Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver

Plot

Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver

The story begins on a tiny island called Morrowland (original German: Lummerland, a play on Nimmerland, the German translation of Neverland), which has just enough space for a small palace, a train station and rails all around the island, a grocery store, a small house, a king, two subjects, a locomotive named Emma, and a locomotive engineer by the name of Luke (Lukas) (who, as railway civil servant, is not a subject). One day, the postman – who has to come by ship – drops off a package with a nearly illegible address for a Mrs. Krintuuth at Zorroulend. On the back was a large 13. After a futile search for the addressee among Morrowland's few inhabitants, they open the package. To their immense surprise, there's a black baby inside. After the commotion has died down, the baby is adopted by the islanders and is named Jim Button.

As Jim grows up, the King begins to worry that the island is too small and there won't be enough space for Jim to live on once he's an adult. He announces to Luke that Emma has to be removed. Luke, upset about this decision, decides to leave the island with Emma, and Jim (who had accidentally overheard Luke relating his woes to Emma) decides to come along. They convert Emma into a makeshift ship and sail off the island in the night, eventually arriving at the coast of Mandala (a fictional country inspired by China).

When they arrive in Ping, the capital, they win the friendship of a tiny great-grandchild named Ping Pong, who tells them the Emperor is in mourning. His daughter, Li Si, has been kidnapped and is being held in the Dragon City. Luke and Jim offer their help, and while investigating the circumstances of Li Si's disappearance, they stumble upon several names which are directly connected to Jim's mysterious arrival on Morrowland: Mrs. Grindtooth (Frau Mahlzahn), the Wild 13, and Sorrowland (Kummerland). Now Jim and Luke have another reason to go to the Dragon City, located in Sorrowland, and confront Mrs. Grindtooth.

After a long and hazardous journey, they arrive in the Dragon City. Along the way, they make two new friends, Mr. Tur Tur, a "Scheinriese" ("apparent giant", as he appears smaller the closer he gets) and Nepomuk, a half-dragon. Jim and Luke free Princess Li Si and a large number of children, who had all been kidnapped and sold to Mrs. Grindtooth by a gang of pirates (the Wild 13). Mrs. Grindtooth had chained the children to desks at her school, where she had barked lessons to them like a Kommandant. Jim and Luke take Mrs. Grindtooth with them as they make their way back on the Yellow River, which begins right at the Dragon City. Arriving back in Mandala, they receive a triumphal welcome and are surprised by some startling news. Mrs. Grindtooth is about to turn into a Golden Dragon of Wisdom, and the other inhabitants of Morrowland want them back on the island!

Jim Button and the Wild 13

Jim Button and the Wild 13 (Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13) is the sequel and concludes the story of the first book.

Following the events in Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver, life in Morrowland continues as usual for a year until the postman rams New-Morrowland with his mail boat in the dark of night. It is decided that the island needs a lighthouse, but the island is too small to support one. Jim remembers Mr. Tur Tur and his ability to appear as a giant when seen from afar, and Jim and Luke decide to invite him to Morrowland to use his unique ability as a living lighthouse.

While sailing the oceans with the two steam locomotives Emma and Molly to the desert where Mr. Tur Tur lives, Jim and Luke stop to help out a mermaid named Sursulapitschi and her father, Lormoral, the king of the seas. This leads to a precarious encounter with the Magnetic Cliffs, whose magnetic pull can be turned off and on. When on, they activate a phenomenon called the Sea Glow, which illuminates the bottom of the sea, but also activates the magnetic pull, endangering passing ships; so someone must be found to ensure that no ships are endangered while the Sea Glow is switched on. In addition, Sursulapitschi is distressed because her fiancée, a "Schildnöck" (turtle merman) named Ushaurischuum, has been assigned by her father to refashion the Crystal of Eternity, a task only possible with the aid of a creature of fire, with whom the merpeople are at war.

Using the special properties of the cliffs' material, Jim and Luke convert Emma into a flying vehicle which they dub the "Perpetumobile" due to its unlimited means of locomotion. With it, they cross the Crown of the World to get Mr. Tur Tur. To their surprise, in the desert they also encounter their half-dragon friend Nepomuk, who had had to flee the Dragon City following the events in the first book, for his help in capturing Mrs. Grindtooth. Jim and Luke persuade Nepomuk to accompany them and take up the post at the Magnetic Cliffs. Unexpectedly, the four meet Sursulapitschi and Ushaurishuum at the cliffs, and the Schildnöck and Nepomuk quickly become friends, enabling the recreation of the Crystal of Eternity.

Meanwhile, Jim's locomotive Molly, whom Jim and Luke had left at the cliffs when getting Mr. Tur Tur and Nepomuk, has been abducted by the band of pirates called the Wild 13. Luckily for Jim and Luke, the former Mrs. Grindtooth awakes as a Golden Dragon of Wisdom in Mandala, helping them out with information and telling Jim how to find out about his origin. With the help of the Emperor, Jim and Luke – and Princess Li Si as a stowaway – start their journey to meet the Wild 13 and rescue Molly. They encounter the pirates, who prove too much for them in battle. Molly is lost at sea, and all but Jim are captured and brought to the pirates' base, Castle Stormeye, a pinnacle of rock within the eye of a perpetual hurricane.

