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''Around the World with Willy Fog'' ( es, link=no, La vuelta al mundo de Willy Fog) is a Spanish-Japanese animated television adaptation of the 1873 novel ''
Around the World in Eighty Days ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (french: link=no, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employe ...
'' by Jules Verne produced by Spanish studio BRB Internacional and
Televisión Española Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in ...
, with animation by Japanese studio Nippon Animation, that was first broadcast on
Antenne 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on ...
in 1983 and
TVE1 La 1 (, ''The One'') is a Spanish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Televisión Española (TVE), the television division of state-owned public broadcaster Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE). It is the corporation's flagship tel ...
in 1984. In the same vein as BRB's '' Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds'', the characters are
anthropomorphism Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
s of various animals as the species depicted are of much greater variety than in that series. The core trio are all
felines The Felinae are a subfamily of the family Felidae. This subfamily comprises the small cats having a bony hyoid, because of which they are able to purr but not roar. Other authors have proposed an alternative definition for this subfamily: a ...
being pursued by three
canine Canine may refer to: Zoology and anatomy * a dog-like Canid animal in the subfamily Caninae ** ''Canis'', a genus including dogs, wolves, coyotes, and jackals ** Dog, the domestic dog * Canine tooth, in mammalian oral anatomy People with the surn ...
foes. Willy Fog (
Phileas Fogg Phileas Fogg () is the protagonist in the 1872 Jules Verne novel ''Around the World in Eighty Days''. Inspirations for the character were the American entrepreneur George Francis Train and American writer and adventurer William Perry Fogg. ...
in the original book) is depicted as a
lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adu ...
, while Rigodon ( Passepartout) is a cat, and Romy (
Aouda Aouda (औद / ''Auda''), a character in '' Around the World in Eighty Days'' by Jules Verne, is an Indian princess accompanied by Phileas Fogg and Passepartout. The daughter of a Bombay Parsi merchant, she was married against her will to the ...
) is a
panther Panther may refer to: Large cats * Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. *** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in S ...
. An English dub of the series was directed by Tom Wyner, which featured artists such as Cam Clarke (as Rigodon), Gregory Snegoff (Inspector Dix), Steve Kramer (as Constable Bully) and Mike Reynolds. While the series never achieved popularity in the United States, the English version found fame when it was broadcast on Children's BBC in the United Kingdom. The series was initially screened in 1984 in the UK (and has been repeated many times since) and then on RTÉ in Ireland, while other dubs gained the series fanbases in several other countries. The series was also dubbed into Japanese and aired on Japan's
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...
in 1987, where it was titled . With all of the international versions, the height of popularity remains in Spain, where a sequel series, '' Willy Fog 2'', was produced in 1993 which has the characters in adaptations of Verne's science fiction novels, '' Journey to the Center of the Earth'' and '' 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea''. Furthermore, in 2008, the series spawned a live-action theatrical musical show in celebration of its 25th anniversary.


Plot

As with every morning since he moved into Savile Row, Willy Fog awakens at 8:00 am and rings for his servant, only to remember that he fired him the previous day for his inability to follow Fog's precise schedule. He has already arranged an interview for a replacement – former circus performer Rigodon, who is even now rushing towards Fog's house to make his 11:00 am appointment. Rigodon is accompanied by his old circus colleague Tico, who hides within his travelling bag, and prompts him through the interview, which gets off to a bad start when Rigodon arrives four minutes late. Nonetheless, Rigodon is hired by Fog as his butler and soon departs for the Reform Club. At the club, the main topic of conversation is the recent theft of £55,000 from the Bank of England which was discussed until the bank's governor Mr. Sullivan arrives and requests a change of topic. Sullivan's off-hand remark that the thief is still in London causes the elderly Lord Guinness to bring up an article in the ''Morning Chronicle'', detailing how it is now possible to travel around the world in eighty days. The article states that one departs London by train for
Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...
, where one crosses to Calais, and on to Paris. From there, it is a train journey to Brindisi, and the Suez Canal, all within a week. Having rounded the Arabian peninsula, one would arrive in
Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
on day 20 and then a three-day railway journey to
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...
. Hong Kong is reached on day 33,
Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...
on day 39, and then a mammoth three-week crossing of the Pacific to arrive in San Francisco on day 61, a week-long train crossing to New York City and then finally a nine-day crossing of the Atlantic back to London making it possible to circumnavigate the globe in eighty days. The other members of the club laugh at Lord Guinness's suggestion that he would take on the challenge if he were younger, prompting Fog to defend his honor by taking up the task himself. Sullivan bets Fog £5,000 that it is impossible, and additional wagers by three other club members increase this amount to £20,000. He then stuns the club by announcing that he will leave that very evening and promises to return to the club by 8:45 pm on 21 December 1872. Rigodon is less than thrilled to hear the news of their impending trip, having spent his life travelling with the circus. However, he dutifully accompanies his master as they set out, with Tico still in hiding. Little do they know, however, that they are pursued by three individuals determined to halt their progress. Inspector Dix and Constable Bully of Scotland Yard are convinced that Fog is the thief who robbed the Bank of England, and the wicked and conniving Transfer, a saboteur, was hired by Mr. Sullivan to impede Fog's journey in any way.


