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The Mainzelmännchen are Western Animation from Germany. They appear in the ZDF (see German TV Stations) between commercial spots since 1963.
Their name is a punny contraction of the city of Mainz, location of the ZDF's headquarters, with Heinzelmännchen, helpful gnomes or brownies from a popular Cologne folk legend.
Since 2003, they also have their own series with 5-minute episodes, called Die Mainzels.
Tropes used in Mainzelmaennchen include:
- Cast Full of Pretty Boys: Only in The Series, two girls of the same species appeared.
- German Dialects: They speak Hessian dialect, since they come from Mainz. "Guunaaahmd!"
- Super-Deformed: All the time.
- Theme Naming: Anton, Berti, Conny, Det, Edi, Fritzchen.
- The Series: They were so popular that they got their own series, The Mainzels.
- The Smart Guy: Det. With glasses, of course.
- The Speechless: All of them, mostly. (Not in The Series.)