Adventures of the Little Mermaid

Adventures of the Little Mermaid
Opening titles.
人魚姫 マリーナの冒険 (Ningyo Hime Marina no Bouken)
Genre	Fantasy, Adventure, Romance
TV anime
Directed by	Takehiro Miyano
Studio	Fuji Eight Co., Ltd.
Network	NHK
Original run	February 2, 1991 – July 27, 1991
Episodes	26

Adventures of the Little Mermaid (人魚姫 マリーナの冒険) is an animated series produced by Fuji Television in the early 1990s, based on upon the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Little Mermaid.

This 26-episode TV series was originally a Japanese/French co-production created by Jean Chalopin and directed by Takehiro Miyano. The title of the series in Japan was Ningyo Hime Marina no Boken (The Adventures of Mermaid Princess Marina), and the series was broadcast on Japan's Fuji TV network from February to July 1991. As in the 1975 feature-length movie version produced by Toei, Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid (with which this series may be confused), the mermaid protagonist was drawn as a blonde in this version and given the name Marina. It also added a new ingredient to the story: a magic potion given to the prince with which he could use to breathe underwater and be with Marina.

Released in America for Saturday-morning and weekday afternoon syndication by Saban Entertainment in the summer of 1991, the series wasn't nearly as popular as Disney's version and faded quickly.

Characters

• Marina: A mermaid who is the main protagonist of the show. After saving Prince Justin of Gandor, she fell in love with him and desired to become human.

• Prince Justin: Prince of Gandor and Marina's boyfriend.

• Chauncey: Prince Justin's loyal page.

• Anselm: Prince Justin's tutor and secretly a sorcerer who was once in love with Hedwig.
  • Ridley: Anselm's sea otter companion. He has a bit of a smart aleck attitude.

• Winnie: Marina's seahorse friend. She can scream at high pitches causing people to faint.

• Bobo: Marina's clown fish friend. He has extensive knowledge of ancient legends.

Antagonists

• Hedwig the Sea Witch: The sea witch who acts as the main antagonist of the show. She was once a sorceress who was in love with Anselm until her hunger for power forced Anselm to banish her to the sea. She comes up with plot after plot to capture Marina and Justin so she can exchange them for the Amulet of Power.
  • Duhdlee: Hedwig's dim-witted hammerhead shark lackey. While a bit on the nasty side, he really has a good heart.
  • Hugo: Hedwig's octopus who acts as her strongman.
  • Manta: Hedwig's manta ray. He does not speak much and acts as her transport.
  • Sharks and Barracudas: Hedwig's loyal army of troops.

• Prince Lothar: Prince of Brakston (Gandor's enemy country) and Justin's sworn enemy. He usually works with Hedwig.

Episodes

1. Return to the Sea
2. In the Wrong Hands
3. Water Water Everywhere
4. A Leopard and Her Spots
5. Lothar's Revenge
6. What's Cookin'?
7. Be Careful What You Wish
8. A Day In the Country
9. Safe Deposit
10. Sugar and Spice
11. A Friend Indeed
12. Song of the Sea Witch
13. The Valley of the Volcanoes
14. Quest for the Golden Tablet
15. A Case of Mistaken Identity
16. Beauty and the Beastly Prince
17. A Man's Beast Friend Is His Dogfish
18. A Mortal In Mermaid's Clothing
19. Nature Hike
20. My Bonnie Lies Under the Sea
21. The Trojan Seahorse
22. A Rose By Any Other Name
23. X Marks the Spot
24. One Man's Bread Is Another Man's Poison
25. Hold That Thought
26. Waste Not, Want Not

Cast

English Cast

• Sonja Ball - Marina, Hedwig the Sea Witch
• Thor Bishopric - Prince Justin
• Rachelle Cano - Background Music Singer
• Richard Dumont - Prince Lothar
• Kathleen Fee - The Queen
• Ian Finlay - Duhdlee
• A.J. Henderson - The King
• Arthur Holden - Ridley
• Gordon Masten - Chauncey
• Anik Matern - Winnie
• Carlyle Miller - Bobo
• Aron Tager - Anselm
• Jane Woods - Narrator

Additional Voices

• Julian Bailey -
• Teddy Lee Dillon -
• Susan Glover -
• Arthur Grosser -
• Norman Groulx -
• Dean Hagopian -
• Mark Hellman -
• Harry Hill -
• Gary Jewell -
• Rick Jones -
• Dan Lebel -
• Pierre Lenoir -
• Pauline Little -
• Liz MacRae -
• Bronwen Mantel -
• Walter Massey -
• George Morris -
• Michael O'Reilly -
• Philip Pretten -
• Judi Richards -
• Michael Rudder -
• Terrence Scammell -
• Neil Shee -
• Harry Standjofski -
• John Tarzwell -
• Vlasta Vrana -

Music

The series uses two pieces of theme music for the original Japanese version. The opening theme is called "Yumemiru Mermaid (夢みるMERMAID lit. Dreaming Mermaid)" and the ending theme is called "Pearl-no Kimochi (パールな気持ち lit. Pearl Feelings)" , both by vocalist Yumi Hiroki, who also portrayed the voice of Winnie in Japanese version of the show.

Music from the English version was used for the English dub of Digimon Adventure.

External links

• Ningyo Hime Marina no Boken (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia