Tabaluga
Encyclopedia
The little green Dragon
Tabaluga is a cartoon
character, who lives in the fictional place of Greenland. He is around 7 dragon-years old (700 human years, as one year for a dragon is 100 for a human). He is the creation of the German Rock musician Peter Maffay
, children's song writer Rolf Zuckowski and the author Gregor Rottschalk. The artist Helme Heine
drew the image of Tabaluga as we know it currently.
The musical "Tabaluga & Lilli" celebrated its premiere on 24 September 1999 in the TheatrO CentrO, Oberhausen
, and ran there until 30 June 2001. The little dragon managed to unite the High Society of German musical actors, with stars such as Andreas Bieber, Ross Antony, Paul Kribbe, Carolin Fortenbacher
The first studio album
"Tabaluga or the journey to reason." (1983) was the step to success: within the next years some Helme Heine books
, four studio albums, a resounding tour and many TV Cartoons which have been broadcasting
in over 100 countries round the world followed. Over 100 kindergartens and child care groups carry the word "Tabaluga" in their names.
Flying Bark Animation (previously known as Yoram Gross
Films) has also produced an animated cartoon series of Tabaluga. In this series, Tabaluga is the last of the dragons and the crown-prince of Greenland, a magical place inhabited by talking animals of many different species. Tabaluga must defend his home from two rival kingdoms on either side of Greenland; a frigid arctic tundra, ruled by the evil snowman Arktos and a searing desert, ruled by an evil sand-spirit named Humsin.
In the show, two teams play against each other in 5 competition rounds to win prizes for themselves, and to win the contents of a treasure chest, which they can donate to their school, a children's home, etc. The broadcast is transmitted by ZDF
and also KI.KA
.
In Summer 2005 the show celebrated its 400th transmission. The show is made for ZDF in co-production with Munich Production Company MingaMedia and is made in the Bavaria-Studios in Unterföhring, near Munich
.
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
Tabaluga is a cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
character, who lives in the fictional place of Greenland. He is around 7 dragon-years old (700 human years, as one year for a dragon is 100 for a human). He is the creation of the German Rock musician Peter Maffay
Peter Maffay
Peter Alexander Makkay better known as Peter Maffay is a German musician.- Biography :Born in Brasov, Romania, the son of a German , he was 14 when his family relocated to his parents' Germany in 1963. In the same year, he started his first band, The Dukes...
, children's song writer Rolf Zuckowski and the author Gregor Rottschalk. The artist Helme Heine
Helme Heine
Helme Heine is a German writer, children's book author, illustrator and designer. He is the brother of Ernst Wilhelm Heine...
drew the image of Tabaluga as we know it currently.
The musical "Tabaluga & Lilli" celebrated its premiere on 24 September 1999 in the TheatrO CentrO, Oberhausen
Oberhausen
Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
, and ran there until 30 June 2001. The little dragon managed to unite the High Society of German musical actors, with stars such as Andreas Bieber, Ross Antony, Paul Kribbe, Carolin Fortenbacher
The first studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
"Tabaluga or the journey to reason." (1983) was the step to success: within the next years some Helme Heine books
Helme Heine
Helme Heine is a German writer, children's book author, illustrator and designer. He is the brother of Ernst Wilhelm Heine...
, four studio albums, a resounding tour and many TV Cartoons which have been broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
in over 100 countries round the world followed. Over 100 kindergartens and child care groups carry the word "Tabaluga" in their names.
Flying Bark Animation (previously known as Yoram Gross
Yoram Gross
Yoram Gross is an Australian producer of children’s and family entertainment. The company is best known for producing Blinky Bill and Dot and the Kangaroo.- History :...
Films) has also produced an animated cartoon series of Tabaluga. In this series, Tabaluga is the last of the dragons and the crown-prince of Greenland, a magical place inhabited by talking animals of many different species. Tabaluga must defend his home from two rival kingdoms on either side of Greenland; a frigid arctic tundra, ruled by the evil snowman Arktos and a searing desert, ruled by an evil sand-spirit named Humsin.
