“The Secret Ruler of the Earth” offers an entertaining mix of family film and nature documentary.
“Checker Tobi” It's hard to imagine German children's rooms without it. The moderator Tobias Krell (39) is likely to have a similar status among today's kids as Peter Lustig (1937-2016) did among their parents. But while Lustig only brought one film to cinemas in the Republic to mark the 25th anniversary of his show “Löwenzahn”, Checker Tobi will attract numerous families to cinemas for the third time on January 8, 2026.
Third film from the Checker universe
After “Checker Tobi and the secret of our planet” (2019) and “Checker Tobi and the journey to the flying rivers” (2023), Krell dedicates himself in “Checker Tobi 3 – the secret ruler of the earth” to… yes, who actually? The search for the eponymous “ruler of the earth” is the common thread that runs through the 93 minutes of the film, which are once again partly educational, partly impressive, but always entertaining.
This time too, Krell is supported by his sidekick “Checkerin Marina” Blanke (34), this time more as a cue provider than as a traveling companion like in the second part. After all, their appearances at the beginning and end of the film are enough to bridge the gap between the film and the current TV episodes of Checker and Checkerin on KiKa, which the two of them moderate in alternation with others. Almost as a public advertising block.
In search of the answer – and childlike curiosity
Otherwise, Checker Tobi is alone in search of the answer to the titular question. He is only accompanied in spirit by his younger self (Theodor Latta, 8). Tobi, then eight years old, filmed the first unofficial Checker episode on an old video camera in his garden at home with his friend Marina (Lilou Jyoti Weerts, 10). But the all-important answer – Who is the ruler of the earth now? – fell victim to the tape clutter of the video cassette. Now the young Tobi urges the old one to find this answer – while the old one wants to prove to the young one that he hasn't become a boring adult.
On her trail, Krell visits numerous breathtaking and sometimes frightening places around the world. This time the journey goes from Madagascar via Spitsbergen to Mexico and each of the stops is once again accompanied by charming, German-speaking sparring partners who introduce him to the local secrets. This means: giving him tips, explaining the context and – keyword: frightening – drawing attention to the shortcomings in environmental or climate protection on site and presenting projects that take action against it.
At the end of their odyssey, the two Tobis finally find the answer to the eponymous question, sitting on a Mayan pyramid above the Mexican jungle, which of course will not be revealed here. And: The adult Tobi proves to his younger self that he has retained his childlike curiosity and spirit of adventure.
Conclusion: As usual, high-quality “Checker Tobi” food
Director Antonia Simm – who was also responsible for many of the Checker TV episodes – doesn't reinvent the Checker world for Part 3, and that's a good thing. The children will be happy about Checker Tobi's familiar style and equally familiar elements from the series, parents will be happy about features that distinguished the first two films: impressive landscape shots, the odd aha effect even for adult viewers, and Krell's typical son-in-law humor.
The real images in Simm's cinematic debut are complemented with nice effects à la “Minecraft” and with informative and amusing animations using plasticine. Drone recordings are also used. This may also hide the fact that this time the journey is not as far, the adventures are sometimes not quite as dangerous and the places visited are perhaps not quite as impressive as in the first two films. But the film still offers what Checker Tobi now stands for: good, educational entertainment that children don't have to force their parents to go to the cinema, on the contrary. And if you would have liked more action and more of Marina, you can already look forward to film 4 – it is supposedly planned for the end of 2027, the theme is supposed to be fire and checker Marina will play a significantly larger role in it.
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