Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow explained
is a Japanese anime series by Nippon Animation. This 1982 adaptation is part of the studio's World Masterpiece Theater franchise, based on the 1982 novel Southern Rainbow by Australian writer Phyllis Piddington.
Plot
Set in the 1830s,[1] [2] the series tells the story of a young girl named Lucy and the hardships and excitement she and her family encounter when they move from England to Adelaide in South Australia to start a farm.
Unusual elements
Not only it is the first anime in the World Masterpiece Theater to have been broadcast while the author of the source material was still alive (followed by , The Bush Baby and ), but it also is the only one to have aired when the original work wasn't finished yet. At the time of the broadcasting in Japan in 1982, Southern Rainbow was still in phase of serialization on an Australian family daily magazine, prior to be published as a book later that same year.[3] Another adaptation of the story, written by Ken Wakasaki as a tie-in to the anime, was also published in Japan in 1982.
Dubbing
The anime has been dubbed into French, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, German, and Persian.
Characters
Popple family
- Lucy-May Popple - the 7-year-old main character.
- Kate Popple - Lucy-May's 10-year-old sister, she serves as narrator of the series.
- Clara Popple - Lucy-May's 16-year-old sister and eldest sibling.
- Ben Popple - Lucy-May's 12-year-old brother.
- Tob Popple - Lucy-May's 2-year-old brother and youngest sibling.
- Arthur Popple - Lucy-May's father.
- Annie Popple - Lucy-May's mother.
- Marsh - Lucy's pet hamster.
Others
- Billy Yumbling - a 10-year-old boy who's friends with Kate and Lucy-May.
- Mr. Pettywell - a wealthy businessman who came on the same ship as the Popples.
- Happy - Mr. Pettywell's dog.
- Mr. Parker - a friend of Popple family.
- John - a young sailor with a crush on Clara.
- Mary and Fred - aunt and uncle of Lucy-May's who live with their Arthur's mother who live in Yorkshire, England.
Cast
Episodes
- To a New land
- Cute Fellow
- The Replacement
- First Exploration
- After the Rain
- A Town Named Adelaide
- Ben's Misfortune
- Night Before Departure
- Road to Adelaide
- Green Town
- My Small House
- Night at Adelaide
- Ben Has Arrived
- A Stout Man
- Two Homes
- Drenched Doctor
- Unfortunate Accident
- Tree Climbing
- Shopping Tine
- Water in the Well
- Adelaide's Designer
- Children of Brick and Dingo
- Your Name is Little
- The Day Which Marks The End Of Summer
- When I'm Not Brought Along
- I Got Sick!
- Ride on the Wind
- Land Opposite the River
- Little's Training
- Birthday Present
- Little and Black Dog
- Bridge over the Rainbow
- Lost Dream
- Little and School
- Duel
- Five Shillings in the Nest
- Bandits of the Grassland
- Detective Lucy
- Two Farewells
- Who Am I?
- A Town I Do Not Know, A Person I Do Not Recognize
- A Child Called Emily
- Missing Each Other
- Little! Little!
- Tob's Vanished
- A Wombat In The Hole
- Father's Decision
- Rich Child
- Clara's Marriage
- Toward's the Rainbow
Music
- Opening theme: "Niji ni Naritai" by Sumiko Yamagata
- Ending theme: "Mori ni Oide" by Sumiko Yamagata
External links
- Web site: Official site by Bandai. https://web.archive.org/web/20050106102236/http://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/kidstop/meisaku/lucy/lucy.html. 6 January 2005. dead.
Notes and References
- Web site: Phyllis Piddington . AustLit . 10 March 2007 . 24 September 2021.
- Book: Barbara Wall . Butterss . Philip . Southwords . 1995 . 9781862543546 . 14 . https://books.google.com/books?id=hNFneK-gMmkC&dq=Phyllis+Piddington&pg=PA14 . 24 September 2021 . A landscape of writing for children.
- Web site: 原作「南の虹」１. 2022-12-18. katri.world.coocan.jp.
