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

Tatsunoko Production and often shortened to , is a Japanese animation company. The studio's name has a double meaning in Japanese: "Tatsu's child" (Tatsu is a nickname for Tatsuo) and " sea dragon", the inspiration for its seahorse logo. Tatsunoko Production was e ...

. It aired from October 5. 1969 to September 27, 1970, with a total of 52 episodes on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

. It tells the story of a boy who finds a bottle with a mysterious power - each time its user sneezes or yawns, a genie will come up and must grant the user's wish. A 1992 Saban Entertainment English dub called ''Bob In A Bottle'' was shown internationally, with a sequel series airing on YTV in Japan in 2020.

Plot

An old bottle has found its way into the household of a family, where an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

student named Kan, his parents, and a pet

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

lived. A genie, Hakushon, and his daughter, Akubi, reside inside it. When Kan finds the bottle, he discovers that a sneeze summons Hakushon and he must grant the wish of whoever sneezed, while a yawn summons Akubi and she must do the same for whoever yawned. Getting wishes granted by either genie may not be a good thing, for Hakushon messes them up due to his own extreme clumsiness, while the more capable Akubi likes to cause mischief by twisting their words and meanings so that something bad happens.

Localization

The series was dubbed in English by

Saban Entertainment BVS Entertainment, Inc., previously known as Saban Productions, Saban Entertainment and Saban International, is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. Founded on April 24, 1980, as a music production company by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, it ...

in 1992 under the name ''Bob in a Bottle''. A reggae-style theme song was composed for this version. Hakushon, Akubi and Kan were renamed "Bob", "Illana" and "Joey" respectively. Later, ''Bob in a Bottle'' was aired in Spanish, German, French, Swedish, Danish, and Hebrew. The English version aired in the United States on

PRISM PRISM is a code name for a program under which the United States National Security Agency (NSA) collects internet communications from various U.S. internet companies. The program is also known by the SIGAD . PRISM collects stored internet ...

from 1994 to 1995, and also aired on Canada's YTV, Kenya's KTN, Australia's

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

in 1993, Zimbabwe's

ZBC TV ZBC TV, also known as ZTV, is Zimbabwe's public free to air television network that is fully owned and operated by the state broadcaster. History In the country, television was introduced on 15 November 1960, making it the second country after ...

, New Zealand's TV2 in 1994, and the Netherlands' TV10. The motto for the English version is "Make everyday like paradise" and "You sneeze, I please, that's the way it goes". It was shown in Latin America under the name ''Yam Yam y el Genio'', in Italy under the name "Il Mago Pancione Etcì" and in Arabic speaking countries as ''El Fatah Borhan''. The English dub of the series was considered lost until April 2020 when a YouTube channel on the history of English anime dubs by the name of Yui-Senpai TV discovered that all episodes of the dub have been preserved on videocassette copies in the Library of Congress. On December 28, 2021, a YouTube channel by the name of TVFourgade discovered that the tapes being held in the Library of Congress are on the U-matic tape format. According to the librarian, the tapes are in decent condition, with some visual noise on one of the tapes. Since 2022, a YouTube channel by the name of FilmwaysVTC has been uploading full episodes of the show taken from syndicated airings on

in 1992.

2020 sequel

A new anime television series by Tatsunoko Production and

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 ...

aired on ytv from April 11, 2020, to September 26, 2020. It is a sequel series that takes place 50 years after the end of the original anime and centers on Akubi and Kantarō, the grandson of the original anime's protagonist. Atsushi Nigorikawa directed the series, with Hiroko Kanasugi handling series composition, Shin Takemoto and Masatsune Noguchi designed the characters, and Takamitsu Shimazaki, Hiroshi Sasaki, and Teppei Shimizu composed the series' music. On May 24, 2020, it was announced that episode 8 and further episodes would be delayed to June 20 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...

licensed the series as ''Genie Family 2020'' and released it on

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

on October 15, 2020. The anime is also available on

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of consumer electronics that includes streaming players, smart TVs (and their operating systems), as well as a free TV streaming service. The brand is owned by Roku, Inc., an American company. As of 2024, Roku is the U ...

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

and

Tubi Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...

