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Developing innovative, constructive and concrete ideas is a good basis for strategies to increase efficiency and productiveness by utilizing limited resources up to a perfectionism that allows the maximization of the achievable result. Doesn't that sound nice? "Thinking out of the box" was exactly what the little boy Vicky did better than all the surrounding senior Vikings. Let us regard his example of boyish innovation both as incentive and obligation to challenge ourselves and our environment to proactively identify new opportunities, put their feasibility to a test and then use them to strive for excellence.

Hey, Hey, Vicky and the Strong Men

Collective Memory. The barbaric foray of the anchient Norsemen is somehow trivialized in the adventures of a Viking chief called Halvar of Flake, commander of the amusingly dreadful Vikings and father of Vicky, in German known as "Wickie und die Starken Maenner (Vicky and the Strong Men)". They belong to an era, where the weekly cartoon shows represented something special, concluding the weekend on an early Sunday evening. In the absence of alternatives, they achieved dream results on TV viewer shares and became part of a collective memory among youths.

Flash Idea. In one way or another, the moral of the story is that people, who use their head, usually triumph over sheer barbaric strength. "Ich hab's - I got it" became something like a battle yell among the intelligent, a relief following a time of intensive thinking about the possible solution for a problem. And so we find ourselves in a waiting position until we have to watch that cartoon classic once more with the next generation, which will need to be educated and entertained by jester-hero Kasperl as well as the bright Viking boy Vicky.

The Boy who would be Viking

Japanese Cartoons. Remember the kids' TV shows from the early 1970's? At first there was the usual broadcast of American productions from "Porky Pig" (in German: Schweinchen Dick) to the "Pink Panther" (in German: Der Rosarote Panther), which during synchronization inherited the first name "Paulchen." The little black chick "Calimero" (in Japanese: Karimero) though was a precursor for the following Japanese animated series made from popular books for youngsters. Originally an Italian cartoon figure, distinctive for wearing a half-hatched eggshell on its head, its name sounded similar to "kalimera", the Greek word for "Good morning".

Vicky the Viking and his dad Halvar of Flake, cult stars of the 1970's.

Literature Classics. "Vicky" (in German: Wickie, in Japanese: Bikke) marked the starting point of German-Austrian-Japanese co-productions. Based on the book "Vicke Viking" by the Swedish author Runer Jonsson, the series aired for the first time in 1974/75. Second was "Maya the Bee"(in German: Biene Maja, in Japanese: Maya no boken) with her lazy fried Willy, after the book by the German author Waldemar Bonsels, broadcasted in 1976/77. Then the earlier soley produced Japanese take on mountain girl "Heidi" (in Japanese: Haiji) with her friend Goat-Peter, by the Swiss writer Johanna Spyri, hit the local television screens in 1977/78 in parallel to the third co-production, "Pinocchio" (in Japanese: Pikirio). Especially Heidi's popularity in Japan has a long tradition for representing the concept of simplicity and naturalness in the Swiss Alps in contradiction to urban modernity and Japanese industrialization.

Hope from the Nose. Up to this day, Vicky stands out among them as a unique kid hero. In the most hopeless situations that little boy would just rub (not pick) his nose and usually come up with a bright idea to save his father, without making him look bad in front of his men from the village of Flake. Merchandising included stuffed dolls, audio plays on LP and music cassette, collector's figurines, pyjama patterns, sticker albums with stickers that had to be glued in by hand. This little guy was something like a rock star back then!

A Viking of Flesh and Blood

Real Action Movie. From time to time there are surprises. One of them occurred, when we saw those funny teasers for an upcoming live-action take on the Wickie-cartoon. There had been many attempts, also on European ground, to base movies with real actors on toons, such as Asterix, Lucky Luke and Prince Valiant. Obviously they didn't achieve the same level of response as those huge Hollywood successes with The Flintstones and 101 or 102 Dalmations. Would it be different this time?

Bully Parade. So many years after the first show had flickered over the TV screens in February 1974 to fascinate everyone from the youngest kindergarten kid to the almost-adult, the series would be still present on the kid's channel and even form the base of a live action movie, released in September 2009. The movie was put on by "Bully" Herbig, who had already held responsible for the Winnetou-spoof "Manitou's Shoe (Der Schuh des Manitu)," top grossing movie of 2001. The nation laughed and flocked to the cinemas, just the original brave Indian-actor Pierre Brice was not amused.