Cast


Main characters


Supporting characters


Music


Spanish

Six songs were crafted for the series, composed by Italian background score writers Guido and Maurizio De Angelis and performed by the group
Mocedades Mocedades () is a Spanish singing group from the Basque Country, who represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 with the hit song "Eres Tú". Since June 2014, ''Mocedades'' has been the name of two bands: one with Izaskun Uranga ...
. The songs were synced with the movement of the animated characters. The eponymous theme song, "La Vuelta al Mundo de Willy Fog", was sung by Fog, Rigodon, Tico and Romy, while Rigodon and Tico also provided the ending theme, "Sílbame" ("Whistle to Me"). Extended versions of both the opening and closing theme tunes were regularly sung by the characters in-show in short musical numbers during the course of the series. As was the "Dix y Transfer" duet in addition two different melodies performed by the protagonists entitled "America America" and "Hay Que Viajar" ("It Is Necessary to Travel"). The sixth song, "Romy", was performed by the titular character, although it only featured in the series in an instrumental form. It would, however, later be used as the closing theme of the sequel series, "Willy Fog 2". The Spanish soundtrack was released in 1984 in LP album, CD and cassette formats. The soundtrack can also be downloaded in Spanish in MP3 format from Amazon's Spanish website.


English

The songs in the English dub of the series were sung by Ted Mather, re-using the De Angelis's music but with new English lyrics that are similar to the original Spanish. Perhaps most prominently, "Hay Que Viajar" was retitled "Daisy", and became a song about a woman by that name. All six songs were re-recorded in their entirety – even "Romy", which did not appear in the series. The English soundtrack is available to download in MP3 format from Amazon's UK website.


Japanese

Two new theme tunes were composed for the Japanese dub of the series, both sung by Keiko Han. The opening theme was entitled "Sky Way", while the closing tune was named "Our Two Watches".


Finnish

Songs in the Finnish dub were sung by the actors of YLE Import re-using the De Angelis's music but with new Finnish lyrics. In the Finnish dub some scenes are cut, which includes musical numbers in some episodes.


Czech

In Czech some scenes from Willy Fog episodes are cut (songs), but those "deleted scenes" are used in the opening and ending.


Staff


Spanish production

*Produced by: BRB Internacional *With the collaboration of:
Televisión Española Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in ...
*Music by: Guido & Maurizio De Angelis *Music publisher: Cabum Magister *Special thanks to:
Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese language, Aragonese and Occitan language, Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a pe ...
, the airline of Spain *Songs performed by:
Mocedades Mocedades () is a Spanish singing group from the Basque Country, who represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 with the hit song "Eres Tú". Since June 2014, ''Mocedades'' has been the name of two bands: one with Izaskun Uranga ...
*Directed by: Luis Ballester *Executive Producer: Claudio Biern Boyd *Original screenplay: Claudio Biern Boyd *Script Co-ordinator: Rafael Soler *Dialogue Adaptor and Voice Director: Manuel Peiro *Associate Productors: José Luis Rodríguez & José Manuel Iglesias *Audio mixed by: Oscar Gómez *Editor: Soledad López *Assistant Editor: Carmen Ortega *Special effects: Luis Castro *Production Assistant: Maria Aragón *Production Co-ordinator: Marisa Mato *Sound technicians: Eduardo Fernandez, Alfonso Pino, Jose Esquirol, José Maria, San Mateo *Recording studio: Exa, S.A. *Laboratory: Fotofilm Madrid, S.A.


