World Masterpiece Theater

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DVD release of Anne of Green Gables (1979), the first series under the World Masterpiece Theater title

World Masterpiece Theater (世界名作劇場, Sekai Meisaku Gekijō) is a Japanese TV

Fuji TV. It aired from 1969 to 1997 and from 2007 to 2009. Commonly abbreviated to Meigeki (名劇, Meigeki).[1][2]

History

The first several series were produced by

Fuji TV. Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata both worked on several of the series. World Masterpiece Theater as produced by Nippon Animation lasted for 23 seasons, from A Dog of Flanders in 1975 to Remi, Nobody's Girl (家なき子レミ, Ie Naki Ko Remi, Sans Famille) in 1997. Nippon Animation restarted the series in 2007 with the release of Les Misérables: Shōjo Cosette, which premiered on BS Fuji on 7 January 2007, with Porufi no Nagai Tabi (The Long Journey of Porphy) subsequently airing on the same network beginning on 6 January 2008, making it the 25th World Masterpiece Theater series. The most recent and 26th series is Kon'nichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables
(lit. Hello Anne ~ Before Green Gables).

To date, only seven series were ever dubbed in English for the North American market:

Anne of Green Gables (1979), Miyazaki's last work for Nippon Animation before leaving the studio), Heidi, Girl of the Alps
, as well as the aforementioned Princess Sarah.

The series has been known by various names over the years (as shown below), but "the World Masterpiece Theater" is the name most commonly used by viewers. Nippon Animation's official English name for the series is "The Classic Family Theater Series".[3]

The sponsorship of this series has changed several times, the first was Calpis alone (1969–1978), the second was House Foods alone (1986–1993, 2007–2008).

Starting in 2017 Amazon Prime Video made various series available in HD quality, but cropped for 16:9 displays[4][5][6] in the US and UK markets. However Amazon did not use the "World Masterpiece Theater" label and only kept the subtitle for each series.

In March 2023, Capcom teamed up with Nippon Animation to promote Resident Evil 4 with a mini-series called Resident Evil Masterpiece Theater: Leon and the Mysterious Village (バイオ名作劇場 ふしぎの村のレオン, Baio Meisaku Gekijō: Fushigi no Mura no Reon), with voices provided by the game's development team.

Features

The stories adapted by World Masterpiece Theater tended to have the following features in common.

  1. The main character's family environment is an
    single-parent family
    . The main character loses either or both father and mother.
  2. The main theme is family, and the influence of a deceased parent remains until the end.
  3. An animal character appears.
  4. The stage is set in a real city.
  5. The era is set between the 19th century and the end of World War II.
  6. No prince or princess was added. (After Andersen Stories ended.)

As these backgrounds, the time when this series was broadcast (1975–1997), it was common that TV was possessed by "one per a family", anime which are easy to put regardless of age were preferred, and were oriented for family. Videos became widespread in Japan in the late 1980s, and the time that TV was possessed by "one per a person" became common is after the Cold War (since 1992).

As an exception to the above, the double-parents family is Tales of Little Women (1987), the fictional world is The Adventures of Peter Pan (1989), and the work set after the World War II and without the original novel is Tico of the Seven Seas (1994).

Companion volume

Apart from Fuji TV, there was also a companion volume of the World Masterpiece Theater, which was broadcast on TV Tokyo from 19:30 to 20:00 on Thursday. This is sponsored by Sumitomo Electric Industries alone, but it is characterized by the theme of a specific field rather than the family. Moero! Top Striker (1991) and Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (1992) are works of this companion volume.

Recurring casts

The following people frequently appeared in the World Masterpiece Theater, including the companion volume on TV Tokyo.

Director
Sound director
Voice actor

Productions

Before Nippon Animation – Calpis Comic Theater (1969–1974)

Note: These are the only series that are not included into the World Masterpiece Theater franchise.

Nippon Animation – Calpis Children's Theater (1975–1977)

Note: These are the 26 official entries of the World Masterpiece Theater franchise.

  • Maria Louise Ramé
    (aka Ouida). First series produced by Nippon Animation but still credited to Zuiyo Eizo and broadcast in the Calpis Comic Theater only in episodes 1 to 20 and 24 to 26.
  • Marco, 3000 Leagues in Search for Mother (母をたずねて三千里, Haha o Tazunete Sanzen Ri, 1976), 52 episodes:Adapted from a small part of Heart, the chapter named "From the Apennines to the Andes", written by Italian author Edmondo De Amicis.
  • Rascal the Raccoon (あらいぐまラスカル, Araiguma Rasukaru, 1977), 52 episodes:Adapted from Rascal by Sterling North.

Calpis Family Theater (1978)

World Masterpiece Theater (1979–1985; no title sponsor)

House Foods World Masterpiece Theater (1986–1993)

World Masterpiece Theater (1994–1997; no title sponsor)

House Foods World Masterpiece Theater (2007–2008)

World Masterpiece Theater (2009)

Feature films

Two additional theatrical feature films remake were produced as part of the franchise:

  • The Dog of Flanders: The Movie
    (劇場版 フランダースの犬, Gekijōban Furandāsu no Inu, 1997)
  • Marco: 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother
    (Marco 母をたずねて三千里, Maruko Haha o Tazunete Sanzenri, 1999)

Re-edited footage films of Heidi, Girl of the Alps, 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, The Story of Perrine and Anne of Green Gables were also released in theater in Japan over the years. Subsequently, every series of the franchise received a re-edited footage OVA released on DVD by Bandai and later broadcast as TV Specials.

See also

References

  1. ^ Elemental Note: Chronological settings of the World Masterpiece Theater
  2. ^ The Room of links: Links of the World Masterpiece Theater
  3. ^ "Program|NIPPON ANIMATION CO., LTD". www.nipponanimation.com. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  4. ^ "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Tales of Little Women". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Swiss Family Robinson". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 16 May 2020.

External links