World Famous Fairy Tale Series

Japanese anime series of shorts

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "World Famous Fairy Tale Series" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

|

This article is about the 1975 series. For the 1993 series, see World Fairy Tale Series.

World Famous Fairy Tale Series

8 mm film cover for Thumbelina

世界名作童話 まんがシリーズ
(Sekai meisaku dōwa manga shirīzu)
Genre| Adventure, fantasy, romance
Anime film
Directed by| Tomoharu Katsumata (1), Masamune Ochiai (2), Masayuki Akehi (3), Hiroshi Shidara (4), Yasuo Yamaguchi (5), Osamu Kasai (6, 10), Yoshikatsu Kasai (7), Tsunekiyo Otani (8), Kazukiyo Shigeno (9), Kazumi Fukushima (11), Akinori Orai (12–13), Tokiji Kaburaki (14), Yūgo Serikawa (15), Atsutoshi Umezawa (16), Tadao Okubo (17), Junichi Sato (18), Yukio Kaizawa (19), Hiroyuki Ebata (20)
Written by| Masaki Tsuji (1, 3–5, 6–10), Tadaaki Yamazaki (2, 5), Tomomi Tsutsui (12, 13–15), Michiru Shimada (16–20)
Music by| Shigeru Miyashita
Studio| Toei Animation
Licensed by| Toei Company, Fujifilm
Released|  October 1975  –  February 1983

World Famous Fairy Tale Series (世界名作童話 まんがシリーズ, Sekai Meisaku Dōwa Manga Shirīzu, lit. "World Masterpiece Fairy Tale Manga Series"), also known as The World's Greatest Fairy Tales, Fairy Tale Classics, Classic Tales Retold, or Children's Classics, is a Japanese anime series of short films based on fairy tales and classic stories, produced by Toei Animation between 1975 and 1983.

## Premise[edit]

The series consists of 20 short films, on which many different artists worked over the years, such as Grendizer's directors Masayuki Akehi and Tomoharu Katsumata.[1] Each short runs 10 minutes and is based on a popular fairy tale or a literature classic as in the case of The Wizard of Oz. All of the narration is provided by Kyōko Kishida while Naoko Watanabe sings the opening songs.[1]

The films were released in Japan by Toei Company and Fujifilm on Single-8 in three blocks: 10 films in October 1975, 5 in February 1979 and other 5 in February 1983.[2][3][4][5]

The shorts later aired on TX Network in April 1988, and in 1991 the series was also released on VHS and Betamax by Toei Video, sometimes under the alternative titles Sekai Meisaku Dōwa-kan (世界名作童話館, lit. "World Masterpiece Children's Fairy Tale Hall") or Anime Meisaku Dōwa (アニメ名作童話, lit. "Anime Masterpiece Fairy Tale").[6][7][8][9]

Some of the stories would be later adapted by Toei in its feature length fairy tale movie series Sekai Meisaku Dōwa and in the TV anime series World Fairy Tale Series.

In the United States, the first 10 shorts aired in 1977 on CBS and in syndication in a version produced by Fred Ladd titled Classic Tales Retold. This version was later released on VHS in 1986 by Hi-Tops Video and on DVD in 2005 as The World's Greatest Fairy Tales.[10][11][12] In 1983 Harmony Gold dubbed the second block of 5 shorts, that were released on VHS in the Children's Video Library series under the title Fairy Tale Classics.[13] In 1986, 4 shorts from the third block were adapted by Saban Entertainment in its version of Studio Unicorn's My Favorite Fairy Tales (leaving Little Red Riding Hood unpublished).[14][15][16]

The series was also released in France (Contes Japonais), Italy (Le più famose favole del mondo) and other countries.[17][18]

## Cast[edit]

* Kyōko Kishida: Narrator
* Isao Hashizume: Miscellaneous (15–20)