Cast

Japanese version (1969)

*Hakushon Daimaō -

Tōru Ōhira was a Japanese narrator and voice actor from the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. He was the founder of Ōhira Production and was also attached to 81 Produce. One of his best-known roles was the dub voice of Darth Vader in '' Star Wars'', on the s ...

*Akubi - Takako Sasuga *Daidaimaō -

Ichirō Nagai was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Ikeda, Osaka. He was previously affiliated with Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society, and was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of his death. Career Nagai played ''GeGeGe no ...

*Shakkuri-sensei -

Hisako Kyōda is a Japanese actress and voice actress. Some of her major voice roles include Genkai in ''Yu Yu Hakusho'', Omusubiman in ''Soreike! Anpanman'' and Yukari Godai in '' Maison Ikkoku''. Kyōda is affiliated with the talent agency Haikyō. Fi ...

*Kan -

Midori Katō is a Japanese actress, voice actress, and narrator who is most famous for the role of Sazae Fuguta from the long-running family anime ''Sazae-san''. She is also known for voicing Yoshiko in ''Sally the Witch'' and Osomatsu Matsuno in ''Osomatsu ...

*Daddy -

Isamu Tanonaka was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Taitō, Tokyo. He was best known for voicing Medama Oyaji in nearly every adaptation of Shigeru Mizuki's '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'' made during his lifetime. Career During his life he had been a ...

*Mommy - Mitsuko Asō *Gejigon -

Kazuya Tatekabe was a Japanese actor and voice actor. He was born in Kimobetsu, Hokkaidō. He was represented by Kenyu Horiuchi's Kenyu Office at the time of his death. He was most known for the roles of Takeshi Goda known as "Gian" (''Doraemon''), Walsa (' ...

*Yuriko -

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 ...

*Burukō - Tarō Sagami *Sorekara-ojisan -

Kinya Aikawa as was a Japanese actor, tarento and voice actor. He was born in Tokyo and died in 2015 of lung cancer. Filmography Acting roles Films * '' Torakku Yarō'' series (1975-1979) * ''The Battle of Port Arthur'' (1980) * '' Edo Porn'' (1981) ...

Japanese version (2020)

*Hakushon Daimaō -

Kōichi Yamadera is a Japanese actor, narrator and singer from Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. He graduated from Tohoku Gakuin University's economics school and is currently affiliated with Across Entertainment. Before that, he was affiliated with the Tokyo Acto ...

*Akubi -

Sumire Morohoshi is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer from Kanagawa Prefecture. She debuted as a solo singer under the Flying Dog record label. Biography Sumire Morohoshi was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on April 23, 1999. At the time of birth ...

*Kantarō Yodayama -

Miyuri Shimabukuro is a Japanese voice actress from Okinawa Prefecture who is affiliated with Office Osawa. After debuting as a voice actress in 2017, she played her first main roles in 2018 as Yuuna Yunohana in the anime series ''Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs ...

*Pūta -

Daiki Yamashita is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Arts Vision. He is best known for voicing the character Izuku Midoriya in the popular shonen anime '' My Hero Academia''. He won the ''Best Male Newcomer'' award at the 8th Seiyu Awards. Filmography ...

English version

*Bob - Gary Jewell *Joey - Sonja Ball *Mr. Carter -

Richard Dumont Richard M. Dumont (born 1959 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian voice actor, writer and director who has worked in both Canada and the United States. Dumont is known for playing Sardo, who owned a magic shop called Sardo's Magic Mansion, in ma ...

*Mrs. Carter/Chauncey - Jane Woods *Llana - Liz MacRae *Tilly - A.J. Henderson *Dora/Miss Green -

Kathleen Fee Kathleen Fee (born in Montreal, Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Ne ...

*Additional Voices - Terrence Scammell, Mark Hellman,

Pauline Little Pauline Little is a Scottish-born Canadian voice, film, and television actress. She voices the twins Lotus and Jasmine in '' The Little Flying Bears'', Maya in ''Maya the Bee'', Francine in ''Samurai Pizza Cats'' and Caillou's Grandma in ''Cail ...

