The three main actors approach the day of the ultimate verdict on their work very differently. Because in half an hour the harshest critics a film can have will take their seats: children. The director is tense, even though Marcus H. Rosenmüller has long walked dozens of red carpets at the premieres of his own films. The main actor, on the other hand, always comes to official events like this Pumuckl premiere on Sunday afternoon in the Mathäser cinema with such delight that you simply want to believe him as much as you distrust Pumuckl. The main actor number three is of course not there, but of course he is there, as befits a world premiere of the first Pumuckl film. Basically, he is in action on every corner.

First of all, as is usual at premieres, the visible stars speak into microphones that are sometimes very visible because they are brightly colored. Rosenmüller, for example, says about the many teenage premiere attendees among the 1,500 guests on Sunday: “Children are incorruptible, you don’t have to wait for the reviews, I’ll hear straight away whether they like the film.” That's what the filming of the red-haired goblin, which is at least legendary in Bavaria, was all about: How do children react to the scenes. “I could have saved myself filming time in many moments.”

For example, in a scene where Ferdinand Hofer, the antagonist, is imprisoned. In an adult film there might be a hard cut to the next scene. With this target audience: Hofer wants to get out of the construction trailer in which he is locked, crashes the door outside and lands in the dirt. “You need special effects, a stuntman and an actor who agrees to fall headfirst into a pile of dung.” And the belief that a moment like this will make the young audience laugh. When does Rosenmüller believe that this film will also work? “At least when the audience likes the scene at the swimming pond.”

But there are still a few minutes until then. Florian Brückner, on the other hand, who plays Eder again, is first asked about his partner this afternoon by many little visitors. At the colorful microphones he says: "I haven't seen the film yet and I'm looking forward to watching it with the whole team."

As usual, a premiere night before the film starts is also an exchange of mutual appreciation. Brückner speaks of a huge achievement in the fact that it was possible to shoot a feature film and a season in parallel, "in the morning a scene from episode three, then one from the feature film and then one from episode one." Brückner, on the other hand, is once again praised by everyone as the brilliant best choice for the new master Eder, the nephew of the old master.

Of course, all of this doesn't matter to most of the premiere visitors, who are waiting for Pumuckl to appear. And Rosenmüller on the reactions. The laughs can be heard right from the start. Bright children's giggles here, loud adult laughter there. And then things get loud during the slapstick moments at the swimming pond. Everyone seems to get their money's worth here, and the children not just because of the popcorn that is on all the seats. Maxi Schafroth, cabaret artist and spokesperson for Pumuckl in the film, says it beautifully on the carpet in advance what can be felt that afternoon: “Everyone always has a little imp inside them.”