''Heidi's Song'' is a 1982 American
animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
musical film produced by
Hanna-Barbera Productions
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...
and based on the 1881 novel ''
Heidi
''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' (german: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and ''Heidi: How She Use ...
'' by
Johanna Spyri
Louise Spyri (; ; 12 June 1827 – 7 July 1901) was a Swiss author of novels, notably children's stories, and is best known for her book '' Heidi''. Born in Hirzel, a rural area in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, as a child she spent se ...
. The film was directed by
Robert Taylor from a screenplay by Taylor,
Joseph Barbera and Jameson Brewer, and stars Margery Gray as the title character, alongside the voices of
Lorne Greene
Lorne Hyman Greene (born Lyon Himan Green; 12 February 1915 – 11 September 1987) was a Canadian actor, musician, singer and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western ''Bonanza'' and Commander Ad ...
and
Sammy Davis Jr.
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director.
At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...
It is one of only four films Hanna-Barbera ever made that did not feature their trademark characters (along with ''
Charlotte's Web'', ''
C.H.O.M.P.S.
''C.H.O.M.P.S.'' is a 1979 American comic science fiction family film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and directed by Don Chaffey.
Plot
Brian Foster (Wesley Eure), a young inventor, creates a robotic dog for use as part of a home protecti ...
'', and ''
Once Upon a Forest
''Once Upon a Forest'' is a 1993 animated musical adventure film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Based on the ''Furlings'' characters created by Rae Lambert, the film was directed by Charles Grosvenor a ...
'').
The film was released on November 19, 1982 by
Paramount Pictures. Its box office receipts were disappointing, attributed by Joseph Barbera to incompetent distribution; the film was released the same week as two other animated features.
Plot
An orphaned girl named Heidi is sent to live with her paternal grandfather by her maternal Aunt Dete, who has been looking after Heidi since she was a baby. Heidi's grandfather initially dislikes having Heidi around because she interferes in his routine. But when her grandfather hurts his leg, Heidi helps nurse him back to health, and during this time the two bond together. Heidi meets the local goatherd, a boy named Peter, and often goes with him and the village's goats on their daily grazing trips higher up the
Swiss Alps.
One day, however, Heidi's Aunt Dete arrives to take Heidi away again, saying that a wealthy family in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
, Germany, wants Heidi to come live with them. Heidi's grandfather reluctantly lets her go. Heidi arrives at the house in Frankfurt, where she learns she's supposed to become the companion of a wealthy but invalid girl named Klara. Klara's Governess and guardian Fräulein Rottenmeier disapproves of Heidi's simple country ways, but Klara likes Heidi and insists that she stays. Heidi brings joy into Klara's life, especially when she gives Klara a basket of kittens as a present. When Rottenmeier discovers the kittens, Heidi is locked in the rat-infested basement.
Peter and the country animals come to Heidi's rescue. Together with Klara, the three travel to the Wunderhorn without telling Rottenmeier. At this time, Klara's father returns to Frankfurt after being away on business, and is angered that his daughter has disappeared. He immediately leaves for the Wunderhorn, and this time Rottenmeier and the butler Sebastian take the opportunity to flee.
The three children travel up the mountain, but Klara stops halfway so that Heidi can run on ahead without pushing her wheelchair. Heidi runs ahead and is joyfully reunited with her grandfather. Back halfway down the mountain, Klara's kitten Snowball is attacked by a hawk. Klara crawls out of her wheelchair and uses a stick to fight off the hawk. Klara then discovers that she is able to stand. Klara's father arrives and together they celebrate Klara's mobility and Heidi's return.
Voice cast
*
Lorne Greene
Lorne Hyman Greene (born Lyon Himan Green; 12 February 1915 – 11 September 1987) was a Canadian actor, musician, singer and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western ''Bonanza'' and Commander Ad ...
as Grandfather
*
Sammy Davis Jr.
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director.