Tabaluga on TV
In Tabaluga tivi, the television show (90 min.), you will see the little green dragon, Tabaluga, his friend Happy (a snow hare) and his enemy Arktos, the wicked snowman.In the show, two teams play against each other in 5 competition rounds to win prizes for themselves, and to win the contents of a treasure chest, which they can donate to their school, a children's home, etc. The broadcast is transmitted by ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
and also KI.KA
KI.KA
KI.KA is a public non-commercial free television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is a joint venture of national public television channels ARD, and ARD's constituent broadcasting institutions – BR, HR, MDR, NDR, Radio Bremen, RBB, Saarländischer Rundfunk, SWR, WDR and ZDF, and is targeted at...
.
In Summer 2005 the show celebrated its 400th transmission. The show is made for ZDF in co-production with Munich Production Company MingaMedia and is made in the Bavaria-Studios in Unterföhring, near Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.
Residents of Greenland
- Tabaluga: He is a small green dragon who is main protagonist of the series. He is the king of Greenland. Son of Tyrion.
- Happy: Snow hare who lives in Greenland and is one of Tabaluga's best friends.
- Digby: A mole from greenland who wears glasses
- Nessaja: giant turtle who acts as a mentor and advisor to Tabaluga
- Buzz the bee
- Bilingua: a snake who is a minor villain. She had shown in at least one episode that she had the power of hypnosis
- Tyrion: previous ruler of greenland and father of Tabaluga. When he died, he turned into a star, like all dragons.
Iceworld
- Arktos: the main antagonist, he is an evil snowman who aims to make Greenland a frozen wasteland. He is king of Iceworld. He has a hall containing animals who have been frozen by him, and is fond of icecream.
- James: The polite and gentle penguin who is loyal to Arktos and pilots his master's transport, The Arktoplane. When the penguins of Iceworld temporarily left the evil snowman, James was the only one who remained at his side
- Attila the walrus: Arktos' cook
- Shouhu: an owl has a magic crystal ball. He, along with Nassaja help advise the young dragon. At some point chained and held captive by Arktos. In the penultimate episode of Series One, he is freed by Tabaluga.
- Vultur: previously worked for Arktos, changed allegiance to Humsin.
- Fritz: Arktos' pet shark, who often tries to eat his carrot nose.
Desert Realm
- Humsin: ruler of the desert realm, willing to make Greenland into a desert. He appears as a whirlwind of sand.
- Kayo: chameleon who worked for Humsin, but later works for Arktos
Season 1
- The Last of His Kind
- Happy Without Ending
- A Very Hot Thing
- A Matter Full of Seeds
- Servant of Two Masters
- Moonstruck
- The Wiser Head Does Not Give Up
- A Fatal Present
- Two Birds With One Stone
- The Tree Of Life
- Dubious Dealings
- The Visitors Who Came In From The Cold
- The Big Cloud
- Dragons Do not Cry
- One Dragon Too Many
- Someone Is Cheating
- Mister Nice Guy
- Too Much Salt Is Detrimental To The Health
- A Ruined Premiere
- Queen For One Day
- A Splendid Couple
- A Fiery Encounter
- The Abducted Scamp
- Tabaluga and Lilli
- The Flow of Time
- Chocolate Ice for Everybody
Season 2
- Prince Tabaluga
- Humsin
- Dangerous confidence
- Big Freeze
- Prophecy
- Hero
- Potato Festival
- A Spiny Danger
- Flood
- The Day of the Cactus
- The Big Change
- Sand Fleas
- The Lost Dragon
- My baby
- The Ice Beast
- Double Trouble
- Peace Play
- Genie
- Kidnapped
- Sweet Dreams Hamsin
- The Thundwerbird
- Bully for You
- The Scrying Game
- Dragon Mountain
- The Sands of Doom
- Majority Rules
Season 3
- The Dragon Pendant
- The Quest
- Scary Story
- Tabaluga Challenge
- Fire Stone
- Little Wonder
- Arktos The Good
- The Gloomy Forest
- Mother Arktos
- Eye in the Sky
- Do not Forget to Remember
- Fool's Gold
- Where is Winter?