Settings

"Morrowland", where the story begins, is a microcosm of early modern society, with a king, a burgher, a merchant, and a worker. The novel and its sequel take place roughly in the 20th century, but have anachronistic elements. China is still an empire, Native American Indians and Eskimos still live in traditional ways, yet there are ocean liners, telephones, a postal service, chewing gum and other modern conveniences. There are many fictional locations, like the "Crown of the World", a vast mountain range coloured in red and white stripes, and the "Magnetic Cliffs". Some locations are based on real places, such as the Himalayas, and legendary ones, such as the magnetic cliffs in the Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor and a beautiful abandoned city under the sea, patterned after Atlantis. China is depicted in a phantasmic way; in later German editions, the country name was changed to Mandala.

In Morrowland, people lead an old-fashioned, idyllic life, albeit with modern conveniences. The rest of the world, however, is full of fantasy. As the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote, children read Jim Button at a time in their lives when "the existence of dragons is as real as dinosaurs and kings [are] closer than the chancellor". The contrast between reality and fantasy is reflected in several places. In Morrowland, Jim is a normal child. He plays outside and doesn't like to wash; his mother sometimes worries about him. Outside Morrowland, however, he goes on adventures, experiences exotic cultures, fights a dragon and finally, saves a princess.

List of Jim Button characters

Jim Button (Jim Knopf)

The titular hero, this character shares the "glory" with and is the sidekick of his best friend Luke, the engine driver. He grows up on Morrowland (Lummerland) under the care of Mrs. Whaat. He wants to be an engine driver too. His name is derived from his habit of tearing a hole in his trousers every time he does something wild. After mending the hole many times, Mrs. Whaat added a button so it could be opened, rather than torn up yet again. While he marries the Chinese Emperor's daughter and turns out to be the rightful King of Jamballa, he never gives up driving a locomotive.

Luke (Lukas)

The engine driver on Morrowland is Jim's closest friend. Where Jim represents adventurous youth, Luke is the man of experience and practicality who manages to solve almost every technical problem. He is very strong and is an expert spitter capable of spitting a loop. His trademark is his pipe, which he smokes in emotional situations.

Princess Li Si

The daughter of the Chinese Emperor is rather headstrong and obstinate, especially when it comes to discipline. She admires Jim for his courage and intelligence, even though for most of the story he refuses to learn how to read and write, skills she has already mastered quite well. Her name is a pun on the German variant of Lizzy.

Emma and Molly

Luke and Jim's tank locomotives. Emma is quite sensitive, expressing her feelings about Luke's mood by whistling and huffing, despite the fact she often does not quite understand the reason for her owner's mood. Molly is her daughter, thus smaller and younger.

Mrs. Whaat (Frau Waas)

The proprietor of a grocery store on Morrowland, and Jim's surrogate mother. She loves Jim dearly and worries about him constantly when he is on an adventure. Her special skill is making sweets, particularly ice cream and Gugelhupf. One of Mrs. Whaat's ancestors was hearing impaired, saying "whaaaaat?" whenever he didn't understand properly, eventually earning her family its name.

Literary references

Michael Ende grew up in Nazi Germany. His father, Edgar Ende, a painter, was banned as "degenerate" in 1936. Ende began writing the story in 1956 to provide a contrast to the Nazis' racist ideology and their misuse of the theory of evolution. In a 1991 radio interview, he stated, "The idea of racism and racial discrimination came from further consideration of Darwin's theories." Quoting Nazi euphemisms, he added, "The 'extermination of lives unworthy of life' and 'concentration camps'."

Ende based the title character of Jim Button (Jim Knopf) on Jemmy Button, a native Fuegian who, as a teenager in the 19th century, was sold for a mother-of-pearl button and taken to England. He later returned to his homeland on HMS Beagle, by way of the Galapagos Islands, along with fellow passenger Charles Darwin, who later wrote about the episode.

That Ende's book was full of Nazi symbols and imagery turned on their head, and that its English references stemmed from his interest in Darwin was unknown until late 2008, when Julia Voss, a German journalist, published an article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung revealing the story's background. Voss cites aspects of Ende's book and of English colonialism, showing their similarity. Her examples of Nazi education and indoctrination, as well as information about Ende's own experiences with it, reveal the sources that inspired him.

Voss' 2008 article explained that Ende's book was not the "escapist literature" of pure fantasy, as had always been assumed, in part from Ende's own frequent warnings about hiding messages in books. Voss identified numerous literary references in the book, some which reverse the Nazi indoctrination of Ende's youth and others, which stem from his interest in Darwin and draw on English culture and history.

