“Checker Tobi”: Co-inventor Johannes Honsell is dead

The co-inventor of the children’s knowledge format “Checker Tobi” (Kika, Das Erste), Johannes Honsell, is dead. The journalist and director died on December 27th in Munich as a result of cancer. This was confirmed by relatives to and from . Honsell was 45 years old. He leaves behind his wife and their son.

Johannes Honsell invented the children’s show “Checker Tobi”

Most recently, Honsell was also responsible for writing and directing the documentary adventure film “Checker Tobi and the Journey to the Flying Rivers,” which was released in October. In the director’s first feature film, who has also made documentaries for adults, Klaas Heufer-Umlauf stars alongside presenter Tobias Krell.

Everything in “Checker Tobi and the Journey to the Flying Rivers” revolves around a treasure chest to which Tobi’s childhood friend Marina (Marina M. Blanke) has the key. Tobi sets off on a search and a journey from Vietnam to the Amazon rainforest. According to the obituary in “Spiegel”, it is currently the most successful German-language children’s film.

Honsell was born in Rosenheim in 1978 and grew up in Salzburg. He studied history and politics and graduated from the German School of Journalism in Munich. He initially worked as an author for the “Spiegel” and the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, then he switched to television. Honsell was editorial director for “Checker Tobi” and “Checker Can” and also directed many episodes of the children’s programs.

The episode “Checker Tobi – The Life and Dying Check”, which was broadcast in 2016 and was written and directed by Honsell, received several awards and was nominated for the Grimme Prize.