Heidi, Girl of the Alps
In the summer of 1973, Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki traveled to Maienfeld in Switzerland. They spent two days walking through the mountains that would become the backdrop for their new animated series. Yōichi Kotabe joined them as the character designer and animation director. This trip was not a vacation but a research mission. Takahashi asked his staff to make a scout trip so they could carefully study the locations for the series. The group stayed at the Heidialp hut which served as an inspiration for the grandfather's cottage. Before this trip, Kotabe had drawn Heidi with two pigtails based on Yasuji Mori's previous design. A Swiss librarian told him that a five-year-old girl who lives in the mountains wouldn't be able to tie one. He removed the pigtails immediately after hearing this advice. For the grandfather's design, Kotabe took inspiration from a wooden carved figure in a local souvenir shop. He quickly sketched it without being noticed by the shopkeeper. These specific observations formed the visual foundation of the show.
The animation studio responsible for Heidi, Zuiyo Enterprise, split in 1975 into Nippon Animation. Nippon Animation employed the anime's production staff and continued with the World Masterpiece Theater franchise. Zuiyo retained the rights and debt to the Heidi TV series. This corporate division created a complex situation for future releases. The feature-length film edit of the TV series released in March 1979 was engineered completely by Zuiyo. There was no additional involvement from Nippon Animation, Takahata or Miyazaki. They had already left both companies by 1979. Zuiyo also re-edited the series in two OVAs released in 1993. These films were 89 minutes long and 91 minutes long respectively. The actors' voices were re-recorded in a new Hi-Fi stereo format. The titles were released by Zuiyo on VHS and Laserdisc on the 21st of April 1993. This separation meant that the original creative team could not oversee later adaptations of their work.
Heidi Girl of the Alps has been dubbed into about twenty languages. The TV series reached major stardom in Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Arab world and South Africa. In Spain, the series debuted on TVE on the 2nd of May 1975. It became one of the most popular anime of all time there. Even though the theme songs and insert songs were kept in Japanese for the broadcast, they were recorded in Spanish by RCA for the soundtrack releases. A Latin Spanish dub was produced in 1978 in Mexico with Heidi voiced by Cristina Camargo. This version reused the theme songs recorded in Spain. In Portugal, the series was first broadcast from the 22nd of February 1976 to the 22nd of May 1977 on RTP1 in Japanese with Portuguese subtitles. The Brazilian Portuguese dub started from 1980 by Rede Tupi, Rede Record, and later by SBT. These versions featured all the songs in Portuguese. The German-language version was first broadcast in Austria on ORF from the 28th of May 1977 to the 10th of June 1978. Later it aired in Germany on ZDF from the 18th of September 1977 to the 24th of September 1978. For this broadcast, an entirely new soundtrack was composed by Gert Wilden.
In Spain, the name Rottenmeier became synonymous with uptight straight-laced hag among Spaniards. It has subsequently been used to describe multiple female politicians and the Spanish parliament. The song Abuelito dime tú became one of the best known children's songs in Spain. Heidi herself became one of both Sélica Torcal and Marisa Marco's most famous roles. A comic book adaptation turned continuation of the series published bi-weekly by Ediciones Recreativas consisted of over an hundred issues from 1975 to 1981. In Germany, the title song was performed by the Schlager folk duo Gitti und Erika. Lyrics were written by Andrea Wagner and Wolfgang Weinzierl. The dub was produced in Munich by Beta-Technik with twelve-year-old actress Kristin Fiedler as Heidi. The German version also influenced other countries. The French version retained the opening theme re-recorded in French. The Italian dub featured the same soundtrack and dialogue adaptation. The Italian title song was sung by Elisabetta Viviani. This widespread localization transformed a Japanese production into a global cultural touchstone.
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Common questions
When did Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki travel to Switzerland for the Heidi Girl of the Alps research mission?
Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki traveled to Maienfeld in Switzerland during the summer of 1973. They spent two days walking through the mountains that would become the backdrop for their new animated series.
Who designed the character of Heidi for the 1974 Japanese animated TV series?
Yōichi Kotabe joined the production team as the character designer and animation director for Heidi Girl of the Alps. He removed the pigtails from the initial design after a Swiss librarian advised him that a five-year-old mountain girl could not tie them.
Which company split into Nippon Animation and Zuiyo Enterprise in 1975?
The animation studio responsible for Heidi, Zuiyo Enterprise, split in 1975 into Nippon Animation. Nippon Animation employed the anime's production staff while Zuiyo retained the rights and debt to the Heidi TV series.
On what date was the feature-length film edit of Heidi Girl of the Alps released by Zuiyo?
The feature-length film edit of the TV series released in March 1979 was engineered completely by Zuiyo. There was no additional involvement from Nippon Animation, Takahata or Miyazaki because they had already left both companies by 1979.
When did the Heidi Girl of the Alps TV series debut on TVE in Spain?
In Spain, the series debuted on TVE on the 2nd of May 1975. It became one of the most popular anime of all time there despite the theme songs being kept in Japanese for the broadcast.