- Whale of a Tale
- Last Gasp
- Troubled Waters
- Hidden Treasures
- Wish Upon a Star
- Who's Who
- The Hidden Chamber
- Ready, Set, Go!
- Digby's Promise
- Kayo: Friend or Foe?
- Menace in the Mountains
- Dragon World
- Lost Pendant
Broadcast History
The cartoon series of Tabaluga originally shown on ZDF in Germany is presently being shown in the UK on the following channels:- UK
- Cartoon NetworkCartoon Network (UK)Cartoon Network, commonly abbreviated as CN, is a British television channel available on Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk TV and UPC Ireland. Distributed by Turner Broadcasting System Europe , the channel primarily shows animated programming and was launched in the UK and Ireland as Cartoon Network...
(1998–2000) - POP! (January 2007 - 26 February 2007)
- Cartoon Network
- Ireland
- TG4TG4TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland....
- TG4
- Poland
- TVP1
- Mini Mini (2006–present)
- Portugal
- Cartoon NetworkCartoon Network (UK)Cartoon Network, commonly abbreviated as CN, is a British television channel available on Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk TV and UPC Ireland. Distributed by Turner Broadcasting System Europe , the channel primarily shows animated programming and was launched in the UK and Ireland as Cartoon Network...
(1998–2000) - Canal PandaCanal PandaCanal Panda is the first Portuguese cable television channel dedicated to children's programming, mostly animated series. The channel was founded in 1996 as Panda Club in Spain and Portugal, but the name was changed to Canal Panda in 1997. In 2000, the channel left Spain, thus concentrating...
(2001–2005) - RTP 2
- Cartoon Network
- USA
- Fox FamilyABC FamilyABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
(1998–2000)
- Fox Family
- Romania
- TVR 1
- Czech Republic
- TV PrimaTV PrimaTV Prima is a Czech private television station. Its channel is broadcast from Prague. Its current owner is FTV Prima, spol. s r. o., general manager Marek Singer....
(2008)
- TV Prima
- France
- TF1TF1TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
- France 5France 5France 5 is a public television network in France, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring educational programming, the channel's motto is la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir...
(2010)
- TF1
- RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
- STSSTS-Science, medicine, meteorology and technology:*Science and technology studies*Superior temporal sulcus*Socio-technical systems*Severe tropical storm*Scanning tunneling spectroscopy, a spectroscopy technique based on Scanning Tunneling Microscopy...
(2001) - Telenyanya
- STS
- Ukraine
- ТЕТ
- Finland
- MTV3MTV3MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials...
- MTV3
- Indonesia
- TVRITVRITelevisi Republik Indonesia Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) (formerly known as Televisi Indonesia (Indonesian Television in English) and Radio Indonesia (Indonesian Radio in English) is a state-owned television station, the oldest television station in...
(2004)
- TVRI
- Slovenia
- SLO1Radiotelevizija SlovenijaRadiotelevizija Slovenija – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in the country's capital, Ljubljana, it has regional broadcasting centres in Koper and Maribor and correspondents around Slovenia, Europe and the world...
- SLO1
History
- 1983: "Tabaluga oder... Die Reise zur Vernunft" (engl. "Tabaluga or... The Journey to Reason"), first concept album (LP / CD)
- 1986: "Tabaluga und das leuchtende Schweigen" (engl. "Tabaluga and the Luminous Silence"), second concept album (LP / CD)
- 1988: "Tabaluga and the Magic Jadestone", UK version of the second concept album (LP)
- 1993: "Tabaluga und Lilli" (engl. "Tabaluga and Lilli"; with AlexisAlexis (singer)Alexis is a German pop and gala singer. She is mainly known for participating in the German "Rudi Carrell Show" in 1989, singing Whitney Houston's song "One Moment In Time"...
