1997), Only Clouds Move the Stars (1998), Elina (2002), which won the Transparent Bear at the 2003 Berlinale at the Children's Film Festival, and Tinke - Little Strong Girl , which was set in 1850 and filmed in 2002 became.

From Finland about the fantasy film comes Rollo and the Spirit of the Woods (2001), in which in addition to these mythological figures of light and trolls occur. The Eskimo boy Ikíngut drifted onto the island on an ice floe ( Iceland , 2000).

The appreciation of Scandinavian children's films is also expressed in the numerous international awards. These include, for example, On the Hunt for the Kidney Stone (1996), The Eye of the Eagle (1997), Love in Tin Can (2000), A Witch in Our Family (2000) and Elina (2002). From Kletter-Ida (2002) - a film that can definitely be described as an action thriller for children, but also empathetically tells the personality development of the main characters - a remake was made two years later due to its international success in the USA .

Spain

In Spain, the children's film was still very much on the Franco - dictatorship coined. In order to circumvent their censorship , various films were made with children in the lead role. This enabled the filmmakers to covertly criticize the system , because on the one hand the censors judged these films less strictly, and on the other hand the social , social and political grievances shown in the films became all the more obvious.

"Real" children's films have therefore hardly found their way into German-speaking Europe so far.

Mr. Figo and the Secret of the Pearl Factory (2006) is an amiable mixture of CGI and real film about a mouse as a modern tooth fairy .

Czech Republic

In the 1950s, a large number of animated films were made in Czechoslovakia that were not only aimed at children. The outstanding artists of this time were Jiří Trnka and Karel Zeman . Trnka is best known for his puppet cartoons, his best-known works are Prince Bajaja (1950), the film adaptation of a fairy tale by Božena Němcová , and his adaptation of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1959). Karel Zeman was characterized by stylized animation in combination with real film. Many of his films were inspired by the stories of Jules Verne . In the film Journey into Primeval Times (1955), four boys explore primeval times on a magical river. The Stolen Airship (1966), on the other hand, tells the story of five boys who go on an adventurous journey in an airship.

From the 1960s onwards there were some Czech-German television co-productions, most of which were broadcast in series format but also as television films. The best known are probably the works of Ota Hofman and Jindřich Polák , to whom Pan Tau (1966–1978) - who was the focus of a new film in 1988 -, The Visitors (1981–1983) and Luzie, the Horror of the Road (1984) counting.

As in other Eastern European countries, great emphasis was placed on lovingly presented and staged fairy tale films such as The Girl on the Besenstiel (1972), Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella (1973) and The Mill Princess (1994), which were particularly successful in West Germany . Examples of the high artistic level and the high sensitivity of Czech children's films are And Again I Jump Over Puddles (1970) and Alice (1988).

Even after the turn of the millennium , this tradition is continued with films such as Max, Susi and the magic telephone from (2001).

United States

American family films benefit from an almost inexhaustible pool of English-language children's books that are becoming successful feature films in Hollywood. The classics include Peter Pan (1924), The Wizard of Oz (1939) , The Secret Garden (1949) , Mary Poppins (1964) and The Black Stallion (1979). Current children's novel adaptations are The Indian in the Kitchen Cabinet (1995), A Case for Borger (1997), Stuart Little (1999) and Peter Pan (2003). There are also a number of television films that revive old classics as two-part series with star cast, such as Gulliver's Travels in 1996 and Alice in Wonderland (1999). In addition, some films such as Amy and the Wild Geese (1996) and My Dog Skip (2000) are based on actual events.

The potential of child actors was recognized as early as the 1930s. Mickey Rooney (1920–2014) began his film career at the age of 6. Shirley Temple (1928-2014) appeared in 44 films up to the age of twelve, including War Babies (1932), Stowaway (1936), the 1937 version of Heidi and The Little Princess (1939). In 1936, 12-year-old Judy Garland began her career. The film series The Little Rascals ( Our Gang / The Little Rascals ), produced since 1922 based on scripts by Hal Roach , was similarly popular . The slapstick films by Laurel and Hardy or Charles Chaplin that were made at the time are still very popular with children today.

The Disney films that were produced from the 1930s onwards are still considered the epitome of US children's and family films. In the 1970s, when the Hollywood system was in crisis and the artistically oriented New Hollywood was trying to revolutionize the American one, the Disney studio was the only one that still shot regularly for this target group.

In the 1980s, more and more imaginative family films were made in the USA after the children's film ET - The Extra Terrestrial in 1982 became the most successful film of all for a few years. Further successful examples are The Flight of the Navigator (1986) and The Night of Adventure (1987). The Christmas film Jessica and the Reindeer (1990) stands out positively from popular films of its kind such as The Miracle of Manhattan (1994) and The Girl with the Wonderful Woods . In addition, films such as Space Camp (1985) or Russkies (1987) were made, which ostensibly advocate teamwork and international understanding, but in reality give viewers a very conservative view of the world at the time of the Cold War that still existed at the time .

In 1990 one of the most successful children's films ever appeared with Kevin - Alone at Home , which has so far had three sequels . While the main actor Macaulay Culkin was only successful for a short time, the Olsen twins were able to make films throughout their youth.

Similar to Home Alone , the 1994 film comedy Juniors' Day Off for the Baby "Baby-Bink" had a similar theme "Criminal and the Child" and had similar success.

