Willi and the Wonder Toad: Second film adaptation of the knowledge series for kids with Willi Weitzel.
Film plot and background
Second film adaptation of the knowledge series for kids with Willi Weitzel.
Willi Weitzel has travelled all over the world. Now, to learn more about the world of amphibians, his journey soon takes him to Bolivia, Egypt and Panama, where he not only sees brightly coloured and transparent frogs, but also some that can fly.
His journey began in a small village community where 11-year-old Luna (Ellis Drews) lives with her grandma (Suzanne von Borsody). Luna built a frog reserve in a pond, but the farmer and mayor Huber (Ferdinand Dörfler) simply drained the pond. Now Willi is supposed to help little Luna to convince the village community and Luna’s classmates of the frog reserve. Even the mysterious miracle toad “Bufo Magicus”, which bears a certain resemblance to Luna’s grandma, takes on a special role in the process.
“Willi and the Wonder Toad” – background, cinema release
For 20 years Willi Weitzel has been in front of the camera for the research programme “Willi Wills Wissen” and brings the world closer to the young audience. In 2009, the first film “Willi und die Wunder dieser Welt” (Willi and the Wonders of the World) was released in cinemas, followed in 2022 by the second cinema adventure “Willi und die Wunderkröte” (Willi and the Wonder Toad). The film will be released on 12 May 2022 and the FSK has approved it for children aged 0 and over.
Before the cinema release, Willi Weitzel had to read himself into the world of amphibians. His favourite frog is the maki frog, which he was even allowed to hold on his hand in the film. By the way, not all the frogs shown in the film are really from Germany. Many species are protected in this country and therefore may not be used for commercial filming. For this reason, the team around director Mark Dietrich worked with a frog trainer who brought Asian frogs to the set and had them act as doubles for native frogs.
