Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver

Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver

The story begins on a tiny island called Morrowland (original German: Lummerland), 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 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, the giant Mr. Tur Tur (who is actually a "Scheinriese" – he only appears to be a giant), and Nepomuk, the 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 the Golden Dragon of Wisdom, and the other inhabitants of Morrowland want them back on the island!

With parting advice given by the now-reformed Mrs. Grindtooth and generous assistance from the Emperor, Luke and Jim come into possession of a floating island, which is named New-Morrowland, to serve as Jim's future residence. After a cordial welcome back on Morrowland, Jim and Li Si become engaged, and Jim gets a small locomotive for his own, which he names Molly.

Jim Button and the Wild 13

Jim Button and the Wild 13 (original German title: 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 it 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 Emma and Molly (Jim's locomotive) to get 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. The 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. 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 fiancee, a "Schildnöck" (turtle man) named Ushaurishuum, 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 China and can help them out with information and tells Jim how to find out about his origin. With the help of the Mandalanese 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 to be 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.

Unseen, Jim manages to sneak into the pirates' fortress, overpower them with a trick and some luck, and become their leader. As it turns out, Jim is the last descendant of Caspar, the third of the Three Kings, whose heirs were doomed to remain homeless after Mrs. Grindtooth had sunk their kingdom beneath the ocean millennia ago. Only the sinking of Castle Stormeye will raise it back to the surface. In the end, the Wild 13 sacrifice their fortress, Jim's old kingdom reappears – and to everyone's surprise, Morrowland is located at the top of the realm's highest mountain.

All the families whose children Jim and Luke had rescued from the Dragon City come to live in the new country. Jim marries Li Si and receives Molly from the merpeople, her iron frame transformed into the Crystal of Eternity. The Wild 13, reformed by their sacrifice, remain in Jim's kingdom as its protectors and royal guards. Mr Tur Tur, meanwhile, goes to live on Morrowland as the world's largest lighthouse.

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 in German) 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 who can spit 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, 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.

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 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.

King Alfred the Quarter-to-Twelfth (König Alfons der Viertel-vor-Zwölfte)

The king of Morrowland, who is named after the stroke of the clock at the time of his birth and at which he shows himself to his subjects on holidays. He is well-meaning, but can get overly nervous under stress and is very forgetful.

Mr. Sleeve (Herr Ärmel)

A citizen of Morrowland and a subject of King Alfred. He is portrayed as a stereotypical Englishman and is most often seen taking a stroll, wearing a bowler and carrying an umbrella on his arm. He is very polite and educated and is well liked by the island's other inhabitants.

Mr. Tur Tur

The illusory giant (Scheinriese) is a gentle and modest person and a vegetarian, but a tragic recluse due to his unusual nature. When seen from a distance, he appears to be a giant, inadvertently frightening everyone who beholds him. Consequently, he lives at an oasis in the desert, "The End of the World".

Nepomuk

A half-dragon by birth (his mother was a hippopotamus), he bears some resemblance to his mother. Like his fellow mixed-race dragons, he is not accepted by the pure-blood dragons in Sorrowland. He tries to behave like a "real" dragon by being scary and mean, while he is actually neither. He is, however, able to help Ushaurishuum create the Crystal of Eternity, and becomes the keeper of the Magnetic Cliffs.

Ping Pong

A very young and tiny Chinese boy whose head is the size of a ping pong ball. Hardly more than a year old and no taller than a man's hand, he is already very capable of behaving and thinking like an adult. He is one of the numerous descendants of the Emperor's chief cook; after saving Jim and Luke from a treacherous minister, he is made Prime Minister of China by the Emperor - a role which he fulfills surprisingly capably.

Mrs. Grindtooth (Frau Mahlzahn)

A pure-blood dragon and the main villainess of the first story. Her name comes from the single fang projecting from her long snout. She is very knowledgeable, but like all dragons, likes to torment lesser beings with her power. She runs a school for human children in Sorrowland.

The Wild 13 (Die Wilde Dreizehn)

A band of pirates completely identical in appearance and ability. Fearsome pirates and seamen, they are not particularly bright and are poorly educated, each of them knowing only one particular letter of the alphabet; therefore they are always in need of a leader. First portrayed as antagonists, they evolve into important characters and plot carriers in the sequel.

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 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 1996, a 52-episode cartoon series was created as a German-French co-production. The storyline diverged from the original novels with the introduction of new characters and settings.

German producer Christian Becker's Rat Pack Filmproduktion is currently developing an English-language feature film adaptation of Jim Button, scheduled to release in 2017. It will star Shirley MacLaine as the villainous dragon Mrs. Grindtooth.