The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (TV series)

Television series

The Wonderful Adventures of Nils

DVD cover

ニルスのふしぎな旅
Genre| Adventure, fantasy
Created by| Selma Lagerlöf
Anime television series
Directed by| Hisayuki Toriumi
Music by| Chito Kawachi [ja]
Studio| Studio Pierrot
Licensed by|

* NA: Discotek Media

Original network| NHK General TV
Original run|  8 January 1980  –  17 March 1981
Episodes| 52

The wonderful Adventures of Nils[1] (ニルスのふしぎな旅, Nirusu no Fushigi na Tabi) is an anime adaptation of the 1906 novel The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf.[2] The 52-episode series aired on the Japanese network NHK from January 1980 to March 1981.[1] It was the first production by Studio Pierrot. The anime largely follows the original story, with the addition of Nils's pet hamster and an expanded role for Smirre the fox. The music was composed by Czech musician Karel Svoboda, while Chito Kawachi [ja] provided the soundtrack for the original Japanese broadcast and several international versions.

The anime was also broadcast in Canada (in French), France, Germany, Sweden, Finland ("Peukaloisen retket" – "Thumbling's Travels"), Iceland (as "Nilli Hólmgeirsson"), the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece (as "Το θαυμαστό ταξίδι του Νίλς Χόλγκερσον" – "The wondrous journey of Nils Holgersson"), Bulgaria ("Чудното пътуване на Нилс Холгерсон с дивите гъски" – "The wondrous journey of Nils Holgersson with the Wild Geese"), Poland (as "Nils and the wild geese"), Portugal, Romania (as "Aventurile lui Nils Holgersson"), in the Arab world (as "مغامرات نيلز" – "Nils's Adventures"), Spain, Slovenia (as "Nils Holgerson" with only one "s"), Slovakia (again as "Nils Holgerson"), Hungary (as "Nils Holgersson csodálatos utazása a vadludakkal"), Israel (as "נילס הולגרסון" – "Nils Holgersson"), Iran (as "ماجراهای نیلز"), Turkey (as "Nils ve Uçan Kaz" – "Nils and the Flying Goose"), Italy, Hong Kong (dubbed into Cantonese), Mainland China, South Africa (in Afrikaans as "Die wonderlike avonture van Nils Holgerson"), and Albania (as "Aventurat e Nils Holgersonit"). In some countries it was edited for length to allow for commercials. In Germany, the episodes of the animated series were also combined into a full-length animated feature (1h 22min) released in 1981; that feature was also dubbed and released in Estonia and Greece on DVD and VHS. The anime was also adapted into a German comic book series, with art by the Spanish Studio Interpublic and the German Atelier Roche.

## Plot

[edit]

Nils Holgersson is a 14-year-old farm boy, the son of poor farmers. He is lazy and disrespectful to others. In his spare time he enjoys tormenting the animals that live on his family farm.

One Sunday, while his parents are at church and have left him home to read the day's homily in the family Bible, Nils captures a tomte in a net. In exchange for his freedom, the tomte offers Nils a large gold coin. Nils rejects the offer, so the tomte shrinks him (and accidentally his pet hamster Carrot) to a tiny size. The transformation also grants Nils the ability to understand the animals. The farm animals are delighted to see their tormentor reduced to their size and become hungry for revenge. Meanwhile, wild geese are flying over the farm during their spring migration, and they taunt a white farm goose named Morten (whom Nils has also tormented by typing a rope around his neck). Morten decides he wants to join the wild flock. Escaping from the angry animals, Nils scrambles onto Morten's back with Carrot, and they join the flock of wild geese flying towards Lapland for the summer.

The wild geese, who are not pleased at all to be joined by a human boy and a domestic goose, eventually take him on an adventurous trip across all the historical provinces of Sweden. They encounter many adventures and characters, such as Smirre the fox who is the flock's sworn enemy. Nils's adventures, as well as the characters and situations he encounters, teach him the importance of helping others and not to be selfish. In the course of the trip, Nils learns that if he can prove he has changed for the better, the tomte might be disposed to change him back to his normal size.

