Through an average 'Save-Your-Cat-Stuck-On-The-Church-Steeple-During-A-Storm-With-A-Kite'
kinda thing, Kika - a sturdy nine-year-old girl - and Bob - a none too clever
fire-fighter - are blown to the other side of the planet by a typhoon.
Their main goal is to get home ASAP and save the cat, of course this is a lot easier said than done.
In each episode Kika and Bob succeed in covering a part of their journey
home, while being confronted with an endless variety of cultures.Every episode involves a period of tension where problems specific to our
heroes location (environment/areas) are solved. Per episode they will also
have to reach one main goal, such as finding their way through the jungle,
getting over a mountain, boarding a ship on time etc.
All episodes close with a cliff-hanger, leaving our heroes facing a new
problem, such as behind the jungle lies a desert, the mountain turns out
to be an active volcano, the ship sinks etc. So the journey unfolds not to be easy or straightforward, but rife with
unpredictability, new dilemmas and strange encounters. The style of problems
faced varies from the classical struggle of 'man versus nature', to that
of 'man versus man'. In this manner, the series will deal with current themes
and issues without being too politically correct or condescending.
The themes
are never presented as black-and-white situations, with the solutions being
unexpected and maybe even a little ambiguous: Bob won't get sick eating
a grilled grasshopper but Kika will fall ill when she buys a Popsicle from
a street-vendor. A recurring motive is the continued attempt to get in touch with someone
at home who might be able to save Tiger the cat. Unfortunately this seems
to fail time and time again: The postcard they've sent takes ten years to
be delivered, when they send off a carrier-pigeon, the poor animal is shot
by the local clay-pigeon shooter etc.
This way the goal of our travelers remains in focus: Get home and save Tiger!Another area of tension is between the characters.
As the series progresses,
they will not only get to know each other better, but will also learn new
things about themselves. This doesn't happen without a struggle. They are
confronted with each other's shortcomings and rudeness, but being stuck
in the same situation they HAVE to learn to work together. Each episode shows us a new character trait, sometimes this will be nice,
but it might also be something annoying or bad:
Bob might not be too smart, but he has the courage of a lion and is as dependable
as a rock.
Kika might be bright and really tough, but sometimes she wishes she could
just blink her eyes and be back in her own comfy bed.
The fact that Kika
only likes macaroni and ketchup sure adds to all the problems...Through the journey Bob learns that he doesn't have to be afraid of the
Big Unknown, that there are a thousand different ways to live your life
and still be happy. Oh, and most importantly, that there's no reason to
be afraid of the dark!
Kika discovers that her terribly boring life at home
in Waterloo wasn't all that boring after all, that not everybody is as stupid
as they appear to be. Oh, and most importantly, that it is OK to be afraid
of the dark!
At the end of every episode the viewers are left with a last shot of Kika's
cat, Tiger who is still stuck on the church steeple. Tiger is a Tamagotchi:
the young viewers at home are responsible for his wellbeing while Kika and
Bob are away. They can help him catch flying birds from the sky so that
he doesn't starve.
In between Kika's adventures, whenever she thinks of Tiger, there will
be cuts to the cat sitting on the steeple, getting thinner and thinner.
Only if there are enough children around to help him catch the birds, will
Tiger be able to survive.
Original version: English
Running time: 26 x 13-minutes
Release:autum 2007
