Pumuckl und der blaue Klabauter

This movie has too much of those German wannabe-actors and too less of great Gustl Bayerhammer. Pumuckl himself has seen funnier times, too. Fans of the 1979 TV series will be quite disappointed by this sequel.

If you (like me) used to watch the original series as a small child, this is a nice reminiscence. But the movie makes a big mistake by aiming it's acting and production style too much at kids rather than at the young grown-ups that made up the original audience.

There are interesting sub-texts to the story like that of being able to determine who are true friends and who are not. Pumuckl is lured away from his fatherly friend Meister Eder by the Blauer Klabauter (voiced by Wolfgang Völz who also appears on-screen as the helmsman) but soon finds that cook Odessi is a much more trustworthy and likeable person. Gustl Bayrhammer's Meister Eder is set into the background, staying at home in Munich and falling ill in Pumuckl's absence, so we don't get to see too much of him, which is sad, because this was the last role for Bayrhammer who died a year before the movie was released.

All in all a great movie for your kids to go along with the series, but if you want to be reminded of the happy hours you spend with the original series, the original series is what you should watch. 5/10