## Short films[edit]

#  | Title  | First released

|
|

1| "Hansel and Gretel"
Transcription: "Henzeru to Gureteru" (Japanese: ヘンゼルとグレーテル)| October 1975 (October 1975)
2| "Thumbelina"
Transcription: "Oyayubi hime" (Japanese: おやゆび姫)| October 1975 (October 1975)
3| "Jack and the Beanstalk"
Transcription: "Jakku to mame no ki" (Japanese: ジャックと豆の木)| October 1975 (October 1975)
4| "The North Wind and the Sun"
Transcription: "Kitakaze to taiyō" (Japanese: アラジンとふしぎなランプ)| October 1975 (October 1975)
5| "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp"
Transcription: "Arajin to fushigina ranpu" (Japanese: アラジンとふしぎなランプ)| October 1975 (October 1975)
6| "The Emperor's New Clothes"
Transcription: "Hadaka no sama" (Japanese: はだかの王様)| October 1975 (October 1975)
7| "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids"
Transcription: "Nana hiki no koyagi" (Japanese: 七ひきの子やぎ)| October 1975 (October 1975)
8| "The Wild Swans"
Transcription: "Hakuchō no ōji" (Japanese: 白鳥の王子)| October 1975 (October 1975)
9| "The Ears of King Midas"
Transcription: "Ōsama no mimi wa roba no mimi" (Japanese: 王様の耳はロバの耳)| October 1975 (October 1975)
10| "The Little Match Girl"
Transcription: "Macchi uri no shōjo" (Japanese: マッチ売りの少女)| October 1975 (October 1975)
11| "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves"
Transcription: "Ari Baba to 40-nin no tōzoku" (Japanese: アリババと40人の盗賊)| February 1979 (February 1979)
12| "The Ugly Duckling"
Transcription: "Minikui ahiru no ko" (Japanese: みにくいあひるの子)| February 1979 (February 1979)
13| "Cinderella"
Transcription: "Shinderera hime" (Japanese: シンデレラ姫)| February 1979 (February 1979)
14| "The Red Shoes"
Transcription: "Akai kutsu" (Japanese: 赤い靴)| February 1979 (February 1979)
15| "Town Musicians of Bremen"
Transcription: "Burēmen no ongaku tai" (Japanese: ブレーメンの音楽隊)| February 1979 (February 1979)
16| "Little Red Riding Hood"
Transcription: "Akazukin-chan" (Japanese: 赤ずきんちゃん)| February 1983 (February 1983)
17| "The Cobbler and the Elves"
Transcription: "Kobito to kutsuya" (Japanese: こびとと靴屋)| February 1983 (February 1983)
18| "Sleeping Beauty"
Transcription: "Nemuri hime" (Japanese: ねむり姫)| February 1983 (February 1983)
19| "The Wizard of Oz"
Transcription: "Ozu no mahōtsukai" (Japanese: オズの魔法使い)| February 1983 (February 1983)
20| "The Magic Carpet"
Transcription: "Mahō no jūtan" (Japanese: 魔法のじゅうたん)| February 1983 (February 1983)

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "「世界名作童話 まんがシリーズ」リスト – 知られぬアニメーション：楽天ブログ". 楽天ブログ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-07-16.
2. ^ aucfan. "昭和 8ミリ テープ 8ミリ映画 東映 世界名作童話 アリババと40人の盗賊「中古」の落札価格｜8ミリ｜ヤフオク！ 落札相場- オークファン（aucfan.com）". 買うときも売るときも オークファン -ヤフオク!などオークションの情報が満載 | 新品から中古まであらゆる商品の最安値を徹底比較！ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-10-03.
3. ^ "東映 8ミリ映画劇場 世界名作童話 ヘンゼルとグレーテル". jp.mercari.com. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
4. ^ aucfan. "80: 世界名作童話/FUJI FILM/AUTO REEL/8ミリ映画劇場 マンガ 童話シリーズ/カセットテープ付き/10本/動作未確認「中古」の落札価格｜8ミリ｜ヤフオク！ 落札相場- オークファン（aucfan.com）". 買うときも売るときも オークファン -ヤフオク!などオークションの情報が満載 | 新品から中古まであらゆる商品の最安値を徹底比較！ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-02-28.
5. ^ 東京都古書籍商業協同組合. 8ミリ映画劇場 おやゆび姫 / 古本、中古本、古書籍の通販は「日本の古本屋」 (in Japanese).
6. ^ "世界名作童話まんがシリーズ – アニメ詳細データ – ◇テレビドラマデータベース◇". テレビドラマデータベース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-03-19.
7. ^ "世界名作童話 まんがシリーズ オズの魔法使い/ ねむり姫 (1975) director: | VHS | Toei Video (japan)". www.videospace.fi. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
8. ^ "世界名作童話 まんがシリーズ 魔法のじゅうたん (1975) director: | VHS | Toei Video (japan)". www.videospace.fi. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
9. ^ "世界名作童話 まんがシリーズ アラジンとふしぎなランプ / おやゆび姫 (1975) director: | VHS | Toei Video (japan)". www.videospace.fi. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
10. ^ Toei Animation/BFA Educational Media/Hi-Tops Video (1986-12-08), Classic Tales Retold (Full VHS), retrieved 2023-03-04
11. ^ World's Greatest Fairy Tales, St. Clair Vision, 2005-10-25, retrieved 2023-03-04
12. ^ Toei Animation (1978), The World's Greatest Fairy Tales (English dub of "Sekai Meisaku Dōwa Manga Series" by Toei Animation), retrieved 2022-10-02
13. ^ Fairy Tale Classics, Children's Video Library, retrieved 2022-07-16
14. ^ My Favorite Fairy Tales Volume 4, ASIN 6303855296
15. ^ "My Favorite Fairy Tales, Volume 3: Featuring Sleeping Beauty | VHSCollector.com". vhscollector.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
16. ^ My Favorite Fairy Tales Featuring Snow White, Volume 5, retrieved 2022-10-03
17. ^ "Planète Jeunesse – Contes Japonais". www.planete-jeunesse.com. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
18. ^ "CosmoJ9 HomePage: VHS ITB". cosmoj9.altervista.org. Retrieved 2022-10-02.

## External links[edit]

* Official website at Wayback Machine
* World Famous Fairy Tale Series at Anime News Network
* World Famous Fairy Tale Series at MyAnimeList
* World Famous Fairy Tale Series at Internet Archive (in Japanese)
* World Famous Fairy Tale Series at Internet Archive (English, The World's Greatest Fairy Tales)