Vicky, Slime, Ice Cream. Furthermore, the Viking boy lent his name to "Wickie, Slime and Paiper", an Internet forum of people who just turned 30 and as part of a nostalgic craze shared memories from their youth. Leading to a book series and CD compilations in 1999 up to a TV show in 2000, they were all named after the same cartoon character Vicky, the mud-toy Slime and an ice cream brand Paiper, which was relaunched following a petition by the movement. Not to speak of various clubbings, where the grown up kids would sing along the TV theme song: "Hey, hey, Vicky. Hey, Vicky, hey. You and your Viking friends... Nananana na nananana nana Wicky! Hey!"

Spanish Bee. Speaking of themes from kids favourite TV shows, unforgotten is also a Spanish colleague singing to me from the wonderful land of the little bee called Maya: "En un país multicolor nacio... Y a la pequena abeja le llamaron Maaaaya!" Even years after that, at the airport we spent our waiting time with further translation of "Maya the Bee": In Russian called "pchela maja" and in Ukrainian "bdzhola maja", the same in Dutch would be "maja de bij", in Hungarian "maja a mehecske", in Romanian "albina maia", in Slovene "cebela Maja" and in German most familiar "Biene Maja". But that is a different story.

The legendary red-and-white SCE soccer dress and Linden-Stadium with its re-planted linden tree in the Iron City's Palace Gardens. A number of blindly missed chances to score a goal earned the location the unofficial nickname Blinden-Stadium.

Hey, Hey, Hicke and the Cast Leg

Radio Parody. The first and probably most famous comedy in the reformed Austria 3 radio station had been a satire on the occasion of the introduction of motorway tolls in 1997 - with initial sticking quality issues. The radio community came to enjoy the daily adventures of the superhero "Vignette Man (Vignettenman)", who would patrol highways in order to catch traffic offenders, with his battle yell: "Haha, Schurke - ha-ha, rascal!" But then there came... Hicke!

Sports Brutality. Sports, games and other collaborate events can serve as an outlet for releasing pent up aggression and follow the instinct of competing with each other in fight, which is present from times of primitive cavemen to cruel Norsemen. How much healthier is it to exchange the battlefield for the soccer field! However, referring to the atmosphere during soccer matches between Viennese and Styrian teams, Austrian actor Helmut Qualtinger would conclude: "Simmering versus Kapfenberg, that is brutality - Simmering gegen Kapfenberg, das ist Brutalitaet."

Soccer Tournament. Sometimes reality is beyond satire. Accompanying preparations of the Austrian soccer team before hosting the European Cup 2008 together with Switzerland, the radio parody "(Hey, Hey,) Hicke and the Strong Men" connected the trainer's nickname with the theme of the unforgettable mid-seventies cartoon "Vicky the Viking." Voice imitations of trainer Hickersberger and other local soccer legends like "Goleador" Hans Krankl (aka Johann K) and Toni "Double Pack" Polster completed the humorous radio spots. After the early drop out of the Austrian team and the resignation of its trainer, the intro would change to: "Bye-bye, Hicke!" Watching the finals of the 2008 European Championship, a German player with last name Schweinsteiger (Pigclimber) reminded me of my hometown's soccer club, at one point of time having Sauerwein (Sourwine) and Sauhammel (Sowmutton) among its players.

Iron City Blues. Around the same time, after 101 years the legendary soccer club S.C. Eisenstadt closed its gates forever. "Located in the wonderful palace gardens," a 1980 kicker lexicon booklet had accorded the club "the most beautiful stadium in the major league" with a "fan-roar" that used to be feared among the guest teams. It feels strange to visit the empty ruins of the linden tree stadium. The same place had been crowded to overflowing in June 1983, when Rapid had won the Austrian Championship in the final round by declassifying the Iron City team. The biography of goalgetter legend Krankl summarizes: "Even if he does not play, the headlines belong to him: As it happened at the season's finish in Eisenstadt, where his colleagues' 4-0 almost remained unnoticed in the media compared to his appearance, because he had kept the fans from storming the soccer field before the game was over. Krankl rescues the championship for his team with crutches and leg in plaster, was the message in words and pictures. An abandonment of the match would have meant the loss of the championship title for Rapid-Vienna."

Here ruled the SCE! What followed, were some of the best years of the red-white team from the countryside under the former Austrian National team trainer Felix Latzke and lead by player personalities like Fritz Drazan, former mid field motor of Austria Vienna, and Premysl Bicovsky, Czech National team player and free kick king like Rapid's Antonin Panenka. Sponsored by Roman well mineral water, Brix-Alu fence and Eduscho coffee, they played in the Austrian major league in the season 1980/81 and once more from 1983 to 1987, before financial ruin went along with sportive decline. The infamous cheer "Hier regiert der SCE - Here rules the SCE" is history now.

