Prakashatma Mishra (Bapuli)
software developer, designer, pianist.
World Masterpiece Theater is the name for animated television series based on classic children's literature from around the world by Japanese animation company, Nippon Animation.
In my opinion, the World Masterpiece Theater series are the finest pieces of artistic works that ever aired on television, full of emotional content and having realistic depiction of the characters.
The characters are lively, strong, cute and most importantly adorable. I am giving you a list of WMT series that I liked. Basically most of them are good and each of them is unique. But here is a list of those which I liked. I did not like Peter Pan of WMT. So I am excluding it.
1. Princess Sara
This is the tale of a rich girl named Sara Crewe from India who goes to live in a boarding school in London. Following the death of her father, Sara is subjected to mistreatment by the headmistress and a few classmates. However, the friends whom she had befriended including the child maid, Becky, the carriage boy, Peter, the cry baby Lottie and the below average student, Ermengarde do not betray her. The background music and songs of Princess Sara are perhaps the best ones compared to songs of other WMT anime. Princess Sara is the only one next to Dog of the Flanders that has the strongest emotional content. It becomes very sad in the middle but at-least the ending is good. However it is not recommended for smaller children because Sara suffers a lot throughout the series.
2. Heidi, Girl of the Alps
This is the tale of Heidi, a cute little girl who lives with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. Heidi goes to Frankfurt to accompany Clara, a handicapped girl who cannot walk. Though she loves Clara, things get bitter there. Heidi dislikes study and misses her grandfather, her friend, Peter, the fir trees and the goats whom she played with. Fortunately Heidi is allowed to return to the mountains, and she with the help of Peter manages to make Clara walk. Heidi is not forced to work unlike in Princess Sara. She likes to play with the goats. There are a few scenes that are tear-jerkers. However Heidi is suitable for both smaller children and adults and is my most favorite animation. Those who like pets and small kids will definitely love Heidi.
In one of the episodes Heidi saves the life of her goat friend, Yuki, who was going to be killed by her owner!
3. Story of Perrine
This is the tale of Perrine, who after the death of her father decides to accompany her mother on a long journey to her grandfather's house with her dog, Baron and donkey, Pariqual. Perrine and her mother are traveling photographers and there is much to find on the way. The animation quality is not very good because it was done in 1978. But Perrine is a true slice of life, has soothing background music, which gets very serious at times and in general, is an excellent watch.
EDIT: I hadn't finished watching this series when writing the review. After completing it I found out that Perrine is exceptional and beautifully made. I find this anime sometimes better than Heidi and Princess Sara.
4. Dog of the Flanders
This is the story of a poor boy, Nello, his dog, Patrasche and his friend Alois. Nello though poor is a great artist, even a better artist than the well known Reubens, according to Alois. Nello's grandfather dies a day before Alois's 11th birthday and Nello gets incorrectly convicted for setting fire to the windmill. Because of his misfortune Nello loses an art competition though his sketch was the finest. However he is still remembered by Alois and will be remembered by all the children whom she looks after. Dog of the Flanders is the saddest movie I have seen so far. I don't recommend it to small kids but for everyone else it will be the most memorable piece.
5. Katri, Girl of the Meadows
This is the tale of Katri, a poor Finnish village girl who has to work as a cowherd in a farm after their cow, who was going to be sold by her grandfather gets killed by a bear. Katri was separated from her mother since she was 6 years old because of war and letters do not get delivered. Katri has to wait for her mother to arrive and fortunately, her friends Martti and Pekka, and her dog, Aapeli always try their best to help her. Also the master's wife is kind and good to her. With very good background music, and realistic story telling, Katri is another anime which gets sad often but ends with a good ending. Smaller children should stay away from this.
6. Konnichiha Anne, Before Green Gables
This is the story of little Anne and her adventures before she was adopted by Matthew and Marilla. Anne loses her best friend Eliza who gets married after the first few episodes and makes friendship with her own reflection on the mirror whom she calls Katie Maurice. Luckily she gets a kitty Lochinvar and later befriends other children like Sadie. The series is entertaining and is comparable to Heidi.
7. Pollyanna, Girl of Love
This is the tale of Pollyanna who is very optimistic and tries to be glad no matter what happens. After the death of her father, Pollyanna has to live with her strict aunt, Polly but she always becomes happy with whatever she gets. She befriends a boy, Jimmy who is another orphan like her and there are always new things to be glad about. The series gets very sad in certain episodes though.
8. Anne of Green Gables
This is the tale of the older Anne who is adopted by the brother and sister couple, Matthew and Marilla. Marilla does not like to adopt her initially because she wanted to keep a boy instead. Because of Matthew's affection, she finally agrees to adopt her. I dropped watching this series after the death of Matthew. I certainly prefer Konnichiwa Anne, featuring the smaller Anne, to this series.
9. My Annette
I have not watched My Annette. I heard it is a good one from my friends and will watch it when I get time.
Many of these series have been subbed to English by fansub groups. If you don't understand Japanese, you can watch them.
Design and content © Bapuli
software developer, designer, pianist.
World Masterpiece Theater is the name for animated television series based on classic children's literature from around the world by Japanese animation company, Nippon Animation.
In my opinion, the World Masterpiece Theater series are the finest pieces of artistic works that ever aired on television, full of emotional content and having realistic depiction of the characters.
