Wunschpunsch is a children's animated series, co-produced by Saban International Paris, CinéGroupe and TF1, with the participation of Ventura Film Distributors B.V. and ARD/Degeto, and with the collaboration from Radio-Canada. The series is inspired by the 1989 German novel The Night of Wishes by Michael Ende. The series aired on Radio-Canada in Canada from October 14, 2000 to March 16, 2002, in France on TF1, in the Netherlands on Disney Channel, in Europe and MENA on Fox Kids (later Jetix) and Jetix Play, and in Germany on ARD and KiKa.

Plot

In every episode, an eccentric old wizard named Bubonic and his aunt, a witch named Tyrannia, must wreak havoc on the city in which they live or suffer a severe punishment from their supervisor, Maledictus T. Maggot. To be able to do so, they use an ancient magical parchment that, once utilized to activate a spell, said spell must be reversed within the next seven hours; otherwise, its effects will become permanent and irreversible. To make sure the spells are reversed, Bubonic's and Tyrannia's pets, Mauricio di Mauro and Jacob Scribble, must seek out Aunt Noah, an old turtle at the local zoo and head of the Animal Council, for a riddle on how to reverse the spell, which they usually manage to do in the nick of time. One of the episodes, Night of Wishes, is particularly inspired by the book. In that episode, the animals foil the spell by dropping a bell sound into the potion cauldron and Maledictus Maggot punishes Bubonic and Tyrannia for the foiled spell by attaching their homes, forcing them to live together. Unlike the other known punishments that never last enough to be seen in later episodes, this one seems to be permanent and has lasted at least five years (the animals recall that it has been five years since it happened). Bubonic and Tyrannia are so clumsy that some of their spells bring trouble to themselves, and when the spells are undone, they feel a temporary relief that quickly ends when Maggot shows up to punish them for their failure.

Characters

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2000-2001)

Season 2 (2001-2002)

Development and broadcast

The show was first confirmed to be in development in August 1996 under the book's title of Night of the Wishes, when Saban Entertainment and the German ARD network agreed to a three-year, $50 million co-production and library program licensing agreement. The other show to be produced in the agreement was Jim Button. In February 2000, the series began development under the name Wunschpunsch, being produced by the French Saban International Paris and the Canadian CinéGroupe, and was pre-sold to Radio-Canada and TF1 in the same month. By October 2000, the show was confirmed to air on Fox Kids networks around Europe and the Middle East and later premiered in France near the end of the year. The series premiered on Radio-Canada in French on September 8, 2001. Followed on with a German broadcast on KiKA on November 9, 2001, airing every weekday, and on ARD November 18, 2001, where a new episode aired every Sunday. Reruns of the series aired in the Netherlands in 2011–2012 on Disney Channel, and between July 2016 and February 2017 on Unis, in Canada.