The Quick Thinker on a Small Pillow

Eternal Longing. "Hansee" Krankl will be forever celebrated for his two goals in the 3-2 of the Austrian national team against Germany during the Soccer World Cup 1978 in Cordoba, Argentina, which broke the old rule (quoted from English football striker Gary Lineker): "The game lasts 90 minutes and in the end Germany wins!" Be it after the drawing for another tournament or just before a friendly soccer game among neighbours, there are newspaper comments by Toni Polster and many others recalling the winning spirit: "Maybe we'll manage to achieve another Cordoba!" Only to compromise later: "As a patriot, I am hoping for a miracle. As an expert I rather don't believe in it." According to Krankl's Biography from 2005, it is a bit like Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in "Casablanca", where the eternal longing takes the place of fulfillment. And if Austria once more must wait for a victory against the Germans for half of a century, that is not so bad, because: We will always Cordoba!

Let it Pillow. Toni Polster on the other hand took part in the following 4-1 triumph against the German team in a friendly game on the occasion of the re-opening of the Vienna Prater stadium in 1986. Toni, a typical Viennese jokester and "Schmaehbruder (fib-brother)", in 1997 entered the charts with the song "Toni lass es polstern - Toni let it polster," a new verb creation for scoring a goal. His last name "Polster" translates to "Pillow," really.

Pigeon's Monument. Similar to striker colleague "Goleador" Krankl, national trainer bounce-back "Hicke" Hickersberger and midfield-motor "Curly" Prohaska (and the rest of the best from the legendary 1978 soccer team), next generation-player "Twinpack" Polster has become no more and no less than a national soccer monument. However, when a reporter said to Polster, after he had broken Krankl's scoring record for the Austrian national team: "You are a monument now", the striker's response came quick as a shot: "I don't want to be a monument, monuments are for pigeons to poop on." Apart from unintentionally making the phrase "Ja, das stiiimmt - Yes, that is riiight" popular in Austrian cabaret, he repeatedly made headlines in Germany, when he played for the 1st FC Cologne soccer club.

Champions League Finals can be a moment of tension, excitement and celebration, especially if somebody just returned from Spain, bringing an original Barcelona soccer dress along. The red-white shirt in the background stood for the good ol' days.

Flash-Figurer. On one occasion, Toni Polster unleashed speculations in the German press about the meaning of the Austrian slang word "Blitzgneisser (flash-figurer)". His 2006 biography "Polster - A Life in 90 Minutes" recaps the unforgettable episode: As negotiating for a new contract with FC Cologne dragged on, a reporter from the German private TV station SAT 1 asked: "Mr. Polster, why have still not signed a contract?" Polster replied: "Well, you know that just happened to me for the first time in my career that the club wants to pay me more than I can accept. And I feel a bit embarrassed about it." Brief silence, then the reporter, rather puzzled: “That was now a joke, right?" Polster's instant response: "Well, you are, as we would call it, a real quick thinker!"

Little Rapids. Sports fans identify themselves by the team colours of their club. In Hans Krankl's chest for sure pounds a green-white heart, just as Toni Polster's inner organs would be violet like the flower. The importance occurred to me, when I was asked at a toy store about the colour of the carrying-net for my kids' ball. As I had a violet teddy bear from the American Cancer Society on my desk, yet a colleague suspected me to be a fan of the soccer club Austria-Vienna. On a hot summer day, I took the kids to a swimming pool and then for the first time to the nearby soccer stadium. Going there to see a soccer game of Austria-Vienna, we had to turn back to change clothes for the boy wore a green-white striped polo shirt, which represent the colours of the arch rival Rapid-Vienna. Visiting Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the first time, I had sent a postcard to a friend back in Wien-Huetteldorf, an area I'd refer to as "Small-Rapids."

Pillow Question. Talking about sufficient soccer skills and well-earned winner's luck, the favourite quote by a late friend comes to mind, which is loosely based on a rhyme by the Austrian comedy band "First General Uninsurance": "Der Ball ist rund, das Tor ist eckig. Den einen gehts gut, den andern dreckig - A ball is round, a goal is square. One is lucky, another lives a nightmare." Another day we discussed the antiquated term "Kaprizpolster," in short "Kapritzl" (as probably derived from the Hungarian word "kapricparna" for "small pillow"). One friend would ask another: "Then how do you call a small pillow?" Unforgotten is the quick-witted reply: "Toni!"

"You are, as we would call it, a real flash-figurer -
Sie sind ja, wie man bei uns sagen würde, ein richtiger Blitzgneisser."
(Toni Polster, interview around 1997)


Go to the next page about the Austrian crime series spoof Kottan.
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