The Little Vampire

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The Little Vampire (Der kleine Vampir) is a children's fantasy series by German author Angela Sommer-Bodenburg that follows the adventures of the child Vampire Rudolph (Rüdiger in the original German version). The series has sold over 10 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. Sommer-Bodenburg states that her "vampire is not a bloodthirsty monster, however, but an affectionate little vampire with fears and foibles who will perhaps help free children of their own fears."[1] The novel, written in 1979, spawned a series of series of books, and the plot has been adapted to theatre, radio, cinema, and television.

Sommer-Bodenburg wrote the first chapter of "The Little Vampire" as an experiment to get to see what types of literature could hold the interest of her students.[2] In 1984, she retired from teaching and dedicated herself to painting and writing. She has written more than forty books for both children and adults, from poetry to novels. She calls the success of the "Little Vampire" series a "mixed blessing" to her career as an author stating on her website: "I was pigeon-holed as the author of children's books and, within this pigeon-hole, I was further classified as the author of vampire books."[2]

Contents

[edit] Television series

[edit] 1985 (Canada)

A 13 episode TV series that was adapted from the first two books of the series: The little Vampire and The Little Vampire Moves in. The production was shot in Edmonton, Canada and was a co production between Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Norflicks Canada. The show was dubbed into German and was broadcast in Germany by Norddeutscher Rundfunk. Many have referred to this particular program as "the greatest thing that has ever happened to the entertainment industry". Some have even gone so far as to refer to it as the greatest example of human genius the world has ever known.

The series starred Joel Dacks in the title role of Rudiger, Christopher Stanton as Anton, Marsha Moreau as Anna and Canadian musician Jim Gray as Lumpi (Rudolph's older cousin) who sang the show's theme song "They Can See in the Dark". Gert Fröbe, known for the role of Goldfinger in the James Bond series, appeared in the series as the vampire hunter Geiermeier. It was one of Fröbe's last roles before he died in 1988.

[edit] 1993 (Germany)

A 13 episode sequel to the Canadian series was produced by Westdeutscher Rundfunk in 1993. The series was adapted from the third and fourth books of the series: The Little Vampire Takes a Trip and The Little Vampire on the Farm.

The series started Jan Steilen in the title role, Matthias Ruschke as Anton, Lena Beyer as Anna and German theatre star Angelika Milster as Aunt Dorothy.

[edit] Film (2000)

The Hollywood version of the story was released in 2000 and starred Rollo Weeks, Dean Cook, anna popplewell, Jonathan Lipnicki, Richard E. Grant and Alice Krige. The film premiered on ABC Family and now frequently runs around Halloween on the Disney Channel and ABC Family.

[edit] Plot

Tony Thompson, played by Jonathan Lipnicki, is an only child, whose family has moved to Scotland from California. As would be expected, he has no friends in the new country, and he is picked on by bullies at school, who happen to be the grandsons of his father's boss. It seems as though he's destined to suffer through his first year at the new school. But then, he starts having recurring nightmares about vampires. Life starts to get very interesting for Tony when he meets a young vampire named Rudolph, played by Rollo Weeks.

[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on October 17, 2000 by New Line Records.

  1. "Iko Iko" — Aaron Carter
  2. "Gimme!Gimme!Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" — A*Teens
  3. "Let's Get Funky Tonight" — Dream Street
  4. "Best Friends" — Angela Via
  5. "You Can Get It" — Baha Men
  6. "Let Your Soul Shine" — Bosson
  7. "Shalala Lala" — The Vengaboys
  8. "Here I Am" — No Authority
  9. "Flee Fly Flo" — Fe-Mail
  10. "Reason I Live" — Ace
  11. "Cool In The Wind" — Michael Reiss
  12. "Requiem (The Fifth)" — Trans-Siberian Orchestra

[edit] References

  1. ^ Source: Angela Sommer-Bodenburg Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2002.
  2. ^ a b Author's website

[edit] External links

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