According to German fables, the Elfkins (or Heinselmännchen) of this animated adventure are little house gnomes who lived under the city of Cologne and did all the work of humans during the night so the city’s inhabitants could be lazy during the day. However, after a tailor’s wife tricked them into revealing themselves, the petite creatures disappeared underground forever and helped humans no more.
Clumsy Helvi, who isn’t as good at making things as her fellow elfkins, is the first of her kind to venture into the human world for years, and it is there she finds a baker named Theo whose pastry shop has been run out of business by the giant cake factory that has been built across the street. Determined to learn baking as her skill, and with the help of two elfkin pals, she convinces Theo to find his love of cooking once more, unaware that the factory owner opposite has his own plans for Theo’s store.
Perfectly aimed at the youngest of audiences (there are no surprise scares here for the littlest of viewers but do read the Parents Notes below for a couple of moral wobbles), this is a bright, fun German cartoon that features cute characters and a brisk, simple to follow storyline.
While the plot liberally borrows from kids flicks like Trolls and The Smurfs, it’s nonetheless charming and will leave adults and kids with the same warm and happy feeling inside that you get after eating a large slice of gooey, sweet chocolate cake.
(Note this German movie is dubbed into English for the UK release)
Is The Elfkins suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...
Parents should note there are a couple of scenes they may want to talk about with younger children, to advise them that the behaviour shown is not safe/good, as follows:
One of the Elfkins lights an oven with a match, and then throws oil on it, causing an explosion.
The Elfkins go to a grocery store to get baking ingredients, and take all the items out of the store without paying for them. It is briefly mentioned later but there are no consequences following the theft.
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