Heidi, Girl of the Alps

Heidi, Girl of the Alps
File:Heidi.JPG Cover of Japanese DVD 1
Genre	Drama
Anime
Directed by	Isao Takahata
Studio	Zuiyo Eizo

Heidi, Girl of the Alps (アルプスの少女ハイジ, Arupusu no Shoujo 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 scene design and layout by Hayao Miyazaki. 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.

The Heidi anime was an extremely popular TV series in many countries all over the world. However, save for an English dub of the feature-length 1979 movie version of the TV series which appeared on VHS in the United States in 1985, the TV series was not dubbed into English in the United States until 2001. Another English dub is known to exist when the series was shown in the Philippines in the late 70s. However, none of the episodes have been released on VHS or DVD as of this writing.

Cast

• Kazuko Sugiyama as Heidi
• Kohei Miyauchi as Alm-Ohi
• Noriko Ohara as Peter
• Hiroko Maruyama as Peter (film version)
• Rihoko Yoshida as Clara Sesemann
• Keiko Han as Clara Sesemann (film version)
• Miyoko Asō as Rottenmeier
• Hisako Kyouda as Rottenmeier (film version)

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:

• TVE-1, Antena 3 (Spanish dub)
• Canal 5 (Spanish dub)
• ATC (Spanish dub)
• TVN Chile (Spanish dub)
• Antena Latina (Spanish dud)
• Boing, Italia1, Rai Uno, Rai Due (Italian dub)
• Kinderkanal, ZDF (German dub)
• ORF1 (German dub)
• AVRO (Dutch dub)
• SABC (Afrikaans dub)
• Saudi Arabian TV (Arabic dub, Translated in USA studios)'
• Cartoon Network India (English dub)
• Radio-Canada Canada (French dub)
• CCTV (Chinese dub)

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.

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.

Trivia

File:Heidiandfriends.jpg

Peter, Clara, Heidi, and her Dog

• 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 8mm camera for reference.

See also

• Heidi, the children's book on which this anime series was based.

External links

• Official site Template:Language icon
• Heidi, Girl of the Alps ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Heidi Art Exhibition in 2005 at the Ghibli Museum Template:Language icon