''Adventures of the Little Koala'' (known in Japan as ) is an

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

television series produced by

Tohokushinsha Film Corporation is a Japanese film distributor, production company and dubbing studio based in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It was founded in 1961 by Banjirō Uemura (who was also once the head of the Japanese branch of ITC Entertainment) as a dubbing house for fo ...

. It aired originally in Japan on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

from October 4, 1984, through March 28, 1985, and then aired in the United States on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

(later moved into the

Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...

block upon its launch at the start of 1988) dubbed in English from June 1, 1987, until April 2, 1993. The storyline revolved around Roobear Koala (voiced in English by former child actor

Steven Bednarski Steven Bednarski (born 1973) is a Canadian historian of the Middle Ages who specializes in fourteenth-century environment, crime, sex, gender, and microhistory. He is notable for being awarded an exceptionally high level of public research funding ...

) and his friends and their

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

n village in a fictional version of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, known in the Japanese version as Yukari Village, within the shadow of a real rock formation known as

The Breadknife The Breadknife is a volcanic dyke in New South Wales, Australia. It is nearly 90 metres high, but often is only 4 m wide, which is particularly rare. The Breadknife was part of a large shield volcano, that first erupted about 17&nbs ...

. Production of the English and French versions of the series was done by the Canadian studio

Cinar Films Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. (also known as Cookie Jar Group and originally known as CINAR; renamed as DHX Cookie Jar Inc. from 2012 until 2014, or simply just Cookie Jar) was a Canadian media production and distribution company owned by DHX ...

. It also aired in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Greece, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, in the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

-speaking world, and other countries, but its biggest success by far was in the United States on Nickelodeon.

Characters

Historical background

''Adventures of the Little Koala'' was made as Japan was in the midst of a koala frenzy along with another koala themed anime titled ふしぎなコアラブリンキー (''The Wondrous Koala Blinky''), which would later be broadcast alongside ''Little Koala'' on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block in 1988, as ''

Noozles ', also known as ''The Wondrous Koala Blinky'', is a 26-episode anime by Nippon Animation Company that was originally released in Japan in 1984. It depicts the adventures of a 12-year-old girl named Sandy and her koala friends, Blinky and Pinky, ...

''. According to ''The Anime Encyclopedia'' by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy, Japan's koala frenzy was sparked by the

Tama Zoo The is a zoo, owned by the government of Tokyo Metropolis, and located in Hino, Tokyo, Japan. The Tama Zoo was opened on May 5, 1958, originally as a of the Ueno Zoo. The zoo aims to use its large site – 52 ha, compared to the 14.3 ha of the Ue ...

in western

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

receiving their first koala as the Australian government sent six koalas to Japan as a token of goodwill, but in actuality, the Tama Zoo as well as other zoos in Japan got their koalas because Japan was craving them, and ''Little Koala'' and ''Noozles'' had already been airing when the koalas arrived in October 1984.

Production notes

The Japanese animation studio

Topcraft Topcraft (トップクラフト ''Toppukurafuto'', also written as "Top Craft") was an animation studio established on February 1, 1972 by former Toei Animation producer Toru Hara, and located in Tokyo, Japan. It was famous for the production of ...

, best known for providing animation duties on many of

Rankin-Bass Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usual ...

' American animated TV specials as well as the feature film ''

The Last Unicorn ''The Last Unicorn'' is a fantasy novel by American author Peter S. Beagle and published in 1968, by Viking Press in the U.S. and The Bodley Head in the U.K. It follows the tale of a unicorn, who believes she is the last of her kind in the wor ...

'', worked on ''Adventures of the Little Koala.'' Topcraft provided animation assistance for

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

's 1984 feature film ''

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind may refer to * Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga), ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' (manga), a manga series by Hayao Miyazaki * Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film), ''Nausicaä of the Valle ...

''; in fact, some of the animators who worked on ''Little Koala'' also worked on ''Nausicaa''. After ''Nausicaa'', a number of Topcraft animators went on to work for Miyazaki's

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and ha ...

. Some notable animators who worked on this series included Katsuhisa Yamada and Hidekazu Ohara. The opening and ending theme songs of the Japanese version were recorded by the all-female rock band Akasaka Komachi, which would later gain fame as Princess Princess. The series has a total of 26 episodes, each of them contained two 11-minute segments. * Performed by: Sonja Ball, Shari Chaskin and Maxie Vaughann

Episode list

# "The Old Clock Tower" / "Mingle Takes A Dive" # "Is Weather A Frog?" / "Lost in a Race" # "Ghost Ship" / "Balloon Pamie" # "The King of the Castle" / "Hang-Gliding With Roobear" # "The Mysterious Moa Bird" / "Love That Baby Moa!" # "Snow White and the Seven Koalas" / "Roobear's Invention" # "Papa on Stilts" / "Detective Roobear" # "The Dinosaur Egg" / "Treasure Hunt" # "Pamie Falls in Love" / "The Koala Butterfly" # "The Koala Bear Gang" / "Back To Nature" # "Roobear Saves the Day" / "Editor-In-Chief Roobear" # "Monster Scoop" / "The Biggest Jigsaw Puzzle in the World" # "Who Will Be the Flower Queen?" / "Circus Day" # "Roobear the Babysitter" / "Papa Makes a Pie" # "The Amazing Boomerang" / "The Runaway Hat" # "Conquering Mt. Breadknife" / "Save the Eucalyptus" # "Mommy Can Fly" / "The Secret of the McGillicuddy Vase" # "Heavenly Fireworks" / "Save That Junk" # "The Winner" / "A Hundred-Year-Old Camera" # "Nurse Pamie" / "Any Mail Today?" # "The Writing on the Wall" / "A Ride in a Spaceship" # "Is Mingle a Nuisance?" / "Allowance Problems" # "A Whale of a Ride" / "Laura Finds An Egg" # "A Broken Umbrella" / "Save The Butterflies" # "The Moon Goddess" / "The Flying Doctor" # "Eucalyptus Rocket" / "Penguins Don't Fly"

Home media release

In 1989,

Family Home Entertainment Family Home Entertainment (FHE) was an American home video company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California. History The company was founde ...

released four English-dubbed episodes on a VHS cassette entitled ''The Adventures of the Little Koala and Friends: Laura and the Mystery Egg'', with the episodes "Laura Finds an Egg", "Conquering Mt. Breadknife", "Save the Eucalyptus", and "Mommy Can Fly".

References

External links

* * * {{ann, anime, 1044 1984 anime television series debuts 1980s Nickelodeon original programming Japanese children's animated adventure television series Japanese children's animated comedy television series Japanese children's animated fantasy television series Adventure anime and manga Animated television series about children Comedy anime and manga Nick Jr. original programming Nickelodeon original programming Nine Network original programming Television shows set in Australia Television series by Cookie Jar Entertainment Television series about koalas Topcraft TV Tokyo original programming TVNZ 2 original programming TV1 (Australian TV channel) original programming