21 June 2001 | Basti H
Exciting,amusing - but far away from the charme of the original
Sequel of the 1979-classic "Arabela" ... 10 years later. Arabela,the fairy princess,and Petr from the human world are married and happy - especially when they get the good message that Arabela is pregnant with twins!But Arabela's old enemy,the bad wizard,wants to destroy their luck and still become king of fairy-tale-land... After he heard a prophecy from the first witch,who lives in the human world as Miss Schwarz,which tells him that he could become king of the fairy-tale-land and also king of the human world,he does everything to make it come true.At first,he steals an apple from the isle of Pultanella (known from the "Gulliver"-Tales).Arabela eats it - and the children she gets are no children but - old men! At this time,Rumburak wants to become king of fairy-tale-land as husband of Xenia,Arabela's sister,and transforms her husband Willibald into a wind... A new fight against Rumburak starts,this time principally led by Arabela's grand-father babies,Xenia's son Freddy,Natalia,the daughter of toy-fabricant Papp,and Honza and Marenka,Petr's younger brother and his friend,now undergraduates. Still,there are the magic things which play an important role! A lot of new ideas,figures,stories - quite well-made! The series plays not only with elements from fairy tales,but also from adventure,fantasy,romance and even science fiction (Fantomas' suitcase). It's a pleasure to see the well-known figures like King and Queen,Xenia,the two witches,Mrs. Majer and Mrs. Blekot,the former Miss Müller - and what they are like ten years older! It's a pity that Vladimír Mensík,the actor of Mr.Majer,died and so Mr. Majer doesn't appear anymore. Miroslava Sáfránková is a good re-cast for Jana Nagyová. The new faces like the grandfather-babies,Papp,Natalia,Freddy,Roxana or uncle Pompo are also very nice... I liked this series,an excellent sequel - but,nothing in comparison with the original! There are also some points which I didn't like - mainly that Arabela and Petr (and also Mrs.Majer) don't play such an important role anymore...the two romantic leads from the original now just play supporting roles as an ordinary next-door couple.Petr has even become a bit unlikable (the way he treats the grandpa-babies!),and Arabela has nothing of a fairy princess anymore (she even wonders about when unusual things happen).The two don't even travel into the fairy-tale-land,all the series they are just in the human world!Arabela doesn't meet her parents (just at the end,her father travels into the human world and tells,he and the Queen will visit Arabela soon),doesn't even meet Xenia,although she is often in the human world! Only very few fairy-tale-figures travel into the human world... All this is a bit disappointing - but,nevertheless,a good,charming series.
