The Little Vampire

Rüdiger has a birthday. 13 years old he turns. Where other children would literally explode with joy over presents, cake and a birthday party, Rüdiger has only frustration. Because he is a vampire and is celebrating this birthday for the 300th time. That's why he doesn't feel like having a big family party in the big crypt in Transylvania. But soon the little vampire has completely different worries: by a stupidity his brother Lumpi accidentally lures the vampire hunter Geiermeier and his assistant Manni to the vampire crypt, where the nasty man locks them up. Only Rüdiger, his sister Anna and his parents manage to escape to relatives in the Black Forest. Here, 13-year-old vampire fan Anton is on holiday. When Rüdiger and Anton get to know each other, it soon becomes clear after their initial mistrust that together they are the only chance for the imprisoned vampire clan. A dangerous adventure begins that could be the start of a very special friendship.

You can literally hear how the production meeting for the animated version of The Little Vampire went: we really need to make the story cooler. And we need to get little kids in it, because they make money. So let's not make it too scary! And nice 3D effects, than a lot of action. And don't forget: And don't forget, someone has to fart. Kids always think that's funny. And so the whole thing has become a harmless, conventional animated adventure. Kids will like it, but the film doesn't even come close to the charm of the books. That's already because there are no ideas of its own here and the characters are absolutely interchangeable.

I can still remember exactly why I loved Angela Sommer-Bodenburg's books so much as a child. Not only was Anton a well-developed character for children to identify with. The author also always struck the right balance of humor and suspense. It was exciting that the friendship between Anton and the little vampire had to remain a secret, because not all vampires were as sweet as Rüdiger. As a reader, you could feel really creeped out, but you also sympathized when the bloodsuckers had to get to safety from Geiermeier. The fact that the vampires in the new movie are all actually good-hearted and Geiermeier is just a completely overdrawn joke takes away from the whole story.

The makers play it too safe, so as not to offend anywhere. And when it comes to humor, they rely on the simplest tricks out of the mothballs and even let a cow fly at the end. It's a pity, because there is a really good template, which could have been easily modernized and which would have worked really well in the cinema. It's really sad that the nice and exciting basic idea is watered down to such an extent that it turns into an uninspired little movie that panders to the alleged mass taste in every second. Well, the little ones will like it as I said, and that's why there's a grudging with Pain in My Heart then for the target audience: Worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp