July 15, 2023, 7:31 am | Read time: 4 minutes
It takes courage to revive a cult children’s series from the 1980s. Bringing it back with the original voice is akin to a mission impossible. RTL is attempting this with Pumuckl, using artificial intelligence (AI). New versions of children’s cult series such as Maya the Bee or Heidi show that computer-animated wax figures destroy lovingly drawn characters. Fortunately, RTL does not make this mistake.
The audience breathed a sigh of relief at the world premiere of the “New Stories of Pumuckl” at the Munich Film Festival. The cheeky little goblin with the tousled red hair and oversized, bare feet still hops across the screen just as he did over 30 years ago. Animated characters don’t retire.
Overview
Pumuckl Grins Like Before
Even more astonishing: Pumuckl speaks just like in the TV series from the 1980s. It’s this unmistakable voice that continues to fascinate many now-adult fans. It belonged to actor Hans Clarin, who passed away 18 years ago. How is this possible? AI makes it happen. But not only that.
In the new series, cabaret artist Maxi Schafroth voices Pumuckl. His voice is transformed by AI into that of Hans Clarin. RTL does not provide further details on how this works or which software was used. Interested parties can check it out on RTL’s media portal RTL+. The broadcaster has posted sequences where Pumuckl can be heard with Maxi Schafroth’s original voice. The same scene is also available with Hans Clarin’s AI voice.
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Microsoft Experiments with AI Voice Software
The effect is truly astonishing. Anyone who closes their eyes while watching and focuses solely on Pumuckl’s voice will hardly notice a difference from the late Hans Clarin’s voice. Microsoft recently introduced the AI voice software Vall-E. It allows any private user to have text read aloud in their own voice. The AI only needs short audio clips of the user’s voice for training. Vall-E does the rest.
A similar so-called text-to-speech (TTS) AI model was also used in the “New Stories of Pumuckl.” Naturally, the actual voice provider, Maxi Schafroth, also adopted certain speech characteristics of Hans Clarin. This makes the audience’s amazement even greater and the effect nearly perfect.
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Does RTL Cross a “Moral” Line?
In the film industry, there have long been considerations to bring deceased actors back to the screen via computer. With the help of AI, this dream seems to have become somewhat more real. However, there has also been criticism of these Hollywood dreams for some time. Is it morally acceptable to bring the dead back to life? It’s a difficult topic unless it’s a zombie flick. RTL says this was the first time a voice was recreated to this extent using AI. At the same time, the broadcaster emphasizes on its website that Hans Clarin’s voice is not being newly created but interpreted by Maxi Schafroth and transformed by AI.
Pumuckl Airing from Late 2023
As “proof,” RTL will offer the new Pumuckl series in two versions, one with Maxi Schafroth’s original voice and the other with Hans Clarin’s AI voice. The “New Stories of Pumuckl” are set to air on RTL at the end of 2023. Whether the 13 new episodes will captivate children from then and now remains to be seen.
The new Pumuckl certainly deserves a chance. After all, the creators have left the entire setting and appearance almost unchanged, except for the voice. Soon, the cheeky shout will ring out again: “Hooray, hooray, Pumuckl is here!”