Wunschpunsch

Wunschpunsch (or Wounchpounch) is a French/Canadian animated series for children, inspired by the German novel The Night of Wishes by Michael Ende.

Plot

In every episode, a 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. To make sure the spells are reversed, Bubonic's and Tyrannia's pets, Mauricio the cat and Jacob the crow, 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 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

• Mauricio: A fat cat with a large appetite. He likes to brag about his lineage, which goes back to medieval/Venetian times. He is Bubonic's pet.
• Jacob: Tyrannia's pet, an old raven frequently complaining about his rheumatism.
• Bubonic: An old cranky wizard. He likes to keep things traditional, refraining himself from using modern technology. He fits into the stereotypical view of an old medieval wizard living in a derelict tower. His hobbies include playing his cello and gardening, but as expected from an evil wizard, his garden is full of dangerous flesh eating plants.
• Tyrannia: Bubonic's aunt. Despite being younger than her nephew, Tyrannia embraces modern technology and fashion, to the point of calling Bubonic an old fashioned relic. Much to Bubonic's annoyance, she also likes loud music. She wears a different outfit (and sometimes hairstyle/color) in every episode).
• Maledictus T. Maggot: The supervisor of the two wizards, a very powerful wizard himself and the main antagonist of the series. Maggot looks like a combination between a humanoid bug and amphibian. At the start of almost every episode he appears before the wizards and reminds them they need to cast an evil curse on the city or the consequences will be nasty. Naturally, due to the interference of two protagonists (Mauricio and Jacob), their curse fails, causing Maggot to punish the wizards, turning them into something related to the curse of the episode.
• Auntie Noah: A wise old tortoise living in the Megalopolis Zoo. She assists Mauricio and Jacob by giving advice on how to break the curse, always in the form of a riddle.
• The Cozy family: The neighbors of the wizards. Mauricio is on good terms with their son Kip. They are also seen in most episodes to show the effects of the wizards' newest curse.
• Mayor Plaga: The mayor of Megalopolis.
• Chief Hydrant: The local firefighter who has a bitter rivalry with the Mayor.
• Barbara Blabber: The local news reporter who is full of herself.
• The animal council: A lioness, goat, pig and monkey who are Auntie Noah's subordinates.
• Meathead: Bubonic's pet carnivorous plant.
• Oak Foot: Chief Hydrant's pet dog.

Episodes

Titles of English episodes

External links

• Wunschpunsch on IMDb