| World Famous Fairy Tale Series | |
| 世界名作童話 まんがシリーズ (Sekai meisaku dōwa manga shirīzu) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Adventure, fantasy, romance |
| Anime film | |
| Directed by | Akinori Orai, Hiroshi Shidara, Kazukiyo Shigeno, Kazumi Fukushima, Masamune Ochiai, Masayuki Akehi, Osamu Kasai, Tokiji Kaburaki, Tomoharu Katsumata, Tsunekiyo Otani, Yasuo Yamaguchi, Yoshikatsu Kasai, Yūgo Serikawa |
| Written by | Masaki Tsuji, Michiru Shimada, Tadaaki Yamazaki, Tomomi Tsutsui |
| Music by | Shigeru Miyashita |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Licensed by | Toei Company, Fujifilm |
| Released | October 1975 – February 1983 |
The World's Greatest Fairy Tales, also known as Fairy Tale Classics or Children's Classics and known in Japan as World Famous Fairy Tale Series (世界名作童話 まんがシリーズ Sekai Meisaku Dōwa Manga Shirīzu?, lit. "World Masterpiece Fairy Tale Manga Series"; also known as: 世界名作童話館 Sekai Meisaku Dōwa-kan, lit. "World Masterpiece Children's Fairy Tale Hall") is a Japanese anime series of short films based on fairy tales and classic stories, produced by Toei Animation between 1975 and 1983.
It consists of 20 10-minutes short films, on which many different artists worked over the years, such as Grendizer's directors Masayuki Akehi and Tomoharu Katsumata.[1] Each short is based on a popular fairy tale or a literature classic as in the case of The Wizard of Oz. All the episodes narration is provided by Kyōko Kishida while the opening song is sung by Naoko Watanabe.[1]
The series of shorts was released in Japan by Toei Company and Fujifilm on Single-8 in three blocks: 10 episodes in October 1975, 5 in February 1979 and other 5 in February 1983.[2][3][1] The shorts later aired on TV Tokyo in April 1988, and in 1991 the series was also released on VHS by Toei Video as Sekai Meisaku Dōwa-kan.[4][5]
Some of this stories would be later adapted by Toei in its feature length fairy tale movie series: Sekai Meisaku Dōwa and in the TV anime series World Fairy Tale Series.
In the US, the first 10 shorts aired in 1978 on CBS and in Syndacation in a version produced by Fred Ladd titled The World's Greatest Fairy Tales.[6] In 1983 Harmony Gold dubbed the second block of 5 episodes, that were released on VHS in the Children's Video Library series under the title Fairy Tale Classics (title card reads: Children's Classics).[7] In 1986 4 episodes from the third block were adapted by Saban Entertainment in its version of Studio Unicorn's My Favorite Fairy Tales (leaving Little Red Riding Hood unpublished).[8][9][10]
The series was also released in French (Contes Japonais), Italian (Le più famose favole del mondo).[11][12]
| # | Title | First released |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Hansel and Gretel" Transliteration: "Henzeru to Gureteru" (Japanese: ヘンゼルとグレーテル) | October 1975 |
| 2 | "Thumbelina" Transliteration: "Oyayubi hime" (Japanese: おやゆび姫) | October 1975 |
| 3 | "Jack and the Beanstalk" Transliteration: "Jakku to mame no ki" (Japanese: ジャックと豆の木) | October 1975 |
| 4 | "The North Wind and the Sun" Transliteration: "Kitakaze to taiyō" (Japanese: アラジンとふしぎなランプ) | October 1975 |
| 5 | "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp" Transliteration: "Arajin to fushigina ranpu" (Japanese: アラジンとふしぎなランプ) | October 1975 |
| 6 | "The Emperor's New Clothes" Transliteration: "Hadaka no sama" (Japanese: はだかの王様) | October 1975 |
| 7 | "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" Transliteration: "Nana hiki no koyagi" (Japanese: 七ひきの子やぎ) | October 1975 |
| 8 | "The Wild Swans" Transliteration: "Hakuchō no ōji" (Japanese: 白鳥の王子) | October 1975 |
| 9 | "The Ears of King Midas" Transliteration: "Ōsama no mimi wa roba no mimi" (Japanese: 王様の耳はロバの耳) | October 1975 |
| 10 | "The Little Match Girl" Transliteration: "Macchi uri no shōjo" (Japanese: マッチ売りの少女) | October 1975 |
| 11 | "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" Transliteration: "Ari Baba to 40-nin no tōzoku" (Japanese: アリババと40人の盗賊) | February 1979 |
| 12 | "The Ugly Duckling" Transliteration: "Minikui ahiru no ko" (Japanese: みにくいあひるの子) | February 1979 |
| 13 | "Cinderella" Transliteration: "Shinderera hime" (Japanese: シンデレラ姫) | February 1979 |
| 14 | "The Red Shoes" Transliteration: "Akai kutsu" (Japanese: 赤い靴) | February 1979 |
| 15 | "Town Musicians of Bremen" Transliteration: "Burēmen no ongaku tai" (Japanese: ブレーメンの音楽隊) | February 1979 |
| 16 | "Little Red Riding Hood" Transliteration: "Akazukin-chan" (Japanese: 赤ずきんちゃん) | February 1983 |
| 17 | "The Cobbler and the Elves" Transliteration: "Kobito to kutsuya" (Japanese: こびとと靴屋) | February 1983 |
| 18 | "Sleeping Beauty" Transliteration: "Nemuri hime" (Japanese: ねむり姫) | February 1983 |
| 19 | "The Wizard of Oz" Transliteration: "Ozu no mahōtsukai" (Japanese: オズの魔法使い) | February 1983 |
| 20 | "The Magic Carpet" Transliteration: "Mahō no jūtan" (Japanese: 魔法のじゅうたん) | February 1983 |