| Maple Town | |
Title card from the US version (the logo was also prominent on Tonka's toy line based on the show) |
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| メイプルタウン物語 (Maple Town Monogatari) |
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|---|---|
| Genre | Adventure, Animation, Family |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Junichi Sato[1] |
| Produced by | Shinji Nabeshima (Asahi Broadcasting)[1] Azuma Kasuga (Asatsu Inc.)[1] Yasuo Yamaguchi[1] |
| Music by | Akiko Kosaka |
| Studio | Toei Doga[1] Asatsu Inc.[1] Asahi Broadcasting Corporation[1] |
| Licensed by | The Kushner-Locke Company[2] |
| Network | TV Asahi[1] |
| English network | YTV Syndication (original run)[3] Nickelodeon[4] |
| Original run | January 19, 1986 – January 11, 1987 |
| Episodes | 52 |
| TV anime | |
| New Maple Town Stories | |
| Network | TV Asahi |
| Original run | January 18 – December 27, 1987 |
| Episodes | 50 |
| Anime film | |
| New Maple Town Stories: Palm Chapter | |
| Runtime | 65 minutes |
Maple Town, known as Maple Town Stories (メイプルタウン物語 Maple Town Monogatari) in Japan and Gúshi de Mapletown in Taiwan, is an anime series centering on the adventures of Patty Rabbit, Bobby Bear, and their families, in a small utopian anthropomorphic city. The program spawned collectible figurines with changeable clothing as well as houses, furniture, and vehicles; Tonka was the licensee and manufacturer in the US market.[5]
The original Maple Town series, created by Chifude Asakura, consisted of 52 half-hour episodes,[1] which aired on TV Asahi in Japan[1] and on several European networks including Italia 1 in Italy,[6] RTL Veronique and BRT1[7] in Belgium, and FR3 in France.[8] In the US, Maple Town was produced and distributed by Saban Entertainment with The Maltese Companies,[3] dubbed in English for US audiences. This version prominently displayed traditional (Western) values in bookending live-action segments: each episode was prefaced with an introduction by "Mrs. Maple" (Janice Adams), who delivered the moral of the episode.
The series gave way to a 50-episode sequel, Palm Town, which made Patty Rabbit (and her voice actor, Maya Okamoto) the only ongoing member from both series, although Maple Town's citizens made cameos from time to time. To date, this has not seen an official English release.
VHS compilations of Maple Town appeared in North America, Europe and Japan during the late 1980s and early 1990s. As of 2009, official DVDs of the show have only surfaced in Spain[9] and Hungary,[10] with no release plans announced for other territories (including Japan and the United States of America).
Contents |
Set around the late 1920s,[3] Maple Town Monogatari tells the story of Patty Rabbit, who soon after arriving in Maple Town, befriends a boy her age, Bobby Bear, while at the same time antagonizing the sly—if usually "endearingly" unsuccessful—thief, Wild Wolf.
Japanese version:
US version:
A production of Toei Doga, Asatsu and Asahi Broadcasting, Maple Town was created by Chifude Asakura[7] and directed by Sailor Moon's Junichi Sato.[1] It served as one of the first projects for Kunihiko Ikuhara, who would later go on to join the crew of Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena.[11] Ikuhara served as an assistant director[11] and production manager[12] for some of the show's later episodes.[12]
In October 1986, toy manufacturer Tonka acquired the property for US$2.5–3 million[13] and became its US licensee, launching a toy line and ad campaign early the following year.[5] An English-dubbed version, airing in tandem with the toys' promotion, starred actress Janice Adams as Mrs. Maple in its book-ending live-action segments.[3] Mrs. Maple was the only human inhabitant of the title town in this version, and she offered every episode's moral lesson to audiences. The voice cast included Reba West as Patty Rabbit and Steve Kramer as Wilde Wolf.
The English version of Maple Town was produced by Saban Entertainment and The Maltese Companies,[3][4] the latter of which also produced Spiral Zone, another syndicated series in which and in whose licensing Tonka was involved, and the 1988 animated feature Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw.[4]
The original Maple Town series aired on Sunday mornings in Japan on TV Asahi, from 19 January 1986 until 11 January 1987.[1] Following its last of 52 episodes, its follow-up, New Maple Town Story: Palm Town Chapter (新メイプルタウン物語-パームタウン編 Shin Maple Town Monogatari: Palm Town Hen), aired in the same 8:30 a.m. slot.
In late 1986, Saban Entertainment and toy maker Tonka picked it up for the North American market;[5] the latter invested US$7 million on television ads for the toy line.[14] An English dub premiered in barter syndication the following year[4] before settling into a re-run cycle.[3] The show could also be seen on the children's cable channel Nickelodeon,[4] where it aired until 2 April 1993. A 65-episode run was originally announced,[14][15] but only 15 of those ever reached US television.[3] Among the stations playing Maple Town at this time was WNYW, Fox's affiliate in New York City.[16]
Around the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of European stations also aired Maple Town in their various native languages. In Spain, TVE aired the program under the title La aldea del arce,[9] starting in 1987. It also aired on RTL in the Netherlands (as Avonturen in Maple Town);[7] in Finland under the title Seikkailumetsä; in Sweden as Äventyrsskogen; and on Hungary's RTL Klub channel as Juharfalvi történetek.
As with Japan, several other countries aired both series of the Maple Town franchise. In Italy, Mediaset's Italia 1 broadcast both iterations of Maple Town during the late 1980s (under the titles Maple Town: Un nido di simpatia and Evviva Palm Town).[6] The combined series also aired as Les petits malins on FR3 in France at the time.[8] On Nasza TV's showings in Poland, the show was known as Opowiesci z Klonowego Miasteczka and Opowiesci z Palmowego Miasteczka.[17] In Hong Kong, Maple Town aired on the ATV network during 1991.[18]
During the 1990s, Toei Video released a ten-tape collection of Maple Town, each consisting of three episodes in their original airing order.
Select episodes of Saban's US dub were released from late 1987 until 1990 by Family Home Entertainment and Tonka Home Video. Each tape consisted of two stories each, except for the first release, "Welcome to Maple Town". No less than eight English episodes were distributed in the UK by the now-defunct M.S.D. (Multiple Sound Distributors) label.[19]
In the Netherlands, CNR Video released a Dutch dub of the first two episodes in 1992. The stories were entitled "De Overval op de Trein" and "Voor het eerst naar de nieuwe school" in the Dutch language.[20]
The entire original series has been released on DVD in Spain by Divisa Home Video,[9] and Hungary's Fümoto has released some episodes onto that format.[10] As of 2009, no other plans for a DVD premiere have been announced elsewhere.