Darwin's first book, The Voyage of the Beagle, contains passages about Jemmy Button, a teenaged native Fuegian who was sold for a mother-of-pearl button and brought to England, an island nation. Darwin describes Button's character and demeanor and relates details about his capture and sale, explaining his unusual name, and about his return to his homeland, two years later.

British references

Like the real-life Jemmy Button, Ende's Jim Button is brought to an island nation and is seen by the inhabitants as racially exotic, but is quickly accepted and becomes well liked. Shipping, which during England's colonial era, began bringing goods from around the globe, also plays an important role in Morrowland. Mrs. Whaat's grocery store is supplied from all corners of world once a week by Ende's own version of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and Morrowland's mail arrives by ship.

English culture also appears in the character of Mr. Sleeve, who, like the stereotypical Englishman, wears a bowler and carries an umbrella, is polite and well educated. His unusual name in the original German, Herr Ärmel, is a reference to the Ärmelkanal, the German name for the English Channel.

Nazi symbols revisited

Ende's Jim refuses to learn to read or write, harking back to Ende's own experience with Nazi education and indoctrination, which he regarded with horror. Said Ende, "I didn't want to learn, at least not what they endeavored to teach us there." Voss explains that subjects like German, history and geography took a back seat to biology, where the need for racial purity was drummed into pupils on official order. Quoting from Nazi literature, Voss writes, "no boy or girl should leave school without having been led to the ultimate cognition of the imperative need [for] and essence of racial purity." Ende's school in Sorrowland is run by a dragon who has a skull on her door, reminding of Heinrich Himmler's Totenkopfverbände, and she terrorizes the children with a baton and teaches them lessons on eugenics and racial purity. The dragon's pupils have all been kidnapped, brought there against their will.

Recalling the anti-semitic signs seen on entrances during Nazi Germany, the Dragon City announces its racial policy at the city's entrance with a sign that reads, "Attention! Entry by racially impure dragons forbidden on pain of death." Ende spent the summer of 1943 visiting his grandparents in Hamburg, when the allies' serial bombing raids, caused firestorms and damage so catastrophic, the Nazis furloughed 2,000 prisoners for two months. Ende paints the Dragon City as a smoldering "land of a thousand volcanos", a hellish place. The entrance to the city looks like a smoking oven, which the protagonists enter on a train; an overt allusion to the Nazi's concentration camps. Nepomuk, who is only half dragon, is not allowed by the racially pure dragons to enter the Dragon City.

The myth of Atlantis had a special meaning to the Nazis, who held that Atlantis was the ancient homeland of the Aryan race. Children's books were imbued with Nazi racial policies and Atlantis was mentioned in many. Sun Koh, the hero of a science fiction series, complains in a story from 1935 that the races were not kept pure, except in Germany, where a methodical racial policy was breeding the Nordic roots again. Koh says, "If our Atlantis once again rises out of the sea, then we will get from there the blond, steel-hard men with the pure blood and will create with them the master race, which will finally rule the earth." Ende brings this scenario about, only with the decidedly non-blond Jim Button as king and Ende creates a multi-ethnic and -cultural paradise, a utopia where people from every corner of the earth, and even birds, flock to it because there is no fear there.

Adaptations

Both Jim Button stories were adapted by the Augsburger Puppenkiste, a marionette theater company that adapted children's stories for television in the 1960s and 70s. Their production of Jim Button, first filmed in the early 1960s in black and white, was so successful, it was remade in the 1970s in color. A classic known for its creativity, such as the use of plastic wrap to simulate moving water, it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011 with much fanfare. Its theme song, the "Lummerlandlied" ("Morrowland Song") is immediately recognized and in the 1990s, was covered by a German dance music group named Dolls United and itself became a hit. There are two sets of original marionettes for the Jim Button production. One is in the Puppenkiste's museum and the other tours the world.

In 1974, the story was turned into a Japanese animation. A dramatized audio book, Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer (Fontana/Deutsche Grammophon) was narrated and directed by Ende himself. In 1998, a 52-episode cartoon series titled Jim Button was produced by Yoram Gross-Village Roadshow, Saban Entertainment, Saban International Paris, and CinéGroupe. The storyline diverged from the original novels with the introduction of new characters and settings.

A German-language feature film adaptation, Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver, was directed by Dennis Gansel, produced by Rat Pack Filmproduktion and Malao Film, and released by Warner Bros. Pictures on 29 March 2018 in German cinemas. It stars Michael Herbig as the German voice of Nepomuk, and Rick Kavanian as the Wild 13, and Judy Winter as the voice of the villainous dragon Mrs. Grindtooth. The soundtrack also features a cover version of the Augsburger Puppenkiste's "Lummerlandlied", as a homage to this early adaptation.

A cinematic adaptation of the second book, Jim Button and the Wild 13, was announced in late March 2018. Filming began in January 2019, and the film, initially planned for Easter 2020, but slightly delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was eventually released on 1 October 2020.

Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer (1961), puppet show directed by Harald Schäfer, based on children's novel Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver

Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13 (1962), puppet show directed by Harald Schäfer, based on children's novel Jim Button and the Wild 13