Wickie and the strong men (children's book)

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Wickie and the Strong Men is a children's book by the Swedish writer and journalist Runer Jonsson with illustrations by the Swedish cartoonist Ewert Karlsson (EWK). The work was published in 1963, in the Swedish original with the title Vicke Viking . The German translation followed in 1964, and in 1965 Wickie and the Strong Men were awarded the German Youth Book Prize in the children's book category.

The episodic novel deals with the adventures of the small and skinny, somewhat scared but clever Viking boy Wickie . The problems that the adult Vikings get into again and again on their summer prey journey can be solved with the strength of his mind alone.

Jonsson wrote a total of six sequels to the book between 1965 and 1993, apart from the last volume in the series, all of them also illustrated by Karlsson. The work was particularly successful in the German translation and has been reprinted several times, from 2005 in a new translation. At the beginning of the 1970s, a cartoon series for the first five volumes was created on behalf of ZDF . With this adaptation for television, Jonsson's Wickie figure became a popular phenomenon in Germany and Austria, regardless of the literary model.

content

The starting point of the action is the small Viking village Flake , where Wickie's father Halvar is the village chief. The two introductory chapters exemplarily show how Vicky can save himself from seemingly hopeless situations and how he can defeat seemingly overpowering opponents:

First, Wickie escapes the attack of a wolf through a clever escape, which only causes his father Halvar to curse him and to boast that he himself had "blown over thousands of wolves" at Wickie's age. Wickie's mother Ylva protects her son by alluding to earlier situations in which Halvar would have died or embarrassed himself without Wickie's help. Ylva bets Halvar that Wickie will cope better than his father with every difficult situation without exception. And Ylva wins her bet the following day: Father and son are supposed to clear two piles of stones of the same size from a meadow. The winner should be who can accomplish this work the fastest. Contrary to the arrogant assumption of the chief, Wickie also wins this competition because of his ingenuity: While Halvar is dragging stones until he is exhausted, Wickie first thinks calmly and solves his problem by building a catapult that can transport several stones to the goal at the same time.

The basic motive for the action is thus given; From then on, Halvar accepted the intellectual superiority of his son and allowed him to take part in the great Viking prey expedition next summer. The following episodes of the adventures of this trip vary the basic motif: The strong, but not particularly intelligent adult Vikings, rowdy and daring, repeatedly bring themselves into difficult or embarrassing situations from which only Wickie's brainwaves can save them. In this way he saves them from prison and enslavement, achieves a greater gain in booty through skillful negotiation than the Vikings have ever achieved before by force, and his ideas lead the Vikings to victory against the most dangerous of their enemies, the Friesian chief Grim the Grim .

The last episode takes up the theme of the first chapter again: Wickie is celebrated in the village for his heroic deeds during the prey journey, but he is still afraid of wolves and runs away from them because he thinks this is wiser than fighting with them . His idea of ​​having the best wolf hunter in the village determined in a winter competition was enthusiastically received by the Vikings - and afterwards the area around Flake would be free of wolves.

History of origin

Frans G. Bengtsson, whose book The Long Ships inspiration for Vicky was

Wickie and the Strong Men was originally invented by Jonsson as a reading story for his son. Jonsson found inspiration for his stories in the Isländersagas , v. a. but in a contemporary popular Swedish Viking novel , the evolutionary novel The Adventures of Röde Orm by Frans G. Bengtsson . There, too, the story is about a naturally weak and fearful Viking boy who unwillingly takes part in great Viking prey expeditions and experiences adventures in distant lands. While Bengtsson traces how a fearful boy becomes a brave and - with luck and skill - successful warrior and devout Christian, the boy with Jonsson remains a peace-loving hero.

The most important inspiration for the graphic representation of the little Viking for the illustrator Ewert Karlsson was the appearance of his daughter.

reception

Otfried Preußler called Wickie and the strong men on the occasion of the German first edition in 1964 in a short review in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit “a wonderfully funny story in which war and warfare in general and the old Vikings in particular are made fun of in a delicious way.” And he drove continues that the attraction of the "antisaga [...] will only [...] be revealed to the adult who is able to enjoy the parodic about it."

In 1965 the work received the German Youth Book Prize in the children's book category; The jury particularly emphasized the translation by Fritz and Hildegard Westphal and the congenial illustration by Ewert Karlsson.

While the reception of the Wickie stories in the author's home country was limited, Jonsson's work was highly valued internationally; the first edition was followed by translations in over 20 countries. The translations into German in particular were sustained success, with new editions and licensed editions up into the 1970s. Between 2005 and 2012, all volumes in the series were then published in new German translations by Maike Dörries and with new illustrations by Christoph Schöne.

