''Timm Thaler'' (also known as ''The Legend of Tim Tyler: The Boy Who Lost His Laugh'') is a 1979 children's television miniseries based on the 1962 children's novel by German writer

James Krüss James Krüss (31 May 1926 – 2 August 1997) was a German writer of children's literature, children's and picture books, illustrator, poet, dramatist, scriptwriter, translator, and collector of children's poems and folk songs. For his contributi ...

. The series originally aired in Germany as the first Christmas series on German national broadcaster

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

. In 1983, the series was acquired for transmission in the United Kingdom by the BBC. The English version was produced by Angela Beeching, with script by Nel Romano, and retitled ''The Legend of Tim Tyler''. It aired during Children's BBC in the weekday afternoons. The screenplay was written by

Justus Pfaue Justus Pfaue (25 September 1942 – 8 March 2014)
t-online.de, retrieved 15 March ...

and Peter M. Thouet and differs somewhat from the original novel. Directed by

Sigi Rothemund Siegfried Rothemund (14 March 1944 – 13 January 2024) was a German film director. He directed more than ninety films since 1964. He is the father of Marc Rothemund who is also a film director. Rothemund was married to the actress Margit Geissle ...

, the series became a hit in Germany and made then 14-year-old Thomas Ohrner, in the lead role of Timm Thaler (Tim Tyler), a popular

teen idol A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers themselves. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups. By region Asia Ea ...

of the era.vgl. Michael Reufsteck und Stefan Niggemeier in ''Das Fernsehlexikon'', November 2005, The role of the Baron was played by

Horst Frank Horst Frank (28 May 1929 – 25 May 1999) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1955 and 1999. He was born in Lübeck, Germany and died in Heidelberg, Germany. Selected filmography * '' Der Stern von Afrika'' (1 ...

Plot summary

Thirteen-year-old Timm Thaler (aka: Tim Tyler) has an irresistible laugh and is thus very popular. The mysterious Baron (in the novel his last name Lefuet is a German

anadrome An anadrome, also known as an Emordnilap or a Semordnilap is a word or phrase whose letters can be reversed to spell a different word or phrase. For example, ''desserts'' is an anadrome of ''stressed''. An anadrome is therefore a special type of ...

for devil, like "lived" is in English), a grumpy and very wealthy businessman always wearing a black carnation in his buttonhole, tries unsuccessfully to buy Timm's laugh. Timm's father is a flight instructor and dies during a flight for the Baron. It is indicated that this is caused by the Baron. Timm, after having lost his beloved father, is vulnerable to the Baron. To financially support his stepmother, Timm no longer resists the Baron and swaps his laugh for the ability to win any bet he makes, no matter how absurd it is. If one of them tells about this pact, he loses his rights from the contract. The Baron and his servant Anatol use this new gift for business success. Timm however grows increasingly unhappy. He decides to get his laugh back. He tries several tricks only to realize that it takes a bet to get his laugh back.

Cast

* Thomas Ohrner as Timm Thaler (Tim Tyler) *

as Baron de Lefouet (Baron Lived) *

Richard Lauffen Richard Lauffen (June 2, 1907 – August 28, 1990) was a German actor. Filmography References External links

* 1907 births 1990 deaths German male film actors Actors from Mönchengladbach 20th-century German male actors Male actors fr ...

as Anatol *

Bruni Löbel Bruni Löbel (born Brunhilde Melitta Löbel; 20 December 1920 – 27 September 2006) was a German stage, film and television actress.Palmer p.10 She was married to the composer Gerhard Bronner and the actor Holger Hagen. Löbel appeared in a numbe ...

as Sister Agatha *Stefan Behrens as Heinrich *Gerhart Lippert as Friedemann Thaler *Marlies Engel as Annemarie Thaler

Differences from the novel

The most prominent story change is the journey of Timm, which in the novel takes four years but was reduced to several weeks in the screenplay so that a single actor could play the role of Timm. The screenplay also differed in that one of the themes in the novel, the criticism of social mores and capitalism is no longer a prominent element of the story. By portraying several of the protagonists as Catholic clerics, the narrative was instead imbued with a pseudo-religious tint. Timm's bullying stepbrother is missing in the series, and his stepmother is depicted in a positive way, which is a stark contrast to her character in the novel. In the book, Timm's father is not a sports airplane pilot, thus, Timm originally meets the Baron, not at a family celebration at the local airport, but at the racetrack, a place he associates with his father who died in a building site accident when Timm was eleven. The demonic but polite and urbane Signor Grandizzi from

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

was replaced in the series by the dark servant Anatol. Several other characters are also changed or "exchanged" in the series, including the nun, Sister Agatha instead of Kreschimir and the ship's cook, Heinrich instead of the helmsman, Jonny. Also, Several new characters were introduced both on the protagonist's and the antagonist's sides.

Locations

One of the central filming locations was the

Mirador del Río Mirador del Río is a viewpoint on an approximately escarpment called ''Batería del Río'' in the north of the Canarian island of Lanzarote. History The location was created in between 1971 and 1973 by the local artist César Manrique in his ...

, as well as the artificial pool of the Jameos del Agua, in

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...

, both designed by Cesar Manrique. These were used as the setting for the Baron's futuristic mountain lair. Additional Lanzarote locations were the Restaurant "La Era" in Yaiza, the city of

Arrecife Arrecife (; ; ) is the capital city and a municipality of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. It was made the island's capital in 1852. The city owes its name to the rock reef ("arrecife" being Spanish for "reef") which covers its local beach. It als ...

and the

Timanfaya National Park Timanfaya National Park () is a Spanish national park in the southwestern part of the island of Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands. It covers parts of the municipalities Tinajo and Yaiza. The area is , entirely made up of volcanic soil. It is the ...

. The city scenes were shot in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, such as the

Landungsbrücken The St. Pauli Piers (, often only referred to as ''Landungsbrücken''; ), is the largest landing site in the Port of Hamburg, Germany, and also one of Hamburg's major tourist attractions. Other English language translations include St. Pauli Land ...

and the airport in

Hartenholm Hartenholm is a municipality in the district of Segeberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and ...

, 50 km north of Hamburg. The final parts were shot in the Radisson-SAS Hotel at the Congress-Centrum Hamburg (CCH). The final scene, where Tim gets his laugh back, was shot in front of the Hamburg district court and today's Brahmsplatz (then Karl-Muck-Platz).

Trivia

*In 2002 a 26 episode animated series based on the novel was produced.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Timm Thaler (1979 TV series) 1979 German television series debuts 1979 German television series endings 1983 British television series debuts BBC children's television shows German children's television series Television shows based on children's books Television shows based on German novels ZDF original programming Films shot in the Canary Islands Films shot in Hamburg German-language television shows 1970s German television miniseries