''The New Adventures of Heidi'' is a 1978 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

comedy-drama film updating the Heidi character to the present time and shifting the action from

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The film was released theatrically in Spain and Australia.

Charles B. Fitzsimons Charles B. Fitzsimons (8 May 1924 – 14 February 2001) was an Irish actor who emigrated to the United States, where he became a film producer after ending his acting career. He was a younger brother of famed actress Maureen O'Hara. His na ...

had the idea to turn the film into a musical with comedy writer Buz Kohan writing ten songs for the film, sung by the stars

Katy Kurtzman Katy Kurtzman (born September 16, 1965) is an American actress and modelist. Biography Kurtzman was born in Washington, D.C. on September 16, 1965, and began her career as a child actress. In 1977, Michael Landon cast Kurtzman as stuttering Ann ...

, Burl Ives,

John Gavin John A. Gavin (born Juan Vincent Apablasa; April 8, 1931 – February 9, 2018) was an American actor who was the president of the Screen Actors Guild (1971–73), and the United States Ambassador to Mexico (1981–86). Among the films he appeared ...

and

Marlyn Mason Marlyn Mason (born August 7, 1940) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. Early years Mason was born in San Fernando, California, and she was named after a friend of a friend of her mother. Mason moved to Hollywood after she finis ...

who played ''Heidi'' on stage in 1954 at the Player's Ring Theatre in Hollywood.

Plot

When Heidi's grandfather finds he is losing his sight he does not wish to tell Heidi, but he makes her live with her relatives, Cousins Tobias and Martha to attend school in a large city. There Heidi meets the troubled Elizabeth Wyler who is fascinated by Heidi and her rural life. Through his secretary Mady, Heidi joins Elizabeth and her busy widowed father Dan Wyler for a Christmas in New York City.

Cast

as Heidi * Burl Ives as Grandfather *

as Dan Wyler *

as Mady *Sherrie Wills as Elizabeth Wyler * Sean Marshall as Peter *

Alex Henteloff Alex Henteloff (born May 23, 1942) is an American actor. Born in Los Angeles, California, Henteloff has appeared mostly on television in guest-starring roles. He portrayed the attorney Arnold Drake Ripner in a recurring role (in a total of 7 ep ...

as Chef Andre * Charles Aidman as The Hermit * Walter Brooke as Cousin Tobias *

Amzie Strickland Amzie Ellen Strickland (January 10, 1919 – July 5, 2006) was an American character actress who began in radio, made some 650 television appearances, had roles in two dozen films, appeared in numerous television movies, and also worked in T ...

as Cousin Martha *

Molly Dodd Molly Dodd (November 11, 1921 — March 26, 1981) was an American actress. Biography Born as Mary Elise Dodd in Los Angeles, California to Rev. Neal Dodd (September 6, 1879 — May 26, 1966) and Lila Elsie Dodd (née Weaver; September 12, 1889 ...

as Mother Gertrude *Adrienne Marden as Sister Agnes *Arlen Stuart as Telephone Operator * Barry Cahill as Hotel Manager Krebbs * Bartlett Robinson as Oscar the Butler

Production

With the low budget of the television film precluding having the film shot in Switzerland or New York City, the crew shot Swiss sequences in Snowmass, Colorado with imitation red poppies and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

with imitation snow.

Novelization

A paperback novelization of the film was written by John Pearson and published by

Dell Publishing Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and ...

in December 1978 as a promotional

tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prope ...

Notes

External links

* *
''The New Adventures of Heidi''
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...