Katri, Girl of the Meadows

Katri, Girl of the Meadows (牧場の少女カトリ, Makiba no Shōjo Katori) is an anime series based on the Finnish novel, "Paimen, piika ja emäntä" by Auni Nuolivaara. The series was broadcast originally in Japan in 1984 as part of the children's anthology series World Masterpiece Theater, also known simply as "Meisaku" from Nippon Animation. The anthology had before and after produced a great variety of animated series based on different children's novels from around the world; among them were My Annette: Story of the Alps (1983) and Little Princess Sara (1985). In Europe, where World Masterpiece Theater series have found huge success, Katri, Girl of the Meadows made its way to different countries, including Spain, Italy, France, and Germany. The series has never been broadcast or published in Finland where it remains mostly unknown.

Cast

• 及川ひとみ (Hitomi Oikawa) as カトリ・ウコンネミ (Katori Ukonnemi)

• Tohru Furuya as Martti
• Yuko Tsuga as Mari (Martti's sister)
• Yūko Kobayashi as Helena (Martti's cousin)
• Yoshiko Matsuo as Miina (Helena's mother)

• Mahito Tsujimura as Väinö Harma
• Asami Mukaidono as Milole (Harma's maid)

• Kumiko Takizawa as Lotta Kuusela
• Hisashi Katsuta as Elias Lilack (Lotta's father)

Story

It has been three years since little Katri's mother left for Germany leaving her daughter behind in Finland, where she now lives with her grandparents. With Finland still under Russian domination, the inhabitants of these lands have had little or no news from the outside and no one knows if little Katri will again see her mother. To make matters worse, things in the Katri's grandparents' farm are not going well, the harvest had been a small one, their only cow had been killed by a bear and the family confronts great monetary problems. Katri wants to help and finds work in a neighboring farm; for a girl of hardly nine years of age the work of a farm is hard and tiring even with all of her enthusiasm and good moods, which is what keeps her standing.

Theme songs

• Japan: (Opening) "Love With You", (Ending) "Kaze no Komoriuta" sung by Chie Kobayashi.
• Italy: "Le avventure della dolce Kati" sung by Cristina D'Avena.
• Netherlands: "Nathalie".
• Spain: "Dulce Katoli"
• Arab World: " كاتولي: فتاة المراعي (opening) أقود القطيع
• Iran: "حنا دختری در مزرعه"

External links

• Makiba no Shōjo Katori Nippon Animation (in Japanese)
• Katri, Girl of the Meadows (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia