Heidi (2015 TV series)

Heidi is a French animated children's TV series based on Heidi by Johanna Spyri. The original 2007 television series was a Swiss-French-Australian co-production in 27 episodes of 26 minutes. The series premiered on the Swiss network Télévision Suisse Romande on December 22, 2007 and in high definition on Swiss HD. In France, Studio 100 Animation bought the rights in 2013 and produced a 3D series of 39 episodes of 26 minutes each, directed by Jérôme Mouscadet. The series has been distributed in 138 countries around the world.

Production

From the writing bible, written by Christel Gonnard and indirectly basing itself of Johanna Spyri's novel, the series was produced from 2013-14, mainly in France, with the intention of renewing it to the modern children's audience, that way much like Maya the Bee and Vicky the Viking before, including being done by the same main studio, on the behalf of ZDF, but in this production, multiple other companies, including the Australia-based, specifically-made Heidi Pyl, joined in on making the series.

Changes

From Heidi, Girl of the Alps, for time and/or other reasons, were several changes made in this version:

- The characterizations were heavily simplified; for example, with Heidi, her emotions were more up-played and her friendship with Peter is less affected by his beating tendencies of the goats.
- Sub-plots from Heidi's relationship with the fir trees to the finding and soon living in the winter home were either altered (inclduing with simplification) or removed entirely.
- Many of the base series' more episodic plots were re-told; the "Sad News-Snowflake" two-parter is told as: "Save Sweetheart", where the butcher is independent of the goat, the plants searched for saving the goat is in a singular place and adds the sub-plot of Therese trying to keep the flock at bay, while Peter and Heidi climbs for the plants.
- Clara's training to being walking begins while Heidi's still in Frankfurt and progresses from there to episode thirty-eight.
- Elements from the two-part novel, including the religious elements (generally removed in the base series for comprehensability issues with the more current Buddhist audience) are returned, sometimes loosely; Heidi's tendend prayers to the little star is based on her praying to God, to find a way to get her home to the Alm, as inspired by Clara's grandmother's advice.

Reception

While it was an simple sucsess in France, in countries where the base series is well-loved, from Mexico to Germany, at the most positiive, it'd gotten an lukewarm reaction, including claims from Latin fans that the story changes "ruined" the entire series, as similar with many such series. In Germany, has the reincarnation of the famous German theme song, now sung by folk star Andreas Gabalier, been critized for his harshly flat singing ability.

Worldwide titles

France: Heidi - TF1
Norway*: Historien om Heidi ("The Story of Heidi") - NRK Super (no longer airing, since 2017)
Latin America: Heidi 3D - Disney Channel (Latin America)
Germany: Heidi - ZDF and KiKA
Austria: Heidi - ORF1
Hungary*: Heidi - Minimax
Spain: Heidi 3D - CLAN and Canal Panda
Portugal: Heidi 3D - Canal Panda
Italy: Heidi - Rai YoYo
Brazil: Heidi 3D - Disney Channel Brasil
Mexico: Heidi 3D - Cartoon Network Mexico (second airing in the country)
Switzerland: Heidi - Télévision Suisse Romande (the original French version)

• The country has not aired Heidi, Girl of the Alps before this series.