It was in Pippi’s development, and afterwards these two short films, that the philosophical and aesthetic principles behind Heidi were born: an exploration of mundane life, and a detailed, realistic kind of animation that would render the small movements and attitudes of daily life. ![]() ![]() Several ideas from Pippi would then be reused in 1972’s Panda Kopanda, which was conceived earlier that year and released in the Fall, with its sequel Rainy Day Circus coming out shortly afterwards in March 1973. After a trip to Sweden in August 1971, however, original author Astrid Lindgren refused to greenlight an adaptation of her work. As is well known, the three men left Tôei Dôga in 1971, invited over to the studio A Production by their old friend and collaborator Yasuo Otsuka with the promise of being able to adapt the children’s story Pippi Longstockings they had already been impressed by Otsuka’s accomplishments on the 1969 Moomin series. The second line is, of course, the one that involved the Isao Takahata-Hayao Miyazaki-Yôichi Kotabe trio. This was not long after the complex Moomin situation and the beginning of Zuiyo and Mushi’s relationship maybe it was the long-held ambition of adapting Heidi that led to the creation of Zuiyo Video in late 1972. Perhaps thankfully, the project was not greenlit at the time still, Takahashi didn’t give up, and on February 28, 1971, he pitched the idea to scriptwriter Isao Matsuki, who would go on to be the head writer of the series. The character designs are completely different from that of the final TV show much more complex and slender, they are also clearly inspired by 60’s shôjo manga aesthetics. In 5 minutes, the film quickly retraces the main elements of the original 1880 novel: it stops when Heidi comes back from Frankfurt and doesn’t cover Clara’s trip to the Alps, which makes up the second novel from 1881, and which would play such an important role in Takahata’s version. TCJ Video Center produced a first pilot by then, which was the character design debut of Toyô Ashida. The first is from Zuiyo Video founder Shigeto Takahashi, who had had the idea of adapting Johanna Spyri’s novel as early as 1967. If we go back to Heidi’s origin, it becomes apparent that the show came about thanks to the crossing of two careers and desires that happened to intersect. Considering the theme of this series, this article will instead put Heidi back in its historical context: that of the extended World Masterpiece canon, and of 1974 anime. Much has already been said about Heidi, especially on its status as a so-called “pre-Ghibli” work or on how representative it is of Takahata’s style and philosophy. One of the most important and influential works in the history of Japanese animation, Isao Takahata’s first series for Zuiyo Video would set a gold standard for all subsequent World Masterpiece Theater entries. Heidi, Girl of the Alps needs no introduction. Discover the previous show in the series here This article is part of the World Masterpiece Theater Production History series. Incidentally, Takeo Watanabe’s entire soundtrack for the series can be listened to here – truly one of his finest achievements, and a huge part of what makes the series so beautiful! Very special thanks to Mew and Pilo for their valuable help in the creation of this article. ![]() This article was co-written with Toadette
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