The characters are lively, strong, cute and most importantly adorable. I am giving you a list of WMT series that I liked. Basically most of them are good and each of them is unique. But here is a list of those which I liked. I did not like Peter Pan of WMT. So I am excluding it.
1. Princess Sara
This is the tale of a rich girl named Sara Crewe from India who goes to live in a boarding school in London. Following the death of her father, Sara is subjected to mistreatment by the headmistress and a few classmates. However, the friends whom she had befriended including the child maid, Becky, the carriage boy, Peter, the cry baby Lottie and the below average student, Ermengarde do not betray her. The background music and songs of Princess Sara are perhaps the best ones compared to songs of other WMT anime. Princess Sara is the only one next to Dog of the Flanders that has the strongest emotional content. It becomes very sad in the middle but at-least the ending is good. However it is not recommended for smaller children because Sara suffers a lot throughout the series.
| cel animation quality | 10/10 |
| emotional content | 9/10 |
| story | 10/10 |
2. Heidi, Girl of the Alps
This is the tale of Heidi, a cute little girl who lives with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. Heidi goes to Frankfurt to accompany Clara, a handicapped girl who cannot walk. Though she loves Clara, things get bitter there. Heidi dislikes study and misses her grandfather, her friend, Peter, the fir trees and the goats whom she played with. Fortunately Heidi is allowed to return to the mountains, and she with the help of Peter manages to make Clara walk. Heidi is not forced to work unlike in Princess Sara. She likes to play with the goats. There are a few scenes that are tear-jerkers. However Heidi is suitable for both smaller children and adults and is my most favorite animation. Those who like pets and small kids will definitely love Heidi.
In one of the episodes Heidi saves the life of her goat friend, Yuki, who was going to be killed by her owner!
| cel animation quality | 6/10 |
| emotional content | 6/10 |
| story | 10/10 |
3. Story of Perrine
This is the tale of Perrine, who after the death of her father decides to accompany her mother on a long journey to her grandfather's house with her dog, Baron and donkey, Pariqual. Perrine and her mother are traveling photographers and there is much to find on the way. The animation quality is not very good because it was done in 1978. But Perrine is a true slice of life, has soothing background music, which gets very serious at times and in general, is an excellent watch.
EDIT: I hadn't finished watching this series when writing the review. After completing it I found out that Perrine is exceptional and beautifully made. I find this anime sometimes better than Heidi and Princess Sara.
| cel animation quality | 6/10 |
| emotional content | 9/10 |
| story | 10/10 |
4. Dog of the Flanders
This is the story of a poor boy, Nello, his dog, Patrasche and his friend Alois. Nello though poor is a great artist, even a better artist than the well known Reubens, according to Alois. Nello's grandfather dies a day before Alois's 11th birthday and Nello gets incorrectly convicted for setting fire to the windmill. Because of his misfortune Nello loses an art competition though his sketch was the finest. However he is still remembered by Alois and will be remembered by all the children whom she looks after. Dog of the Flanders is the saddest movie I have seen so far. I don't recommend it to small kids but for everyone else it will be the most memorable piece.
| cel animation quality | 10/10 |
| emotional content | 10/10 |
| story | 10/10 |
5. Katri, Girl of the Meadows
This is the tale of Katri, a poor Finnish village girl who has to work as a cowherd in a farm after their cow, who was going to be sold by her grandfather gets killed by a bear. Katri was separated from her mother since she was 6 years old because of war and letters do not get delivered. Katri has to wait for her mother to arrive and fortunately, her friends Martti and Pekka, and her dog, Aapeli always try their best to help her. Also the master's wife is kind and good to her. With very good background music, and realistic story telling, Katri is another anime which gets sad often but ends with a good ending. Smaller children should stay away from this.
| cel animation quality | 10/10 |
| emotional content | 7/10 |
| story | 10/10 |
6. Konnichiha Anne, Before Green Gables
This is the story of little Anne and her adventures before she was adopted by Matthew and Marilla. Anne loses her best friend Eliza who gets married after the first few episodes and makes friendship with her own reflection on the mirror whom she calls Katie Maurice. Luckily she gets a kitty Lochinvar and later befriends other children like Sadie. The series is entertaining and is comparable to Heidi.
| cel animation quality | 10/10 |
| emotional content | 5/10 |
| story | 10/10 |
7. Pollyanna, Girl of Love
This is the tale of Pollyanna who is very optimistic and tries to be glad no matter what happens. After the death of her father, Pollyanna has to live with her strict aunt, Polly but she always becomes happy with whatever she gets. She befriends a boy, Jimmy who is another orphan like her and there are always new things to be glad about. The series gets very sad in certain episodes though.
| cel animation quality | 10/10 |
| emotional content | 6/10 |
| story | 9/10 |
8. Anne of Green Gables
This is the tale of the older Anne who is adopted by the brother and sister couple, Matthew and Marilla. Marilla does not like to adopt her initially because she wanted to keep a boy instead. Because of Matthew's affection, she finally agrees to adopt her. I dropped watching this series after the death of Matthew. I certainly prefer Konnichiwa Anne, featuring the smaller Anne, to this series.
| cel animation quality | 8/10 |
| emotional content | 4/10 |
| story | 6/10 |
9. My Annette
I have not watched My Annette. I heard it is a good one from my friends and will watch it when I get time.
Many of these series have been subbed to English by fansub groups. If you don't understand Japanese, you can watch them.