Sequels

On Wickie and the strong men six more books followed by the atypical Viking heroes. It is always about the men of the Viking village Flake throwing themselves into adventures in distant parts of the world in search of heroic deeds, which they cannot find out without Wickie's help. The men basically sail against the will of their wives - and against the will of Wickie, who justifies his rejection of further booty voyages as follows: “On your voyages nothing more happens than you slip from one jam into the next, one worse than the other. I'd rather stay in flake with disgrace and shame than get my nose bleed in England. "

The first three sequels appeared in quick succession in the 1960s: Wickie and the Blue Swords (1966; original Vicke Viking lurar de rödögda , 1965) takes the Vikings to England; with Wickie and the Great Dragons (1967; original Vicke Viking Hederskung , 1966) Jonsson moved the main location of the action to Bulgaria, where Wickie is named king because of his services; Wickie und die Rothäute (1968; Original Vicke Viking i Vinland , 1967) deals with an involuntary Atlantic crossing of the Vikings and adventures with the North American Indians. The fifth volume in the children's book series followed in 1973, Wickie and the Wooden Horse (Original Vicke Viking och burduserna , 1969), with new adventures among the Bulgarians, who had asked their King Wickie for help. In the following volume Wickie and the City of Tyrants (1976; Original Vicke Viking störtar tyrannerna , 1975) the Flake Vikings help the oppressed inhabitants of a city far in the south against their tyrannical king.

Finally, Runer Jonsson returned many years later to his success stories about Wickie: his last Wickie book, in German under the title Wickie, the Vikings only appeared in 2012 (original Vicke tar över , 1993), contains Wickie's adventure as a village chief after death his fathers.

Adaptations - radio plays, cartoons, feature films

Michael Herbig (director) and Jonas Hämmerle (Wickie) at a press conference on the film adaptation of Wickie and the Strong Men 2009
Film set for the feature film Wickie and the strong men at Walchensee in Bavaria

In the year the German Youth Book Prize was awarded in 1965, the Westdeutsche Rundfunk was already producing Wickie and the Strong Men as a radio play in two parts, each about half an hour long. The director was Hermann Pfeiffer , the music was composed by Kurt Herrlinger , the Wickie role was played by Marius Müller-Westernhagen , Kaspar Brüninghaus was Wickie's father Halvar. This production was first broadcast on October 17, 1965 (Part 1) and October 24, 1965 (Part 2).

From the mid-1970s were Jonssons Vicky stories in the adaptation as anime cartoon series then become a classic of television entertainment for children. On behalf of ZDF , the first five volumes of the series, which had been available up until then, were produced in Japan as a 78-part series (series title: Wickie and the strong men ); This production was the result of ZDF's first international collaboration in this genre, the German series began on January 31, 1974. Between 1974 and 2010 there were 21 complete reruns of the series on German public broadcasters alone, twelve on ZDF and nine on children's channel KiKA , with regular market shares of over 65%. The many repetitions and the international distribution made Wickie the long-term successful brand of the ZDF children's program.

The animated series was based both in the plot of the individual episodes and in the representation of the characters on the content and illustrations of the literary models. According to the assessment of the International Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television (IZI), the decisive factor for the long-term success of the implementation was that Runer Jonsson had created a character with Wickie that, even decades after it was first published, would appeal to children - regardless of whether they were boys or girls - could still offer current identification options.

Michael Herbig followed up on the animated series in 2008 as a director with the film adaptation of the material as a feature film ; its adaptation - as well as the template entitled Wickie und die stark Männer - was so successful that it led to the lavishly produced sequel Wickie auf Großer Fahrt in 2011, directed by Christian Ditter , the first German 3D film production.

Finally, in 2014, the animated series from 1974 - again on behalf of ZDF - was completely redesigned as a computer-animated television series, also broadcast under the series title Wickie und die stark Männer ; The German start of this new series was on April 18, 2014.

The two animated series and feature films in turn were the template for publications of Vicky stories in other media, for radio play - cassettes or - CDs , for comic -Hefte and computer games .

List of the Swedish and German first editions

The following is a bibliography of the Swedish and German first editions of Wickie and the Strong Men and its sequels:

