On 3 October, in celebration of Germany’s reunification, FRITZI & SOPHIE – A BORDERLESS FRIENDSHIP got its German TV premiere. The story of FRITZI: A REVOLUTIONARY TAIL, in which a young girl wants to return a dog to her best friend, who fled to the West, now gets an extended spin-off in a TV series, presented during the Schlingel Industry Forum.
It was surprising how FRITZI’s story, that was so deeply rooted in national political history, resonated around the world. Original directors Ralf Kukula and Matthias Bruhm have now teamed up with Thomas Meyer-Hermann for a new take on the same core story in a TV series, against the backdrop of everyday life around 1989, when The Wall was about to collapse. The challenge is already given away in the title: two perspectives were needed, and the contrast between them should be meaningful. Director Ralf Kukula grew up in the GDR, a country where many things were lacking. Improvising and repairing were people’s most important survival skills.
At least as big were the challenges on the production level, says Technical Director Elias Schwarze: “How could we copy the style of a charming hand-drawn animated feature with only 50% of the budget? We needed 180 minutes of animation, made by 150 crew members (instead of 700 for the film), and presenting 50 (!) characters on screen! That’s why a shift from 2D into 3D and motion capture was needed.”
Watching the series, you might recognise some of the movie-elements. “We re-used some references and locations, but all the scenes in the Western part are new. Plenty of urban landscapes needed to be created. Leipzig is our key location, but since the TV-series also follows Sophie on her westbound trip, all the West German cities had to be designed from scratch.”