Der Räuber Hotzenplotz (1974)

In the small town of Eschenbach, the notorious robber Hotzenplotz is causing trouble. He lives in a robber’s cave in the middle of the forest and is especially fond of stealing potatoes and snuff. The people of Eschenbach are counting on Sergeant Dimpfelmoser. He would dearly love to arrest Hotzenplotz, but claims he has more important duties. In truth, he is afraid, since the robber is ten times smarter than the police and nobody knows where his hideout is. One day, Hotzenplotz robs Kasperl’s grandmother, stealing her coffee grinder, which plays “Everything Is New in May.” Kasperl and his friend Seppel want to catch the robber by labeling a box “Beware: Gold!” But the box contains only sand, which is meant to trickle out through a little hole and leave a trail once a piece of wood plugging the hole—and thus keeping the sand from escaping too soon—is pulled out. Kasperl and Seppel set off into the forest with the box, where, just as they intended, they are held up by Hotzenplotz. At first, everything goes according to plan, but in his cave Hotzenplotz realizes he has been fooled. He plots his revenge and lays a second trail, which Kasperl and Seppel follow separately. Hotzenplotz shoots Seppel in the face with his pepper gun and drags him off to the robber’s cave. Kasperl is lured into a pit, stuffed into a sack, and also falls into Hotzenplotz’s hands. But the two friends had swapped hats beforehand, so the robber thinks Kasperl is Seppel and vice versa. He sells the supposed Seppel (that is, Kasperl) to the big, wicked wizard Petrosilius Zwackelmann for a sack of “Nasentrost” brand snuff. The wizard makes Kasperl his unwilling servant and orders him to peel potatoes—because the wizard can conjure anything except the removal of the skins from the potatoes he loves to eat. Meanwhile, disguised as Kasperl, Seppel has to pluck and roast a goose, prepare oatmeal, play the coffee grinder, and polish boots for the robber in the cave. One day, Zwackelmann plans to visit a colleague in Buxtehude to play “17 and 4” with him. Before leaving, he conjures up six baskets of unpeeled potatoes for Kasperl to peel and turn into fried potatoes. He excuses Kasperl from other chores—sawing wood, scrubbing floors, and digging over the beds in the herb garden—because the wizard is in a hurry and Kasperl cannot remember all the tasks. Once the wizard has gone, Kasperl runs away from the potato peeling and instead helps himself to sausages and pickles in Zwackelmann’s pantry. While exploring the castle, he finds a pool where the fairy Amaryllis is being held captive. She gives him the crucial tip for escaping the castle. The wizard had once turned the good fairy Amaryllis into a toad. When Zwackelmann gets home, he finds neither his fried potatoes nor Kasperl. The wicked wizard soon discovers that Kasperl left his hat in the castle garden, causing the protective magic circle to lose its power. Using Seppel’s hat, Zwackelmann conjures the hat’s owner (Seppel) into his castle, and is surprised to discover that he is not the servant who ran away. Seppel explains the hat swap to the wizard. In anger, the wizard conjures up the robber Hotzenplotz, since Seppel has the robber’s boot with him—the one he was supposed to polish. A brief scuffle ensues, which the wizard wins. Zwackelmann then turns Hotzenplotz into a bullfinch and locks him in a cage. Seppel fears he will be turned into a bird too, but instead he is sent to the kitchen to peel potatoes. Meanwhile, Kasperl manages to bring Amaryllis the fairy herb in time. It grows on the mysterious Hohe Heide beneath an old weather-beaten spruce. The herb breaks the spell, turning the toad back into the fairy Amaryllis. The wicked wizard is so startled that he falls into the toad pool and dies. When Kasperl finds Seppel, the two friends throw their arms around each other. After they leave the castle, the fairy makes it collapse completely. In gratitude, she gives Kasperl and Seppel a wishing ring that grants them three wishes, then returns to the fairy realm. On the way home, they wish for their grandmother’s coffee grinder and get Kasperl a new pointed cap. In Eschenbach, Sergeant Dimpfelmoser is just asking the townspeople to help search for Kasperl and Seppel when the two friends return safe and sound and throw their arms around their overjoyed grandmother. Dimpfelmoser is angry that Kasperl and Seppel have been gone so long, but the two have a present for the sergeant. In Dimpfelmoser’s office, the bullfinch is turned back into the robber Hotzenplotz. Dimpfelmoser quickly gets over his surprise and arrests Hotzenplotz after a brief chase. The mayor puts a garland of sausages around Kasperl and Seppel’s necks. Later, the two sit at home with their grandmother, eating plum cake with whipped cream, while Hotzenplotz, locked in prison, works on plans to escape.