Roland, the flower child

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roland das Blumenkind (also: Roland & Rattfink, original title: Roland and Rattfink) is a series of short animated films that were produced and published between 1968 and 1971. The main characters leaned outwardly on the Pink Panther series. Producers were David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng (DePatie-Freleng Enterprises), the music was by Doug Goodwin. The distributor was United Artists .

content

The structure of the stories is always similar. It's always about the blond, good-looking, pacifist, sometimes naive Roland and the evil, devious, thieving and mustached little rat finch who tries incessantly to ruin Roland, but usually brings about his own downfall. The cartoons were out of the ordinary at the time, as they depicted both sides as extreme opposites: Roland obviously parodies the peace-loving (“Make Love, Not War”), long-haired hippie; amiable and tender hearted. In contrast, Rattfink is a cynical, devious, malicious and insidious guy who combines all negative traits in himself. He's probably older than Roland by his looks. Rattfink's goals are always to destroy all happiness and all good.

The eternal struggle between good and bad runs through all conceivable genres: Westerns , fairy tales , war, etc., but everyday scenes such as a construction site , a museum or a roller skating rink are also used to polarize good and bad. Each episode is a story of its own that is not based on another. In the end, the good usually wins, i.e. Roland.

The end of the series differs from that of similar genres. In the last episode, "Cattle Battle", in which Roland embodies a peace-loving cowboy ("Roland: A good guy") and Rattfink a cattle thief ("Rattfink: A cattle thief - thief, crook, and a thoroughly bad guy") , good and bad die in the end . Roland becomes an angel in heaven, where he sings sitting on his horse and playing the harp, while Rattfink goes to hell (directly to Sam Satan in the 'El Diablo Gorge'). With this ending, in which neither side wins, this episode clearly stands out from the rest and marks a small finale instead of a mere ending.

publication

A total of 17 cartoons were produced by Mirisch-Geoffrey-DePatie-Freleng Production. These were six to seven minutes long. Directed by Arthur "Art" Davis, Hawley Pratt, Gerry Chiniquy and Grant Simmons.

The series was rarely seen on German television. At the beginning of the 1990s, for example, the ARD broadcast the episodes in changing order as part of the afternoon ARD animated film show, back then with the title “Roland & Rattfink” . In November / December 2002 the series was then shown on hr-fernsehen (then Hessischer Rundfunk), now as "Roland, the flower child" . A release on VHS or DVD has not yet taken place.

In the original Roland and Rattfink are spoken by Leonard "Lennie" Weinrib.

Filmography

1968

  • "Hawks and Doves" , (Hawley Pratt), not a German title

1969

  • "Hurts and Flowers" (Hawley Pratt), German: Roland, the flower child
  • "Flying Feet" (Gerry Chiniquy), German: a shining winner
  • "The Deadwood Thunderball" (Hawley Pratt), German: The rolling Roland
  • "Sweet and Sourdough" (Arthur "Art" Davis), German: gangster hunt in the far north
  • "A Pair of Sneakers" (Arthur "Art" Davis), German: spies among themselves

1970

  • "Say Cheese, Please" (Arthur "Art" Davis), German: Heroes of the screen
  • "A Taste of Money" (Arthur "Art" Davis), German: Goldschätze
  • "The Foul Kin" (Grant Simmons), German: The dear kinship
  • "Bridgework" (Arthur "Art" Davis), German: Super smart bridge builder
  • "Robin Goodhood" (Gerry Chiniquy), German: Roland Hood, helper in need
  • "War and Pieces" (Arthur "Art" Davis), German: The Scourge of the 7 Seas
  • "Gem Dandy" (Gerry Chiniquy), German: sparkling prey

1971

  • "Trick or Retreat" (Arthur "Art" Davis), German: The Hero of the West
  • "The Great Continental Overland Cross Country Race" (Arthur "Art" Davis), not a German title
  • "A Fink in the Rink" (Arthur "Art" Davis), German: Frenzy on roles
  • "Cattle Battle" (Arthur "Art" Davis), German: Roland, the cowboy

Web links