2015-03-22
Overnight Thread ("The Story of Heidi")
One of the great cruelties for animation lovers is how Heidi, Girl of the Alps - the landmark anime series created by Isao Takahata, Hayao Miyazaki and Yoichi Kotabe - became an international success everywhere in in the world, except for the United States. For reasons that remain unknown, this classic cartoon series was never broadcast on our shores.
However, there was this one exception: a "greatest hits" movie compilation of Heidi which appeared on VHS. I don't yet know who was responsible for publishing the title, or who produced the English language dub. The videocassette is long out-of-print and a rare find on Ebay. If you find a copy, expect to pay a hundred dollars or more.
Here is "The Story of Heidi" in its entirety. It skims over the 1974 TV series fairly well, thanks to the concise structure of the original children's novel, and Takahata's expert pacing. I do believe he was also responsible for the "movie" versions of Heidi, Marco and Anne, although he was never very happy with the idea of truncating his masterworks. But business is business.
Let's see how busy I am tomorrow, and if we can't get a few posts published Monday. Enjoy the Heidi video!
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However, there was this one exception: a "greatest hits" movie compilation of Heidi which appeared on VHS. I don't yet know who was responsible for publishing the title, or who produced the English language dub. The videocassette is long out-of-print and a rare find on Ebay. If you find a copy, expect to pay a hundred dollars or more.
The video was released by Michael Nesmith's "Pacific Arts Company". The VHS tape even had a promo for Elephant Parts at the end I recall. The dub I assume was done in the late 70's. A "VG Productions" is credited in the ending, and appears to match the same copyright for the Mexican dub of the series.
There are a few noted actors involved in the dub here. Grandpa is voiced by Vic "Outer Limits" Perrin, Janet "Judy Jetson" Waldo voices Aunt Dete, and Alan "Fred Flintstone" Reed played two different small roles. These were not pluck-off-the-streets people (unlike the children they had for Heidi, Clara and Peter, but at least they had kids do those voices).
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