Japanese production

*Animation by: Nippon Animation *Director:
Fumio Kurokawa , is 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 Literature ...
*Producer: Koichi Motohashi *Character Design: Isamu Kumata *Storyboards: Eiji Okabe, Fumio Kurokawa, Hiromitsu Morita, Katsumi Endo, Ko Suzuki, Shigeo Koshi, Shigeru Omachi, Toru Hagiwara *Episode directors: Fumio Kurokawa, Eiji Okabe, Hiromitsu Morita, Toru Hagiwara, Yukio Okazaki *Animation directors: Hirokazu Ishino, Hisatoshi Motoki, Takao Kanishi, Yukio Abe *Music by: Shunsuke Kikuchi *Theme songs by: Izumi Kobayashi *Theme songs performed by: Keiko Han


English dub

*Music Sub-publisher: Southern Pictures Music inc. *Recorded and re-mixed at: Intersound Inc., Hollywood, USA *English version directed and supervised by: Tom Wyner *English adaptations by: Tom Wyner, Byrd Ehlmann, Cynthia Lake, Ben Martin


Home media

The series distributed by BRB Internacional, was co-produced with Televisión Española, as a result, BRB Internacional must give approval before any home video release of the series is made available. In December 1985, Sony Video Software announced the release of the series on VHS in the United States. From 3 October 1988 to 4 June 1990, select episodes were released in the United Kingdom on PAL VHS tapes by Video Collection International (then: Lollipop Video), rated   U  for "Universal" and deemed suitable for all ages. In 1995, BRB Internacional released three
direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy w ...
Willy Fog movies – ''Around the World in 80 Days'', ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' and ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' – each one created by heavily editing the first series from roughly 650 minutes in total down to a truncated 75 minutes apiece. All three films were dubbed by Village Productions, who had previously dubbed the second series for the United Kingdom, and later reached the United States on DVD. Notably, the Village Productions dub for the first movie was able to secure use of Intersound's English-language version of the theme tune. In 2004,
Revelation Films Revelation Films is a British film and television production and distribution company delivering visual entertainment via cinema, television and digital platforms. Tony Carne founded Revelation Films in 1992 as a video and television production ...
released all twenty-six episodes of ''Around the World with Willy Fog'' on DVD in the UK, across five Region-0-encoded discs. Extras included character profiles, a Jules Verne biography, and bonus episodes of '' Arthur! and the Square Knights of the Round Table'' and ''Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds''. In 2005, all five discs were collected in a complete series box set. Around 2016, the English dub of all episodes of the series was uploaded to the official channel of BRB Internacional on the video-sharing website
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
.


''Willy Fog 2''

Due to the success of the first series, BRB Internacional and Televisión Española revisited the franchise ten years later, with animation by
Wang Film Productions Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. (also known as Hong Guang Animation (宏廣) and Cuckoos' Nest Studio) is one of the oldest and most prolific Taiwanese-American animation studios since 1978. The company, based in Xindian, Taipei and Los Angele ...
in Taiwan and Shanghai Morning Sun Animation in China, released a sequel series simply titled '' Willy Fog 2''. The series ran to 26 episodes, and consisted of two separate serialized stories that were based on the original novels '' Journey to the Center of the Earth'' and '' Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea''.


''Around the World with Willy Fog: The Musical''

''La vuelta al mundo de Willy Fog: El Musical'' was released in 2008 in celebration of the show's 25th anniversary in its home country of Spain. With the original cartoon soundtrack by the De Angelises, the theatrical performance featured live actors Jaume Ortonobas (Fog), Laura Toledo (Romy) and José Troncoso (Rigodon) in make-up and masks to replicate the anthropomorphic characters of the cartoon. Tico is represented as a puppet manipulated by Celia Vioque. Scripted by original series creator Claudio Biern Boyd and directed by Ricard Reguant, the musical ran twice a day in the Teatro Häagen-Dazs Calderón in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
from October 2008; although originally intended only to run until the end of the year, the show's success saw its run extended first until early February 2009, after which it proved so successful that it went on tour around the country until the end of the year.


Feature film

By November 2020, a film based on the series was in development by Apolo Films and is scheduled to be released in 2023.


References


External links


BRB Internacional website
* * *

at Nippon Animation * {{DEFAULTSORT:Around The World With Willy Fog 1983 anime television series debuts Fiction set in 1872 Television series set in the 1870s Television shows based on Around the World in Eighty Days Historical anime and manga Nippon Animation Period television series Shōnen manga Fictional lions RTVE shows Spanish children's animated adventure television series Steampunk anime and manga 1983 Spanish television series debuts Animated television series about lions Animated television series about cats Fictional panthers Television shows set in London Television shows set in India Television shows set in Mumbai Television shows set in Kolkata Cultural depictions of Indian women Television shows set in the British Raj