Bibi Blocksberg – The big witch meeting movie review

The last ten years – at least in the cinema – have been dominated by the cassette spin-off “Bibi & Tina” (currently 120 episodes): in four cinema films, an Amazon season and another screen spin-off to the streaming series, the most famous young witch in the world experienced her adventures not in her native Neustadt, but with her best friend Tina at the Martinshof and Falkenstein Castle. More than 20 years after “Bibi Blocksberg and the Secret of the Blue Owls” we are now – finally – going back to the beginnings of the original cassette series (currently 160 episodes) …

… or at least almost like that: Brother Boris, who disappeared more or less without a trace after seven episodes (certainly one of the most discussed criminal cases in German post-war history), does not appear again in “Bibi Blocksberg – The Great Witches’ Meeting”. “The School of Magical Animals” director Gregor Schnitzler presents a promising franchise start for the fantasy family series peppered with musical interludes – even though “Bibi & Tina” regular composer Peter Plate fails this time to contribute another catchy tune of the caliber of “Girl on a Horse” (from “Bibi & Tina: The Film”).

Today it is particularly unfortunate that Bibi Blocksberg (NALA) is causing chaos in chemistry class with her witchcraft – which is actually strictly forbidden in school. After all, she has to be on time for the big witch meeting, which only takes place every 13 1/3 years and where not only a brand new magic spell is revealed, but also the general witch rules are voted on. Normally no young witches are allowed here, but Bibi's mother Barbara (Rosalie Thomass) has put Bibi and her friend Schubia (Carla Demmin) on the list of helpers. The only problem is: this time the strict, gray boarding school director Servera (Heike Makatsch) is responsible for the assistants…

… and she sends Bibi straight to kitchen duty, where she doesn't notice anything about the actual event. But Bibi wouldn't be Bibi if she didn't find a way – which, however, also has one or two undesirable side effects: In this case, half of the witch's castle will soon be covered in dishwasher foam – and this only brings Servera one step closer to her plan to introduce a general boarding school requirement, including a ban on brooms, for all young witches until the age of 21. But Bibi without mashed potatoes? Of course this must be prevented at all costs!

Charm instead of CGI

Especially in comparison to the first four “Bibi & Tina” films, the new cinema adventure is aimed at a (still) slightly younger audience: Instead of being about teenage crushes, it is initially about everyday challenges that every child can immediately identify with: getting dressed, brushing their teeth, combing their hair – Bibi does all of these annoying tasks in the first scene with a quick “Hex, Hex” – and the special effects with pants floating around the room as if by magic and brushes seem old-fashioned in the best possible way.

For the young audience, cinema is magical anyway – and the adult companions are immediately won over with a healthy dose of old school charm. Later there are also one or two newfangled CGI effects (the foam rising up to the ceilings would have been real, but that would probably have been difficult in the original historical settings). But overall, Gregor Schnitzler obviously preferred to put his budget into things like colorful sets and costumes – a good thing!

In contrast to the timeless presentation, the theme is very much in keeping with the times – but without being too clumsy: The sidekick star (Balthazar Gyan Alexis Kuppuswamy) quite naturally has two mothers (who were only allowed to bring him along as a boy because their care plan was canceled at short notice). And in order to expose Servera, who strives for a strict, authoritarian upbringing, as a villain, it's also not too heavy-handed.

Otherwise, “Bibi Blocksberg – The Great Witches' Meeting” insists emphatically, but not annoyingly, on the young generation's right to have an early say about their future – especially when a new chairwoman is elected at the titular witches' meeting not every four years, as in the Bundestag, but only every 13 1/3 years.

A great cast

I only noticed in the credits that the new Bibi actress is simply called NALA. At first I thought that she must be a young singer or even a young influencer – after all, she not only performs with great confidence, but also masters the dance and music performances with flying colors. But puff cake! Apparently they left her nickname to better protect her privacy – certainly not a stupid idea for a young star, especially when she takes on such an iconic role so early in her career. But the casting is also good in other ways: Maria Happel and Sophie Rois are noticeably in a good mood as the Neustadt witches Walpurgia and Mania, especially when they are completely in the mood for a witch's soup cooked by Bibi – unfortunately not exactly according to the recipe.

Rosalie Thomass is simply super likeable as Bibi's mom Barbara – and thanks to Friedrich Mücke, she's also dad Bernhard for the first time on the big screen, no big a….hole! There are also some well-known faces, especially in the supporting roles, who have so far been given (too) short notice: Palina Rojinski (“Nightlife”) is a super-raving reporter, but her Karla Kolumna only appears in two or three scenes in this film. The same applies to Robert Palfrader (the conductor from “Pumuckl and the Big Misunderstanding”) as mayor – and his legendary assistant Pichler is even on vacation and therefore doesn't show up at all.

So some wishes for the sequel have already been determined. The biggest thing remains that after the solid, but no longer sticking children's musical songs in “Bibi Blocksberg 2”, which has already been announced for 2026, Peter Plate finds his way back to his old, irresistible catchy tune…

Conclusion: The songs are a matter of taste. But otherwise, “Bibi Blocksberg – The Big Witches’ Meeting” is a colorful and charming family musical, which is primarily aimed at a slightly younger audience than the five “Bibi & Tina” films.