“Checker Tobi” is a German children’s educational program with Tobi himself as the popular host. After the success of the long-running TV show, Checker Tobi now embarks on a second adventure for the big screen. And it takes him to ATTO!
In “Checker Tobi und die Reise zu den fliegenden Flüssen” (Checker Tobi and the Journey to the Flying Rivers), everything revolves around a mysterious treasure chest that Tobi receives one day. But the chest is locked and only one person has the key: Marina, Tobi’s best friend since childhood. But where is she? The search for her also marks the beginning of Tobi’s greatest adventure yet. The journey takes him to Vietnam, to the largest cave in the world, to the famous Halong Bay with its thousands of limestone islands, across the stormy South China Sea, to nomads in the Mongolian steppe, and to indigenous people in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Always with one goal in mind: solve the riddle of the treasure chest and find the mysterious Flying Rivers.
Checker Tobi and the Journey to the Flying Rivers is a documentary adventure film for the whole family to marvel, reflect and laugh at. It is now playing in theaters in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It will also be part of the upcoming “Schulkinowochen” in 2024.
A look behind the scenes
When the production team first approached us in 2019, everyone was excited about the opportunity. Identifying the protagonist to meet Tobi at ATTO and help him and Marina on their quest was an easy decision. Cloud scientist Mira Pöhlker has worked at ATTO for many years. She studies cloud formation processes that are directly related to those mysterious flying rivers. But Mira is not just an excellent scientist. As a mother of two, she’s also not afraid to talk about her research in simple terms. Participating in this project gave her a chance to be an actress for a few days, a childhood dream she gave up to become a scientist instead.
We had originally scheduled the filming for the summer of 2020. When the pandemic hit, ATTO was closed to all but essential personnel to keep the measurements going, but travel was out of the question for the film crew anyway. So we postponed. No one knew then that it would take another two years to realize what we had been planning since 2019. So everyone was excited when Mira and the film crew arrived at ATTO in June 2022. Things finally went smoothly and the weather conditions were great, allowing them to get some fantastic shots worthy of a thrilling finale to a fantastic movie.
