Heidi, Girl of the Alps (アルプスの少女ハイジ Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji) is a 1974 Japanese anime series by Zuiyo Eizo (now Nippon Animation) based on the Swiss novel Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning written by Johanna Spyri in 1880. The series consists of 52 episodes in total.
In the United States, the series was released as a compilation film in 1979, titled The Story of Heidi.
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Dubbing History[]
Despite the series' international popularity, it is less well known in the English language, due to the English-speaking market being mainly the United States at the time and anime having been faded there in the seventies.
The series was edited into a feature-length film by Zuiyo Company, Ltd. and released in the United States in 1979. This version was produced by Claudio Guzman and Charles Ver Halen, with the English translation and dialogue by Dick Strome. The dub for the film seemed to have been recorded in 1975, as the film's copyright date is listed as 1975 as well as one of the credited voice actors (Alan Reed) having died in 1977. It is possible this version was originally recorded as a full dub of the series and later decided it'd be more profitable to edit it into a film, but this is unknown. The version is distilled to only a small amount of central episodes, as well as so two of the sub-plots (of the adopted Pichi and Meow, respectively) were part of the main plot instead, as well as cutting many other scenes of the episodes, either by shortening them or, most often, removing them entirely. This dub also changes the name of the dog Josef to Bernard, ostensibly because he is a St. Bernard, as well as Pichi to Binky Bird.
An alternate dub of the full series is known to exist, but is difficult to find. This dub aired in November 1995 on Cartoon Network India, as well as re-airing in 2001. Where or when this dub was recorded is unknown, however. Although this English dub was done by Nippon Animation staff and actors for airing in India, they never included the English audio on subsequent DVD releases in Japan.
Cast[]
| Image | Character | Seiyū | Dub Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
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Heidi | Kazuko Sugiyama | Randi Kiger |
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Peter | Noriko Ohara | Billy Whitaker |
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Clara Sesemann | Rihoko Yoshida | Michelle Laurita |
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Grandfather | Kōhei Miyauchi | Vic Perrin |
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Miss Rottenmeier | Miyoko Asō | Jacquelyn Hyde |
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Grandmother | Terue Nunami | Irene Tedrow |
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Aunt Dete | Taeko Nakanishi | Janet Waldo |
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Brigette | Akiko Tsuboi | Julie McWhirter |
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Doctor | Vic Perrin | |
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Mr. Sesseman | Taimei Suzuki | Barney Phillips |
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Sebastian | Kaneta Kimotsuki | Alan Reed |
Additional Voices[]
- Julie McWhirter - Neighbor Lady
- Vic Perrin - Postman
- Barney Phillips - Mr. Kaehlin
- Alan Reed - Mr. Usher
- Lurene Tuttle - Clara's Grandmother
Transmission[]
| Date(s) | Channel | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980's | Nickelodeon, HBO | United States | 
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Video Releases[]
| Distributor | Year | Format | Region | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Arts Corporation | 1985 | 
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NTSC | United States |
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External Links[]
- Heidi, Girl of the Alps (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Heidi, Girl of the Alps at the Internet Movie Database