''The Three Robbers'' (''Die drei Räuber'') is a full-length 2007 animated film adaption of the 1961 children's book by

Tomi Ungerer Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer (; 28 November 1931 – 9 February 2019) was an Alsatians (people), Alsatian artist and writer. He published over 140 books ranging from children's books to adult works and from the fantastic to the autobiographical. H ...

, which was previously adapted as a 6-minute animated adaptation released in 1972 by

Gene Deitch Eugene Merril Deitch (August 8, 1924 – April 16, 2020) was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons ...

. The film was released in America under the title of the ''Trick or Treaters'', with the original material shortened and reworked into a Halloween story.

Plot

Three brothers are very successful in their exploits as

highwayman A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to footp ...

robbers: Dominik using his

blunderbuss The blunderbuss is a firearm with a short, large caliber barrel which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity or caliber. The blunderbuss is commonly consid ...

to intimidate coachmen and passengers, Felix using his

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

- blower to disorientate and blind the horses, while the eldest brother Maximus vandalizes and damages the carriage wheels with his red battle

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many for ...

. But, one day the robbers intercept a carriage, only to find a lonely girl named Tiffany whose parents died and is being sent to live with a wicked aunt who runs an orphanage. Not wanting to go to the orphanage, Tiffany tricks the robbers into believing she was the daughter of a

maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

, and is carried off to their hideout. While Tiffany makes the robbers question what they intend to do with their amassed wealth, she helps them learn to read and write when they want to send a ransom letter. The robbers eventually learn Tiffany lied to them when they found her missing child poster. Tiffany is remorseful and leaves in shame to head to the orphanage. Tiffany encounters two runaway orphans along the way to the orphanage. From them she learns that Auntie places the children in mandatory

child labor Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...

to harvest

sugar beets Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double s ...

and extract the sugar for her pastry-making machine to make her desserts. After secretly entering the orphanage while the runways are captured, Tiffany exposes Auntie's pastry hoard to the other orphans. Auntie was about to punish Tiffany when the robbers arrive, revealed to be runaway orphans themselves as they make amends with Tiffany. Auntie refuses to hand Tiffany over to the robbers before falling into her pastry-making vat in a fit of insanity and is turned into a cake which the orphans eat. The robbers then use their wealth to buy the orphanage, which becomes a haven for all uncared children; eventually growing into a large town with its residents revering the robbers.

Characters

*The Orphan Tiffany *Robber #1 Dominik (has a

to threaten the passengers). *Robber #2 Felix (has a pepper-blower to blind the horses). *Robber #3 Maximus (has a huge red axe to chop the carriage wheels). *The Evil Aunty *The Poilceman *The Coachman Frog *Nikolas *Gregory *The Children of the Orphanage *The Slow Unicorn *Mr.Narrator

Voice cast

Accolades

The film received the second prize for Animated Feature Film or Video in the Adult Jury Prizes at the

Chicago International Children's Film Festival In 1983, Facets Multi-Media founded the Chicago International Children's Film Festival (CICFF), the first competitive festival of films for children in the U.S. The impetus for the Festival came from a need to introduce new, culturally diverse fil ...

in 2007, and in 2008 and 2009 was awarded first prizes and audience awards at film festivals in Hamburg (Germany), Paris, Bordeaux, Annecy (France), Poznan (Poland), Bilbao (Spain), Brussels, Ghent (Belgium), Bucharest (Romania), and Toronto. It received the audience Award at the

Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

, 2008. ''Trick or Treaters'' DVD was released on September 6, 2016 in United States.

References

External links

Trailer

Movie homepage
(in German)
German-Films Film Archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Three Robbers 1961 German novels German animated short films 1972 films German children's novels German novels adapted into films German children's films 1961 children's books French books Fictional thieves Male characters in literature Male literary villains 1970s German films 2000s German films