is a Japanese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series produced by

Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with its headquarters in their Tama, Tokyo, Tama City studio and an administrative office in the Ginza district of Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō. Nippon Animation is known for prod ...

, based on Little Lulu comic by US cartoonist Marjorie Henderson Buell (Marge). The series was animated and directed by

Fumio Kurokawa was a Japanese storyboard artist and animated film director. He directed a number of animated television series produced by Nippon Animation during the 1970s and 1980s. Kurokawa was the series director of ''Animated Classics of Japanese Literatur ...

Plot

The series follows the everyday adventures of Little Lulu, Tubby, and the rest of their friends. The most prominent themes derived from the comics include the boys vs. girls rivalry, Tubby's clubhouse, and mishaps with the troublemaking Westside Gang.

Cast

* Lulu: Eiko Masuyama (episodes 1–3),

Minori Matsushima was a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator that worked for Aoni Production. She was most known for the roles of Candice White Adley (''Candy Candy''), Hiyoko Isu ('' The Song of Tentomushi''), Alexandria Meat (''Kinnikuman''), Sayaka ...

(episodes 4-26) * Tubby: Keiko Yamamoto * Wilbur: Noriko Ohara * Iggy: Yoneko Matsukane * Annie: Junko Hori * Alvin: Sachiko Chijimatsu * Martha: Noriko Ohara * George: Masayuki Katō * Putchy: Hiroshi Masuoka * Floory: Mahito Tsujimura * Willie: Yuko Mita

International broadcasting

The TV series was produced by

, and aired on ABC and NET from October 3, 1976, to April 3, 1977, in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Their opening theme "Homonymous" and ending theme "I'm Lulu!" were written by Miko Kayama, composed by Nobuyoshi Koshibe, and performed by

Mitsuko Horie is a Japanese actress, Voice acting in Japan, voice actress and singer from Yamato, Kanagawa. She is known as the . Horie has voiced several characters throughout her career, such as Shadow Galactica#Sailor Galaxia, Sailor Galaxia in ''Sailor ...

. ''Little Lulu'' was also dubbed in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and

Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese (; ; also known as pt-BR) is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of Portuguese language native to Brazil. It is spoken by almost all of the 203 million inhabitants of Brazil and widely across the Brazilian diaspora ...

English versions

An English dub of the anime was made by ZIV International in 1978, and Mark Mercury composed the

opening Opening may refer to: Types of openings * Hole * A title sequence or opening credits * Grand opening of a business or other institution * Inauguration * Keynote * Opening sentence * Opening sequence * Opening statement, a beginning statemen ...

score, while the opening and credits sequence consisted of scenes taken from episodes. The on-screen English title for the series was simply ''Little Lulu'', while its VHS releases were titled ''The Adventures of Little Lulu and Tubby'' in the United States, and ''The Adventures of Little Lulu'' in the UK. In 1985, Harmony Gold produced another English dub, changing the voice cast, the opening sequence was kept and the ending sequence was changed, but the Mercury composition was intact.

Italian versions

Two dubs were produced in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, the first one was in 1981. This dub is currently lost. In this same year, Heritage Cinematografica produced a film for Italian cinemas that used several of the episodes of the television program, in addition to replacing the music of Mercury, and the opening and ending theme was changed to one composed of Cesare Regazzoni and Massimo Chiodi. In 2010 EMI Film released the film on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

. The second dub was done by SD Cinematografica in 1995, using the Mercury soundtrack.

Spanish versions

In 1972, the Chilean musician Juan Guillermo Aguirre known as Memo Aguirre (and Capitán Nemo) emigrated to

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, settling in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and dedicating himself to being a singer in bars and discos. Later he was given a job at the Sound Connections Studios company and dedicated himself to the interpretation of musical themes in Spanish from various cartoons from the 70s and 80s, being credited as "Superbanda" (Superband). These included ''Little Lulu and Her Little Friends'', replacing the Mercury theme.

Episodes

References

External links

* * {{Nippon Animation Anime and manga set in the United States Little Lulu Japanese children's animated comedy television series Nippon Animation Television shows based on comic strips Animated television series about children Anime based on comics Asahi Broadcasting Corporation original programming Television shows based on American comics