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Q: What is World Masterpiece Theater?
Sekai Meisaku Gekijo (World Masterpiece Theater) has been the jewel of Japanese TV animation for more than 20 years. It's a TV animation series based on classic children's literature, animated by Nippon Animation. Takahata and Miyazaki started this series with "Heidi", in 1974 (at that time, Nippon Animation was called Zuiyo Enterprise). Usually, a series based on one book takes one year to complete (50+ episodes), and a new series starts in the following year. To know more about WMT, visit WMT Web Page by Ben Ettinger.
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Q: Which WMT did Miyazaki and Takahata do?
Takahata directed and Miyazaki did layouts for "Heidi", "3000 Miles in Search of Mother", and "Anne of Green Gables". Takahata also directed and Miyazaki did key animation for one episode in "The Dog of Flanders" (#15), and Takahata wrote storyboards for two episodes of "Perrine's Story" (#3 & #6). Miyazaki also did key animation for 20 episodes of "Rascal the Raccoon".
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Based
on a novel by Johanna Spyri, "Alps no Shojo Heidi (Heidi)" was
directed by Takahata. Miyazaki did all the layouts of every episode, which
is something only a superhuman can do. It was the first of the Masterpiece
Theater series, and was a big success. It blew the competition, "Space
Battleship Yamato", out of the water (or shot them down). Its depiction
of Heidi's daily life in every detail was revolutionary as a "TV manga
for kids" at that time, and established Takahata's realistic directing
style.
Availabity in Japanese:
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Based
on a short story by Edmondo de Amicis, "Haha wo Tazunete 3000ri"
(3000 Miles in Search of Mother) is a story about an Italian boy, Marco,
and his journey in search of his mother. Italy was in a deep depression,
so to support her family, Marco's mother went to Argentina to work as a
domestic (Like Piccolo's sons went to America to work in "Porco Rosso").
But after she wrote to her family that she was sick, her letters stopped
coming. So, Marco decided to go to Argentina to look for her, only to find
she was no longer at the address Marco had. Marco had to travel across
Argentina to find her, meeing many wonderful people, encountering many
adventures in the process.
Takahata directed "3000ri", and Miyazaki did layout. This anime might be the distant ancestor of "Porco Rosso". Not only was the hero's name Marco (from Genova, as Porco is), but also the heroine's name was Fiolina. Marco took a ship named "Folgore" to Argentina. "Folgore", which means lightning, was the name of Porco's new engine in the movie, and the name of Porco's plane in the manga.
Availability in Japanese:
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Based
on a novel by Sterling North, "Araiguma Rascal (Rascal the Raccoon)"
is a story of a friendship between a boy, Sterling, and a raccoon, Rascal,
set in early 20th Century America. Rascal is still a very popular character
in Japan. Miyazaki did key animation for episodes #4-6, 10, 12-22, &
24-28.
Availablity in Japanese:
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Based
on a novel by Lucy Maude Montgomery, "Akage no Anne (Anne of Green
Gables)", a story about an orphan girl who came to live in Green Gables,
was directed by Takahata. Miyazaki did layouts up to the 15th episode,
but he left Nippon Animation for Tokyo Movie Shinsha to make "Lupin
III, The Castle of Cagliostro". The animation director was Yoshifumi
Kondo, the director of "Whisper
of the Heart". Takahata later edited the episodes up to #6 into
a film, which was released in 1990. French-dubbed "Anne" was
broadcast on French CBC in Canada recently.
Availability in Japanese:
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