playing and singing the part of "Lilli"), third concept album (CD) - 1994: Rock fairytale tour "Tabaluga & Lilli" (90 appearances with a total attendance of around 700,000), based on the first and second concept album
- 1994: "Tabaluga und Lilli – Live" (engl. "Tabaluga and Lilli Live"), first live album (tour of 1994; 2CD)
- 1994: "Tabaluga und Lilli – Live" (engl. "Tabaluga and Lilli Live"), first live video (tour of 1994; VHS)
- 1997: "Tabaluga" TV cartoon series – first 26 episodes (at children's game show "Tabaluga tivi"; ZDFZDFZweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
und KI.KAKI.KAKI.KA is a public non-commercial free television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is a joint venture of national public television channels ARD, and ARD's constituent broadcasting institutions – BR, HR, MDR, NDR, Radio Bremen, RBB, Saarländischer Rundfunk, SWR, WDR and ZDF, and is targeted at...
) - 1998: Tabaluga premieres on Cartoon Network Europe
- 1999: "Tabaluga & Lilli" musical (essentially the same as the tour version, but with a different cast) was premiered at TheatrO CentrO in OberhausenOberhausenOberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
- 1999: Stamp "Für die Jugend − Tabaluga" (engl. "For the youth − Tabaluga")
- 2001: "Tabaluga" TV cartoon series – second 26 episodes (again on ZDF und KI.KA)
- 2002: "Tabaluga und das verschenkte Glück" (engl. "Tabaluga and the Gift of Luck"), fourth concept album (CD)
- 2003: Rock fairytale tour "Tabaluga und das verschenkte Glück", based on the fourth concept album
- 2003: "Tabaluga und Leo – Das Weihnachtshörspiel" (engl. "Tabaluga and Leo – The Christmas radio play"), based on the TV cartoon series (CD)
- 2003/04: "Tabaluga" TV cartoon series – third 26 episodes (again on ZDF und KI.KA)
- 2004: "Tabaluga und das verschenkte Glück – Live" (engl. "Tabaluga and the Gift of Luck – Live"), second live video (first live DVD; tour of 2003)
- 2004: "Tabaluga viatja buscant el seny", CatalanCatalan languageCatalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
version of the first concept album (MC and CD) - 2005: "Tabaluga" was also staged for the first time in Majorca, and drew an exceptionally large audience. The singers, Josep Carreras and Cris Juanico, along with Udo JürgensUdo JürgensUdo Jürgens is an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spans over fifty years...
and Peter MaffayPeter MaffayPeter Alexander Makkay better known as Peter Maffay is a German musician.- Biography :Born in Brasov, Romania, the son of a German , he was 14 when his family relocated to his parents' Germany in 1963. In the same year, he started his first band, The Dukes...
bought the concept to the stage. - 2005: "Tabaluga und Leo" (engl. "Tabaluga and Leo"); Christmas cartoon film; based on the TV cartoon series
- 2006: "Tabaluga und Lilli − Live" ("Tabaluga and Lilli − Live"), first live VHS video now released as live DVD (second live DVD; tour of 1994)
- 2007: "Frohe Weihnachten mit Tabaluga" ("Merry Christmas with Tabaluga"), christmas album (CD)
- 2010: "Tabaluga und Leo – Weihnachtsspecial" (engl. "Tabaluga and Leo − Christmas special"), video of the 2005 Christmas cartoon film (DVD)
- 2011: "Tabaluga tivi" is shot after 14 Years!
- 2011: "Tabaluga und die Zeichen der Zeit" (engl. "Tabaluga and the signs of the times"; with Mandy CapristoMandy CapristoMandy Grace Capristo is a German singer who rose to fame as one of the founding members of the pop group Monrose. She was the only blonde girl in the group and was also the "strong voice" of Monrose as she sang almost all of the high notes in their songs...
as "Lilli"), fifth concept album (CD) - 2012: Rock fairytale tour "Tabaluga und die Zeichen der Zeit", based on the fifth concept album (planned for autumn)