''Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt'' is a popular German book for children by

Boy Lornsen Boy Lornsen (7 August 1922 – 26 July 1995) was a German sculptor and author of children's literature, writing both in Standard German and in Platt. Lornsen served as pilot and radio operator in the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Af ...

, first published in 1967. It was adapted into a screen play for television, a radio and two audio dramas. An audio book exists as well.

Plot

The book themes around the adventures of a pupil called Tobias Findteisen (nicknamed Tobbi) who accompanied the

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

ROB 344–66/IIIa (nicknamed Robbi) to help with the latter's exam at robot school. The team travels in an all-in-one

vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...

, designed by Tobbi and built by Robbi, to find answers to the exam's riddles all over the world. Tobbi calls this vehicle (which runs on juice from red raspberries, later substituted by

cod liver oil Cod liver oil is a dietary supplement derived from liver of cod fish (Gadidae). As with most fish oils, it contains the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and also vitamin A and vitamin D. Historic ...

) "Flie-wa-tüüt" because: # it can fly (in German: ''flie''gen) # it can travel on water (in German ''Wa''sser) # it can be used as a car (and as such has a

klaxon A horn is a sound-making device that can be equipped to motor vehicles, buses, bicycles, trains, trams (otherwise known as streetcars in North America), and other types of vehicles. The sound made usually resembles a "honk" (older vehicles) or a ...

making the sound "''tüüt''") During their adventures young inventor Tobbi and his pilot Robbi have to tackle many challenges.

Book

''Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt'' was first published by , Stuttgart, in 1967. It featured illustrations by . The 256-pages sized book was listed in the ''Auswahlliste des Deutschen Jugendbuchpreises''.

Television series

Based on the novel, ''Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt'' was adapted as a German television series for children by WDR in 1972. It was animated by puppeteer

Albrecht Roser Albrecht Roser (21 May 1922 in Friedrichshafen, GermanyBillington, M, ''Performing Arts: A Guide To Practice And Appreciation'', p.163 – 17 April 2011) was a German master puppeteerBaird, B, ''The Art of the Puppet'', p.193 based in Stuttgart ...

and his team. The series used early

chroma key Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to ...

technology. Over the years, the series saw countless re-runs.

Film

An animated film, was released in 2016, directed by , with as Tobbi and

Alexandra Maria Lara Alexandra Maria Lara (''née'' Plătăreanu; 12 November 1978) is a Romanian-German actress who has appeared in ''Downfall (2004 film), Downfall'' (2004), ''Control (2007 film), Control'' (2007), ''Youth Without Youth (film), Youth Without You ...

as Sharon Schalldämpfer.

Plays

Known audio drama adaptions: * WDR radio drama in 1968 with

Jürgen von Manger Jürgen von Manger-Koenig (6 March 1923 – 15 March 1994) was a German actor and comedian. Early life Manger was born Jürgen Julius Emil Fritz Koenig in the Koblenz district of Ehrenbreitstein Ehrenbreitstein Fortress (german: Festung ...

as speaker (Regie: Heinz-Dieter Köhler). * audio play in 1972/1973 on three LPs or MCs with as ''Tante Paula'' and

Dieter Eppler Dieter Eppler (11 February 1927, in Stuttgart – 12 April 2008, in Stuttgart) was a German television actor and director of radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purel ...

as ''Robbi''. * audio play in 1991 on two CDs or MCs. This version also became available by (DAV) in 2005, with the cover incorrectly stating ''made by WDR'' (which would indicate the 1968 play). * ''Der Audio Verlag'' audio book on 3 times 2 CDs6 CDs: (2006) (total playing time 460 minutes), read by in 2006.

References

External links

* 1967 German novels 1967 children's books German children's novels German novels adapted into television shows German children's television series German television shows featuring puppetry Television shows based on children's books Television shows based on German novels 1972 German television series debuts 1972 German television series endings German-language television shows Das Erste original programming Fiction about flying cars {{1960s-child-novel-stub