A well-known film series from the 1990s revolved around the four human-sized turtles . In addition, Kuck saw who is speaking! , Darling, I've Shrunk the Children (both 1989) and A Dog Called Beethoven (1991) several new editions. A current example is the Santa Clause trilogy , the conclusion of which was shown in cinemas in 2006.

The defining actor of this time was Robin Williams , who made a number of children's films between 1991 and 1997 and, according to him, turned into " Robert De Niro for children". From 1997 Eddie Murphy successfully imitated him and put the Mad Professor on several occasions.

In addition, the tradition of simple, cheerful family films such as Little Miss Magic (1997) was continued in the 1990s .

After the turn of the millennium, elaborate fantasy films such as Lemony Snicket - Puzzling Events (2004) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) enjoyed great success. To the Loch Ness monster , the film twines My friend, The Water Horse (2007), in which a boy takes care of a young dragon, thus internally matures.

A realistic depiction of children's life experiences is seldom seen in many American films. If so, like Winn-Dixie - My Shaggy Friend from 2004 , it is mostly based on a successful book. In Brücke nach Terabithia (2006), based on the award-winning novel by Katherine Paterson , two children create a fantasy world for themselves, but they have to recognize that they are dealing with the problems of their “real” life (neglect, struggle for recognition, coping with a Death) cannot escape.

When it comes to short films, there are US films that differ significantly from Hollywood family films in terms of their design. These include The Babysitter (2003), which is about the sexual curiosity of a ten-year-old towards her fifteen-year-old babysitter.

Children's films from other cultures

There are a considerable number of non-Western films on view in Europe. Examples of this are the Iranian Children of Heaven (1997) and Time of the Drunken Horses (2000), produced by Kanun-e Parvaresh . However, these often differ fundamentally from the children's films that are common here. Familiar stylistic devices, such as the use of pop music, humorous loosening of the plot or the happy ending, are mostly dispensed with. Due to the strange cultural background and the unusual living conditions described, these films are more likely to find an adult audience. An authentic insight into a different reality of life is conveyed. However, this assumes that these films are seen together with adults who can help with classification and processing.

The Indian director Satyajit Ray made several children's and youth films and also filmed his own successful children's books such as his detective story Sonar Kella (1974) and the fairy tale film Hirak Rajar Deshe (1980) based on a children's story by his grandfather Upendrakishore Raychaudhuri . Because of the cultural differences, the Indian children's films shown in Germany are mostly animal films such as Rikki Tikki Tavi (USSR / India 1975) based on Rudyard Kipling , The White Elephant (1978) or My Friend, the Little Elephant (1993). French funding enabled the production of the children's and animal adventure Sirga - The Lioness (1993), which shows in haunting images how an African chief's son grows up with a lioness.

additional Information

Age rating

Since almost all films in Germany are checked by the FSK (voluntary self-regulation) in the course of youth protection , this is often seen as a criterion for what a children's film is.

However, this idea can only be upheld to a limited extent. Not every film that is approved by the FSK with FSK without age limit or FSK 6 is automatically a children's film, because the FSK only checks whether the respective films contain elements that are not suitable for children. The fact that the next higher age group is only twelve and that the maturation process in these years is the most serious makes the problem more difficult: a film that overburdened around eight-year-olds still receives approval from six years if it is assumed that ten-year-old viewers can cope with it.

Since young people start at the age of twelve, one can say that a film with an age rating of twelve and over is no longer a children's film. From the 1990s onwards, the problem arose that films with this age rating from the evening program were repeated the next afternoon, thereby undermining the youth protection regulations. In addition, more and more age ratings are reduced after a while ( Star Wars or The Goonies from twelve to six, King Kong and the white woman even from sixteen to six).

These FSK age ratings are mostly adopted in Switzerland . In some cases, however, Switzerland has its own age ratings, which sometimes differ significantly from the German FSK rating. In Germany, for example, there is no age limit for two little heroes , in Switzerland from ten years of age.

Children's film festivals and awards

Important children's film prizes are awarded within the framework of:

See also

Literature / sources

  • Ulf Abraham (ed.): Classics of children's and youth films. In: Praxis Deutsch: magazine for German lessons. 175. Friedrich, Velber 2002, ISSN  0341-5279 .
  • Christian Exner, Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer (ed.): Of wild guys and wild chickens. Perspectives of the modern children's film . Schüren, Marburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-89472-754-3 .
  • Petra Josting, Klaus Maiwald (ed.): Filmed children's literature. Genres, production, distribution, reception and models for German lessons. (= kjl & m extra. 10). kopäd, Munich 2010.
  • Tobias Kurwinkel, Philipp Schmerheim: Children and youth film analysis. (= UTB 3885). UVK Verlagsgesellschaft, Konstanz / Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-8252-3885-8 .
  • Terry Staples: All pals together: The story of children's cinema. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1997, ISBN 0-7486-0718-8 .
  • Brigitte Tast (ed.): From women: films for girls. A selection list. Kulleraugen, Hildesheim 1984, ISBN 3-88842-017-2 .
  • Heidi Rösch: Jim Knopf is (not) black. Schneider Verlag, Hohengehren 2000, ISBN 3-89676-239-7 .
  • Beate Völcker: Children's film, material and project development. UVK Verlagsgesellschaft, Konstanz 2005, ISBN 3-89669-521-5 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Children's film  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Children's film awards

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ quoted from Ronald M. Hahn , Volker Jansen , Norbert Stresau : Lexikon des Fantasy-Films. 650 films from 1900 to 1986 . Heyne, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-453-02273-4 , p. 73.
  2. ↑ Graphics engine # Differences between film and game