Little Pollon | |
![]() Memorial Box #1 DVD cover おちゃめ神物語コロコロポロン Ochamegami Monogatari Korokoro Poron C'era una volta... Pollon | |
おちゃめ神物語コロコロポロン (Ochamegami Monogatari Korokoro Poron) | |
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Genre | Adventure, comedy[1] |
Manga | |
Written by | Hideo Azuma |
Published by | Akita Shoten |
Magazine | Princess[2] |
Demographic | Shōjo |
Original run | 1977 – 1979 |
Volumes | 2 |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Takao Yotsuji |
Studio | Kokusai Eiga-sha |
Original network | Fuji TV |
Original run | May 8, 1982 – March 26, 1983 |
Episodes | 46 |
Little Pollon[1] (Japanese: おちゃめ神物語コロコロポロン, Hepburn: Ochamegami Monogatari Korokoro Poron, lit. "The Story of Little Goddess Roly-Poly Pollon") aka POLON[3] is a musical Greek mythology-based Japanese anime series, based on the 1977 manga series Olympus no Pollon (オリンポスのポロン, Orinposu no Poron, "Pollon of Olympus") by Hideo Azuma.[2][4] The anime television series aired in 1982 on Fuji TV lasting 46 episodes. The series is noted for its faithful portrayal of the Gods of Mount Olympus as fallible beings succumbing to real human faults and weaknesses, such as selfishness, temper tantrums, debauchery, laziness, and vanity.
The main character of the story is Pollon, a sweet, precocious little girl who is the daughter of the God of the Sun, Apollo. Pollon's goal in life is to grow up to become a beautiful and powerful goddess. She attempts to do good deeds and help out any way she can in order to achieve the status of godhood. Invariably, her overtures backfire and end up causing major trouble for both the gods of Olympus and their human subjects. However, Pollon's kind heart, perseverance and indomitable spirit win out in the end, as she attains the title of "Goddess of Hope".
In addition to its success in Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, Little Pollon has been a very successful television program in France on La Cinq in the late 1980s under the title La Petite Olympe et les Dieux, with Pollon's name changed to "Olympe". In Italy, the series was successfully broadcast in Italia 1, with the title "C'era una volta... Pollon". In Spain, the series was broadcast with the name La Pequeña Polon; in the region of Catalonia, it was known as La Petita Polon, and it was also distributed on VHS in Spanish. Only 24 episodes of the 46 were dubbed in Spanish and Catalan.
Light Beam Productions, Inc. holds the U.S. distribution to the anime series, commercially released on Betamax and VHS.
PolyGram Pictures, PolyGram Television, PolyGram Video and Spectrum Video hold the U.K. license to the anime series, commercially released on Laserdisc, Betamax and VHS.
Enoki Films USA holds the second U.S. license to the anime series, released on DVD.
The Little Pollon production team followed up the series in 1983 with another anime based on a Hideo Azuma manga, Nanako SOS. In one scene in Nanako SOS, the Little Pollon anime is being played on television.