At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...
as Head Ratte
* Margery Gray as Heidi
*
Michael Bell as Willie
*
Peter Cullen
Peter Claver Cullen (born July 28, 1941) is a Canadian voice actor. He is best known as the voice of Optimus Prime in the original 1980s ''Transformers'' animated series, reprising the role many times since 2007. He has also voiced many other ...
as Gruffle
* Roger DeWitt as Peter
*
Richard Erdman
Richard Erdman ( John Richard Erdmann; June 1, 1925 – March 16, 2019) was an American character actor and occasional film and television director. He appeared in more than 160 films and television productions between 1944 and 2017, mostly i ...
as Herr Sessmann
*
Fritz Feld
Fritz Feld (October 15, 1900 – November 18, 1993) was a German-American film character actor who appeared in over 140 films in 72 years, both silent and sound. His trademark was to slap his mouth with the palm of his hand to create a "pop" s ...
as Sebastian
*
Pamelyn Ferdin
Pamelyn Wanda Ferdin (born February 4, 1959) is an American animal rights activist and a former child actress. Ferdin's acting career was primarily during the 1960s and 1970s, though she appeared in projects sporadically in the 1980s and later ...
as Klara
*
Joan Gerber
Joan Gerber (July 29, 1935 – August 22, 2011) was an American voice actress who provided voices for a variety of cartoons.
Her most challenging voice role was "all the children in a Japanese train wreck" for a ''Godzilla'' television episode ...
as Fräulein Rottenmeier
*
Virginia Gregg
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
as Aunt Dete
*
Janet Waldo
Janet Waldo (born Jeanette Marie Waldo; February 4, 1919 – June 12, 2016) was an American radio and voice actress. In animation, she voiced Judy Jetson in various Hanna-Barbera media, Nancy in ''Shazzan'', Penelope Pitstop, Princess from '' B ...
as Tinette
*
Frank Welker as Schnoddle and Hootie
*
Michael Winslow
Michael Leslie Winslow (born September 6, 1958) is an American actor, comedian and beatboxer billed as The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects for his ability to make realistic sounds using only his voice. He is best known for his roles in all seven '' ...
as Mountain
Music
Hoyt Curtin
Hoyt Stoddard Curtin (September 9, 1922 – December 3, 2000) was an American composer and music producer, the primary musical director for the Hanna-Barbera animation studio from its beginnings with '' The Ruff & Reddy Show'' in 1957 until his re ...
scored the film, while
Sammy Cahn
Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premi ...
and
Burton Lane wrote the songs.
Original songs performed in the film include:
Critical reception
Movie historian
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...
gave the picture just 1.5 out of a possible 4 stars, declaring it "...Little better than most Saturday morning fare -- due to awkward continuity, lifeless animation, and an excess of cute animals."
Home media
The film was first released on VHS in 1985 by
Worldvision Home Video.
GoodTimes Home Video
GoodTimes Entertainment, Ltd. was an American home video company that originated in 1984 under the name of GoodTimes Home Video. Though it produced its own titles, the company was well known due to its distribution of media from third parties and ...
(under their Kids Klassics label) re-released the film on VHS in 1988.
Turner Home Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...
gave the film one final VHS re-release in 1998.
Warner Home Video
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros.
It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...
released the film to DVD-R for the first time on July 31, 2012 through
Warner Archive
The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...
.
See also
*
List of animated feature films of 1982
A list of animated feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. T ...
*
1982 in film
The following is an overview of events in 1982 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.
Highest-grossing films North America
The top ten 1982 released films by ...
* ''
Rock Odyssey
''Rock Odyssey'' is an animated feature film produced by Hanna-Barbera for a television release in 1987.
Directed by Robert Taylor (but credited to William Hanna and Joseph Barbera on the final print), with storyboards by Pete Alvarado.
Plot
...
'' - the 1987 film that was meant to be the follow-up to this film
References
External links
*
''Heidi's Song''at the
Big Cartoon DataBase
The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, Feature film, animated feature films, Animated television series, animated television shows, and cartoon Short film, shorts.
The BCDB proj ...
*
Excerpt''Heidi's Song'' on Amazon
{{Paramount theatrical animated features
1982 films
1982 animated films
1980s musical films
American children's animated fantasy films
American children's animated musical films
Films set in Frankfurt
Heidi films
Films set in Switzerland
Hanna-Barbera animated films
1980s American animated films
Paramount Pictures animated films
Paramount Pictures films
Animated films based on children's books
Animated films about orphans
Films produced by William Hanna
Films produced by Joseph Barbera
Animated films based on novels
Films scored by Hoyt Curtin
1980s children's animated films
1980s English-language films