Heidi, Girl of the Alps

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Heidi, Girl of the Alps

Cover of Japanese DVD 1
アルプスの少女ハイジ
(Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji)
Genre Drama
TV anime
Director Isao Takahata
Studio Zuiyo Eizo
Network Flag of Japan Fuji TV
Original run January 6, 1974 – December 29, 1974
Episodes 52
Anime and Manga Portal

Heidi, Girl of the Alps (アルプスの少女ハイジ Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji?) was a very popular anime series released by the animation studio Zuiyo Eizo (which later became Nippon Animation) in 1974. It was directed by Isao Takahata and features Yoichi Kotabe (character design and animation director), Hayao Miyazaki (scene design and layout). The series is based on the Heidi children's book, which Swiss author Johanna Spyri wrote in 1880.

Heidi is one of several World Masterpiece Theater titles produced around the "classical children's literature period" (1974-1997), based on classic tales from around the world.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] International broadcast

Cover of the Japanese DVD.

The Heidi, Girl of the Alps anime has been dubbed in several languages. The TV series was able to reach major stardom in Europe, Asia, and South America where the anime was dubbed in multiple languages. These dubbed versions of the series were broadcasted in the following countries:

Flag of the United States The only incarnation of the Heidi series to reach the United States was an English dubbed version of the 1979 feature-length movie adaptation of the TV series, released on video in 1985. Most fans of the series in North America saw it first in other countries.[citation needed]

[edit] Reception

Heidi, Girl of the Alps is still popular in Japan today: the love for Heidi has drawn thousands of Japanese tourists to the Swiss Alps.[1]

[edit] Afrikaans Version

Dubbed for the SABC by Leephy Studios, the show was incredibly popular during the 1980's. The opening and closing title music is unique to the Afrikaans version, in the form of the traditional song 'Heidi' sung in German with an orchestral accompaniment.

[edit] English Versions

Despite this series' international popularity, it is less well-known in the English language. The entire series has been re-dubbed into English on two separate occasions - first in the late 1970s, when the series was shown in the Philippines, and again in 2001 for broadcast in India on Cartoon Network. Although this dub was done by the animation studio for airing in India, they never included the English audio on subsequent DVD releases. Interestingly, none of the DVD releases around the world have English subtitles on them as well.

[edit] U.S. Release

However, the only version of the Heidi anime to have been commercially released in the United States is the feature-length movie version of the TV series, released in Japanese theaters in 1979 and directly to home video in the U.S. sometime in the 1980s by Pacific Arts under the title The Story of Heidi. The American version was produced by Claudio Guzman and Charles Ver Halen and featured a voice cast including Randi Kiger as Heidi, Billy Whitaker as Peter, Michelle Laurita as Clara, Vic Perrin as Alm-Ohi, and legendary voice talent Janet Waldo as Aunt Dete.[2]

[edit] Movie

A feature length film was edited from the series in 1979 by Zuiyo (which by then was a separate entity from Nippon Animation, which employed many of the TV series' animation staff). All cast were replaced excluding Heidi and the grandfather. This movie is also the only incarnation of the Heidi anime to have been released commercially in America in English (on home video in the 1980s). Isao Takahata remarked "Neither Hayao Miyazaki nor I are completely related to any shortening version" on this work.[citation needed]

[edit] Trivia

Peter, Clara, Heidi, and her Dog Joseph
  • The opening credit roll was animated by Hayao Miyazaki, except for two scenes by experienced animator Yasuji Mori. Assigned to animate a ring dance of Heidi and Peter, Mori wanted to analyze a movement of two real people, so Miyazaki and animation director Yôichi Kotabe did a ring dance in a parking lot next to their studio, and Mori shot them with an 8 mm camera for reference.[citation needed]
  • The dog Joseph was renamed in several foreign versions of the anime. In the Spanish, Italian and Portuguese versions, the dog was renamed with the word for "fog" in their respective languages - respectively, "Niebla," "Nebbia," and "Névoa". In the English dub of the movie released in the U.S., the dog is called "Bernard" - likely due to the fact that he is a St. Bernard.
  • In the Spanish version, many scenes were deleted with no justification.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kirby, Emma Jane (25 September, 2001). "BBC News: Heidi draws pilgrims from Japan". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1562770.stm. Retrieved on 2009-04-01. 
  2. ^ "The Story of Heidi". kiddiematinee.com. http://www.kiddiematinee.com/s-storyheidi.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-01. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The works of Hayao Miyazaki
Films
TV series
Director, screenplay and storyboard: Lupin III • Future Boy Conan • Sherlock Hound
Scene design and layout: Heidi, Girl of the Alps • 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother • Anne of Green Gables
OVA
Director, screenplay and storyboard: Lupin III's Greatest Capers
Manga
Miscellaneous
Director, screenplay and storyboard: On Your Mark • Mei and the Kittenbus • Mizugumo Monmon
v • d • e
World Masterpiece Theater by Nippon Animation
Calpis Comic Theater
Dororo · Moomin · Andersen Stories · New Moomin · Fables of the Green Forest · Heidi, Girl of the Alps
Calpis Children's Theater
Calpis Family Theater
World Masterpiece Theater
House Foods World Masterpiece Theater
World Masterpiece Theater
House Foods World Masterpiece Theater
Related articles
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi,_Girl_of_the_Alps"
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