"Maria d'Oro und Bello Blue" or "Maria d'oro" or "Once Upon a Time" or "Der Zauberstein" is a West German movie from 1973, so this one is already very old, will have its 45th anniversary next year. The title already suggests that it is an Italian co-production as well, but the main language is of course German. The voice acting cast does not really include any names that sound familiar to me I must admit, even for a huge German film buff like myself with the exception of Tilly Lauenstein who I have come across in other projects I think. Animated films from Germany are still a rarity these days and certainly things weren't looking much different back half a century ago. This is probably also true globally as the Golden Age of Animation ended a while ago and the material just wasn't there anymore, neither in terms of quantity nor quality. This film here does not break the streak. It is the only effort as writer and director by Rolf Kauka and for a rookie effort, it is really not that bad, but honestly the good moments were mostly thanks to the quality fairy tales this film is based. That is also why it is not really a convincingly creative achievement in my opinion. Also I am not big on the animation style, which only looked in its very best moments a bit like the Asterix films. The perception of this component is entirely subjective though. The voice acting was still one of the better aspects I guess, but also not on a superb level. I cannot say I am sad Kauka's filmmaking career turned out this short. Instead I am glad this movie turned out pretty short. Not a failure, but an underwhelming watch. I give it a thumbs-down.