## Main characters

[edit]

* Nils – A 14-year-old boy, the main protagonist of the series. He lives with his family on a farm in southern Sweden. He is lazy and disrespectful to others and enjoys tormenting the animals on the farm. After the farm's tomte magically shrinks Nils smaller than the animals, he gains the ability to speak and understand animals's language. When the farm animals seek revenge, Nils flies away with a flock of wild geese on their migration to the north of Sweden for the summer. During his journey, he learns a lot a about compassion and friendships, but desires to be restored to his original size.
* Carrot – Nils's pet hamster. He shrinks along with Nils due to being on his hat when the tomte enchants him. He joins Nils on his journey and becomes one of his closest friends and confident. Carrot's name sometimes appears as Crumb.
* Morten – A goose originally belonging to Nils's family. He desires to go to Lapland, so he flies away from the farm, and accidentally brings Nils and Carrot along with him. On their journey, Morten does everything he can to prove himself wothy enough to fly with the wild geese. He and Nils have their differences, but eventually learn to care for each other and become true friends.
* Captain Akka (Akka of Kebnekaise) - The leader and matriarch of the wild geese flock. She is strict but also wise and kind-hearted. She cares very much for Nils, understanding his needs and difficulties as a human and highly values his personal growth throughout their journey. Over time, Akka's becomes both of a mentor and a guardian for Nils.
* Gunnar – Akka's second in command, a quite stern goose. After he falls in love with Ingrid, he learns to loosen up.
* Gusta – An often grumpy goose, and Lasse's best friend. However, when Lasse marries his crush Suirii, Gusta starts to tease him. He is the only goose who does not marry.
* Lasse – An often hungry, fun-loving goose. He is Gusta's best friend, but their friendship goes stale when Suirii chooses Lasse over Gusta as her mate. They later make amends.
* Ingrid – A beautiful, elegant female goose, who warmly welcomes Morten into the flock. Later, she partners with Gunnar.
* Suirii – A female goose, who sings with a very high pitch voice and annoys everyone with it. She fell in love with Lasse.
* Dunfuin – A warm-hearted, though not very bright female goose, who joins Akka's flock after her injured wing separates her from her former flock. She marries Morten, who is madly in love with her at first sight.
* Smirre – A fox and the series' primary antagonist, who wants to catch and eat the wild geese. Thanks to Nils, he never succeeds. Smirre follows the wild geese all the way to Lapland, motivated by a personal revenge on Nils for always humiliating him.
* Gorgo – A large black eagle, found in an empty nest by Akka years ago. She raised him and taught him how to survive by eating fish, instead of preying on the geese. Years later, he was captured by hunters and sold to a zoo, from where Nils saved him. Nils, Carrot and Gorgo then fly the last stretch together to Lappland. Unfortunately, Gorgo must stay in Lappland when the wild geese leave Lappland to fly south for winter.
* Ermenrich – The stork, who originally nested on the roof of Nils's family's house. He knows Akka and the tomte very well, and often serves as a contact maker between them, whenever Akka tries to convince the tomte to change Nils back. He often helps Nils throughout various adventures and shows them beautiful sites of Sweden.

## Episodes

[edit]

1. Mischievous Nils - 8 January 1980
2. Shrunken Nils - 15 January 1980
3. Riding a goose - 22 January 1980
4. SOS of the forest squirrels - 29 January 1980
5. Morten's big pinch - 5 February 1980
6. Bird strength contest - 12 February 1980
7. Battle of the mice - 26 February 1980
8. The crane's ball - 4 March 1980
9. Hungry Nils - 11 March 1980
10. Lex's evil seheme - 18 March 1980
11. Walking lead statue - 25 March 1980
12. Morten's first love - 1 April 1980
13. Goats of Hell's valley - 8 April 1980
14. Phantom town appearing on moonlit nights - 15 April 1980
15. The greedy crow and the coin bowl - 22 April 1980
16. Choose a crow boss - 29 April 1980
17. Ransomed duck child - 6 May 1980
18. The lake disappears - 27 May 1980
19. Spoiled fawn - 3 June 1980
20. Snake's revenge - 10 June 1980
21. A testy witch's prank - 17 June 1980
22. Bear twins who prowl the forest - 24 June 1980
23. Flood of swan lake - 1 July 1980
24. Operation 'To hell with Lex the guard-dog' - 8 July 1980
25. Rescue party from the sky - 15 July 1980
26. One stormy day - 22 July 1980
27. The story until now / Morten's engagement - 5 August 1980
28. Nils singing on a street corner - 19 August 1980
29. Arrested eagle - 26 August 1980
30. The taste of freshly baked bread - 9 September 1980
31. Monster of the forest - 16 September 1980
32. Look out, Nils: A mountain fire - 30 September 1980
33. Patrol of five - 7 October 1980
34. Battle of the spirits of sun and ice - 14 October 1980
35. Goose guard child looking for his father - 21 October 1980
36. Bird love - 4 November 1980
37. Morten the rookie papa - 11 November 1980
38. Lapland, land where the sun never sets - 25 November 1980
39. Don't follow me, Golgo - 2 December 1980
40. Wolf attack - 9 December 1980
41. Lake fire festival - 16 December 1980
42. Big man who built a forest - 23 December 1980
43. Nils's lullaby - 13 January 1981
44. Bataki shut in - 20 January 1981
45. Haunted house on a full moon - 27 January 1981
46. Sea shining silver - 3 February 1981
47. Main event of the village festival - 10 February 1981
48. Lex's new journey - 17 February 1981
49. Nils-discovers a secret - 24 February 1981
50. Wild goose's present - 3 March 1981
51. To my old home - 10 March 1981
52. Goodbye, Akka - 17 March 1981

