''The Three Robbers'' is a children's book by

Tomi Ungerer Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer (; 28 November 1931 – 9 February 2019) was a French artist and writer from Alsace (a French region on the French/German border). He published over 140 books ranging from children's books to adult works and from the f ...

. There was 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 ...

and an animated feature-film adaptation from 2007 directed by Hayo Freitag.

Plot

Triplet 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 foo ...

robbers: Dominik using his

blunderbuss The blunderbuss is a 17th- to mid-19th-century firearm with a short, large caliber Gun barrel, barrel. It is commonly flared at the muzzle (firearms), muzzle to help aid in the loading of Lead shot, shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity ...

to intimidate coachmen and passengers, Felix using his

pepper Pepper(s) may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plants ** Black pepper ** Long pepper ** Kampot pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanacea ...

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

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

. 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 Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

, 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 is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

to harvest

sugar beets A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

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

*Tiffany *Robber (has a

to threaten passengers). *Robber (has a pepper-blower to blind horses). *Robber (has a huge red axe to vandalize carriage wheels).

Additional characters (from the film)

*The Evil Aunty *The Policeman *The Coachman Frog *Nikolas *Gregory *The Children of the Orphanage *The Slow Unicorn *Mr. Narrator

Film

The book was adapted as a full-length feature film by Hayo Freitag, released in mid-2007 as ''Die Drei Rauber''. This was adapted into a French version called ''Les Trois Brigands'' then an English one called ''Trick or Treaters'', which removed the original narration by Tomi Ungerer along with cutting out some of the original movie to shorten it and added a Halloween theme with the new narrator.

References

External links

Trailer

Movie homepage
(in German)
German-Films Film Archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Three Robbers 1961 French novels 1961 children's books French children's novels Works about highwaymen French novels adapted into films Children's books adapted into films Books by Tomi Ungerer