  • Vicke Viking . Teckningar av EWK . LTs Förlag , Stockholm 1963 (Swedish first edition).
  • Vicke Viking lurar de rödögda . Teckningar av EWK. LTs Förlag, Stockholm 1965 (Swedish first edition).
    • Wickie and the blue swords . His adventures with the red-eyed. Translated from Swedish by Fritz and Hildegard Westphal, illustrations by Ewert Karlsson. Herold-Verlag, Stuttgart 1966 (German first edition).
    • Wickie on a long journey . Translated from Swedish by Maike Dörries, cover and color illustrations by Christoph Schöne. Ellermann Verlag, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-7707-2851-0 (German first edition of the new translation).
  • Vicke Viking Hederskung . Teckningar av EWK. LTs Förlag, Stockholm 1966 (Swedish first edition).
    • Wickie and the big dragons . His adventures in the land of the Bulgarians. Translated from Swedish by Fritz and Hildegard Westphal, illustrations by Ewert Karlsson. Herold-Verlag, Stuttgart 1967 (German first edition).
    • Wickie and the dragon ship . Translated from Swedish by Maike Dörries, cover and color illustrations by Christoph Schöne. Ellermann Verlag, Hamburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-7707-2852-7 (German first edition of the new translation).
  • Vicke Viking i Vinland . Teckningar av EWK. LTs Förlag, Stockholm 1967 (Swedish first edition).
    • Wickie and the Redskins . Translated from Swedish by Fritz and Hildegard Westphal, illustrations by Ewert Karlsson. Herold-Verlag, Stuttgart 1968 (German first edition).
    • Wickie the Explorer . Translated from Swedish by Maike Dörries, cover and color illustrations by Christoph Schöne. Ellermann Verlag, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-7707-2853-4 (German first edition of the new translation).
  • Vicke Viking och burduserna . Teckningar av EWK. LTs Förlag, Stockholm 1969 (Swedish first edition).
    • Wickie and the wooden horse . Translated from Swedish by Fritz and Hildegard Westphal, illustrations by Ewert Karlsson. Herold-Verlag, Stuttgart 1973 (German first edition).
    • Wickie and the gray men . Translated from Swedish by Maike Dörries, cover and color illustrations by Christoph Schöne. Ellermann Verlag, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7707-2854-1 (German first edition of the new translation).
  • Vicke Viking störtar tyrannerna . Teckningar av EWK. Askild & Kärnekull, Stockholm 1975, ISBN 91-7008-514-5 (Swedish first edition).
    • Wickie and the city of tyrants . Translated from Swedish by Fritz and Hildegard Westphal, illustrations by Ewert Karlsson. Herold-Verlag, Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-7767-0158-7 (German first edition).
    • Wickie and the city of kings . Translated from Swedish by Maike Dörries, cover and color illustrations by Christoph Schöne. Ellermann Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-7707-2855-8 (German first edition of the new translation).
  • Vicke tar över . Bildningsförlaget, Borgholm 1993, ISBN 91-88402-13-4 (Swedish first edition).
    • Vicky the Viking . Translated from Swedish by Maike Dörries, cover and color illustrations by Christoph Schöne. Ellermann im Dressler Verlag , Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-7707-2856-5 (German first edition).

Remarks

  1. ^ Wickie and the strong men , Herold, Stuttgart 1973 5 , p. 11.
  2. ^ Wickie and the strong men , Herold, Stuttgart 1973 5 , pp. 20ff.
  3. ^ Name of the Friesian chief in later adaptations and new translations of the work changed to "the terrible Sven".
  4. ↑ Jens Mattern: Rebell in Rock , Die Tageszeitung , September 9, 2009; Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  5. ^ Vicke Viking i EWK-galleriet , press release Arbetets Museum Norrköping, June 20, 2011; Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  6. ^ Vicke Viking i EWK-galleriet , press release Arbetets Museum Norrköping, June 20, 2011; Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  7. ^ Otfried Preußler: Adventure stories - slightly over-turned , Die Zeit, December 4, 1964; accessed December 29, 2015.
  8. ^ Wickie and the strong men, jury statement 1965 , website of the German Youth Literature Prize ; accessed December 29, 2015.
  9. ↑ Illustrative examples : Four illustrations are reproduced in the opening credits of an article in Folkbladet (Sara Segraeus: Vicke Viking i EWK-galleriet , Folkbladet, June 27, 2011; accessed January 3, 2016); two more can be reached via the search page for Karlsson's work at Arbetets Museum Norrköping ( motif: Wickie in wolf's mouth and motif: Wickie has flashes of inspiration (sparks off) ; both accessed December 29, 2015).
  10. ^ Vicke Viking i EWK-galleriet , press release Arbetets Museum Norrköping, June 20, 2011; Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  11. ^ Introduction of the second volume, Wickie and the Blue Swords , Herold, Stuttgart 1968 3 , p. 7.
  12. ↑ When the first volume in the series was translated into German from 2005, the title of the first edition was retained, all other volumes were given new titles; see. more on this under List of Swedish and German first editions .
  13. ^ Wickie and the Strong Men , MCDP International Publishing, October 14, 2008; accessed January 4, 2016.
  14. ↑ Christian Mayer: Fear Makes You Inventive , Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 17, 2010; accessed December 29, 2015.
  15. ↑ Christian Mayer: Fear Makes You Inventive , Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 17, 2010; accessed December 29, 2015.
  16. ↑ Wickie intercontinental - Patrick Elmendorff, Managing Director Studio 100 Media GmbH , entry in the dropdown menu for: A new look for the 40th: "Wickie and the strong men" in 3D optics , online press kit of the ZDF on the occasion of the remake as a 3D animated series; Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  17. ↑ cf. Andrea Holler: What makes Wickie a classic from a child's perspective . In: Televizion 28/2015/2, especially p. 95; PDF accessed January 4, 2016.
  18. ↑ comic books: cf. Title catalog page "W" at Comicguide.de; accessed January 4, 2016.
  19. ↑ Computer games: cf. Press release from the game manufacturer Intenium, June 30, 2011; accessed January 4, 2016.
  20. ↑ The publisher inadvertently mentions Vicke Viking störtar tyrannerna (as with the following volume) as the original edition in the imprint .