## Cast

[edit]

* Nils: Mami Koyama
* Carrot: Tadashi Yamazaki (character original to anime)
* Morten: Yoshito Yasuhara
* Akka: Nobuko Terashima
* Gunnar: Hideyuki Tanaka
* Ingrid: Minori Matsushima
* Gusta: Shigeru Chiba
* Lasse: Kenichi Ogata
* Suirii: Yoneko Matsukane
* Dunfin: Kumiko Takizawa
* Gorgo: Tesshō Genda
* Lex: Kei Tomiyama
* Fairy: Ryōji Saikachi
* Emmerich: Sanji Hase
* Nils's Father: Masane Tsukayama
* Nils's Mother: Masako Ikeda

## Regional releases

[edit]

A Japanese DVD Region 2 box set of the series was produced in 2002, and a French DVD box set in 2005. The TV movie was released in Bulgaria by A-design. There was also a Greek DVD (and possibly VHS) movie version (which is based on the German film version mentioned at around the start of the article) released around in 2004 by Digi Time Junior[3] and Panta & Leon (Πάντα & Λέων)[4] and possibly the series around 2008.[5] Discotek Media released the TV series with subtitles in 2020. An Afrikaans DVD box set of the series was also produced.

### 1982 Video Movie

[edit]

This movie shot in 1982, by the same technical team and director, has the same characteristics as the TV series, but is independent and was shot separately. The production dubbed in Swedish and was not shown theatrically, but released as a VHS video in 1985.[6]

## Broadcast and Reception

[edit]

The series was later broadcast internationally, airing in countries including Canada (French), France, Germany, Sweden, Finland ("Peukaloisen retket"), Iceland ("Nilli Hólmgeirsson"), and Iran ("ماجراهای نیلز").[7] In Germany, episodes were compiled into a feature-length film in 1981 and released on DVD and VHS in other European markets.[7]

The anime has maintained a nostalgic following and was released on DVD in Japan (2002), France (2005), and North America by Discotek Media (2020).[8]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "The wonderful Adventures of Nils." Studio Pierrot. Retrieved on February 10, 2009.
2. ^ Jonathan Clements, Helen McCarthy. The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917. Revised and Expanded Edition. — Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2006. — P. 450. — ISBN 978-1-933330-10-5
3. ^ "Το θαυμαστό ταξίδι του Νιλς Χόλγκερσον: Η Ταινία (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (Movie))".
4. ^ Panda & Leon isn't mentioned but they are credited both in the film and the box art (i have no sources as i don't really have a functioning dvd drive to dump the disk or a scanner to scan the box art and it is really hard to find the film on the web)
5. ^ "Το Θαυμαστό Ταξίδι του Νιλς Χόλγκερσον (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (Nirusu no Fushigi na Tabi))".
6. ^ The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (movie), Animenewsnetwork, Access date: 06 May 2022
7. ^ a b Infogalactic article.
8. ^ Cite error: The named reference `Infogalacticmulti` was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

## External links

[edit]

* The wonderful Adventures of Nils
* (in Japanese) Nils no Fushigi na Tabi
* Nils no Fushigi na Tabi at IMDb
* The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (movie - 1982) at IMDb (Japanese title: Gekijô-ban Nirusu no fushigi na tabi)
* The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

* v
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* The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (1980–1981)
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