Thilo Graf Rothkirch, born October 23, 1948, in Brakel, studied graphic design in Kassel. From 1974 on, he worked as a freelance designer, storyboard artist, and sequence illustrator, starting in London where animation artist Bob Godfrey became his mentor. In 1976, Rothkirch set up his own company "Cartoon-Film" in Berlin.

Over the course of the years, he successfully produced and directed TV animation film series for children, including "Tobias Totz" (1988), "Otto, der Straßenhund" (1989), and "Lisa und Paul" (1993), before he made his debut on the movie screen: In 1999, Rothkirch and co-director Piet de Rycker finished the children's film "Tobias Totz und sein Löwe" ("Tobias Totz and His Lion"). The film turned out to be a huge success and encouraged Rothkirch to proceed with further feature films. His next films "Der kleine Eisbär" ("The Little Polar Bear", 2001), "Lauras Stern" ("Laura's Star", 2004), "Der kleine Eisbär 2 – Die geheimnisvolle Insel" ("The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island", 2005), and "Kleiner Dodo" (2004) also became highly successful children's films. After a two-year break, Rothkirch returned to the movie screen in 2009 with the sequel to "Lauras Stern", "Lauras Stern und der geheimnisvolle Drache Nian", again co-directed by Piet de Rycker.

In 2011 another sequel followed: "Lauras Stern und die Traummonster", with Ute von Münchow-Pohl as co-director.

Thilo Graf Rothkirch died June 10, 2013, age 65.