Arthur Holden Arthur Holden (born August 28, 1959) is a Canadian actor and writer. Known for his roles such as Mr. Ratburn in ''Arthur'', Baba-Miao in '' Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat'', Mayor Mallard in ''The Little Twins'', and Mr. Larkin in later episod ...

Aron Tager Aron Tager (June 30, 1934 – February 28, 2019) was an American actor, poet, artist and sculptor, he is best known for voicing Cranky Kong in the animated television series, ''Donkey Kong Country'' and for portraying Dr. Vink on the children's ...

Bronwen Mantel Bronwen Mantel (born 29 October 1948) is a Canadian actress. Mantel has appeared in numerous movies and has done extensive voice acting in animated films and television series. Early life and career Mantel was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ...

Spinoffs

The Hakushon Daimaō franchise made a comeback in the 2000s with two animated spinoff series produced by Tatsunoko and directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa, featuring Akubi as the central character and Hakushon as a supporting character.

Yobarete Tobedete! Akubi-chan

In ''Yobarete, Tobidete! Akubi-chan'' (26 episodes, 2001–2002), Akubi (now voiced by Asuka Tanii) befriends a shy young girl named Koron Nemuta (voiced by

Sakura Nogawa is a Japanese voice actress and singer. In August 2013, she took a break from voice acting and singing due to poor health and returned a year later. In February 2017, she announced that she had already changed the agency of Office Anemone. Film ...

), who habitually yawns whenever she is embarrassed, thus summoning Akubi forth from the bottle.

Akubi Girl

In 2006's ''Akubi Girl'' (also 26 episodes), Akubi befriends a first-grader named Ruru-chan and attempts to grant her wish of becoming close friends with Itoshi-kun, the boy on whom she has a secret crush.

Crossover

''Pandora to Akubi'', an anime film crossover between The Genie Family and

Monster Strike is a Mobile game, mobile Japanese role-playing game, Japanese role-playing physics game with elements of Puzzle video game, puzzle, strategy game, strategy and Cooperative video game, cooperative multiplayer. It is developed by Mixi for iOS and ...

was released on April 5, 2019.

Other appearances

*A statue of Hakushon Daimaō can be seen in the first episode of the 2008 series of ''

Yatterman is a Japanese anime television series broadcast from January 1, 1977 to January 27, 1979, comprising 108 episodes. It is the second and longest show in the ''Time Bokan'' series by Tatsunoko Productions. The series succeeded ''Time Bokan'' a ...

''. *Hakushon Daimaō is featured as a playable character in the Japan-exclusive fighting game '' Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes'' in December 2008, though due to licensing issues, he was not featured in the second iteration, '' Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars'', which was released internationally. *A brief reference to the series is made in the '' Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers'' episode "A Bad Reflection on You" in which clips from the English intro (Bob in a Bottle) are shown on a miniature television. Bulk (portrayed by

Paul Schrier Paulus Laurentius Schrier II (born June 1, 1970), known professionally as Paul Schrier, is an American actor, director, and artist. He is best known for his role of Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier in the ''Power Rangers'' series. He portrayed the charac ...

) states that it is his favorite cartoon. Music from the show, accompanied by visuals of '' Around the World in 80 Dreams'' (another Saban cartoon), also appeared at the end of the season 2 episode "The Power Stealer", where Skull (portrayed by

Jason Narvy Jason Andrew Narvy (born March 27, 1974) is an American actor known for playing the role of Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch on the various iterations of ''Power Rangers'' and film franchise from 1993 to 2012, beginning with ''Mighty Morphin Power Ran ...

) enjoys watching.

References

External links

* *
Official 2020 anime website

"Bob in a Bottle" / "Hakushon Daimao" - English Dub History Episode 1, Yui-senpai TV Youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Genie Family, The 1969 anime television series debuts 1970 Japanese television series endings 2001 anime television series debuts 2006 anime television series debuts 2020 anime television series debuts Genies in anime and manga Anime postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Anime productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic Anime with original screenplays Comedy anime and manga Fox Kids Fuji Television original programming Television shows about genies Japanese children's animated comedy television series Nippon Animation Television series by Saban Entertainment Seven Network original programming TVNZ 2 original programming Tatsunoko Production Viz Media anime Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation original programming YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming