Schnuffel

Schnuffel (German pronunciation: [ˈʃnʊfəl]; English: Snuggle, French: Lapin Câlin, Italian: Kikolo)) is an animated rabbit created in 2007 by German media company Jamba!.

Conception and creation

The first concepts of the Schnuffel character were born in July 2.^[1] The original ringtone was turned into a song by Sebastian Nussbaum and Andreas Wendorf and recorded under the title Kuschel Song ("cuddling song").^[2] The single was released in February 2008 and the ringtone rabbit made it immediately to the top of the German and European charts.^[3] After the song went to the top of the Austrian charts and to number 2 in Switzerland, plans were made to release the song internationally. The songs were translated in 13 languages and 13 albums have been released, including German re-editions and international albums.

Schnuffel was introduced into the US market on January 17, 2010. The Schnuffel ringtone commercial once aired on MTV, MTV2, Comedy Central, TeenNick, VH1, possibly CMT, and ABC Family.

Due to a rise in Greek interest, Schnuffel has turned to their market producing previous albums in Greek. These are not carbon copies of the original albums as minor tweaks in the track list and provided media have been made. With the switch to the Greek market Sony has not been producing these CDs, instead the Greek label Heaven Records has taken their spot.^[4]

From the 2012 Schnuffel started to release apps for Android. The last one was released for Android on the 23rd of March 2015^[5] and later for iOS too, making it the third app to be released for iOS, after "Schnuffel Bunny Hop" and "Schnuffel Virtual Pet".

Snuggelina

Schnuffel's female counterpart and girlfriend is named Schnuffelienchen, known in English as Snuggelina. Like Schnuffel, she is a lop rabbit. Schnuffelienchen's first and only single-CD, "Küss mich, halt mich, lieb mich" (Kiss me, hold me, love me) was released on 29 October 2010 and stayed 1 week at the 99th position of the German charts.^[6] Her second single, "Schmetterling" (Butterfly) was released on 28 February 2012 only on the Jamba/Jamster sites,^[7] and released digitally on Amazon, iTunes and GooglePlay only on 25 July 2014, together with the English version.^[8] Schnuffelienchen's third single "Ohne Dich" (Without You) was released on 26 September 2014 as a digital download.^[9]

Voice

Both Schnuffel Bunny and Snuggelina are voiced by Grace Kaufman in English.

Certifications

Singles:
AT: 1x Gold "Kuschelsong" (15,000 copies)^[10]
DE: 1x Platinum "Kuschelsong" (350,000 copies)^[11] "Kuschelsong" was the 4th best-selling single of 2008.^[12] Schnuffel at the beginning of the 2009 received a nomination for the single of the year 2008.^[13] In 2013 the Kuschel song was chosen by the German show-TV "Die ultimative Chart Show" as the most successful jingle of the new millennium.^[14]

Album:
AT: 1x Gold "Ich hab dich lieb" (10,000 copies)^[10]
DE: 1x Gold "Ich hab dich lieb" (100,000 copies)^[15]

Discography

Audio books

Produced and written by Kai Hohage, the audio-book series already sold over 250.000 copies.^[19]

• 2008: Das Geheimnis der Möhre (The secret of the carrot)
• 2009: Die bezaubernde Prinzessin (The charming princess)
• 2009: Die kleinen Purzelsterne (The little shooting stars)
• 2010: Kuschelbox 1 (containing the first three audio books)
• 2010: Der Schatz im Glitzersee (The treasure in the glittering sea)
• 2010: Die kleine Schneefee (The little snow fairy)
• 2011: Das Baby-Einhorn (The baby unicorn)
• 2012: Knuddelbox 2 (containing 4th, 5th and 6th audio books)
• 2013: Abenteuer auf der Trauminsel (Adventure at the dream-island)
• 2014: Das Geheimnis der Kleinen Eule (The secret of the little owl)^[20]

References

External links

• Schnuffel biography, news and discography at Bubblegum Dancer
• Schnuffel's old YouTube Channel
• Schnuffel's new YouTube Channel
• Schnuffel's official Facebook page
• Schnuffel's website