Fushigi no Kuni no Alice

Fushigi no Kuni no Alice
ふしぎの国のアリス
GenreFantasy, adventure
Based onAlice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll
Written byMarty Murphy (English version)
Directed byShigeo Koshi
Taku Sugiyama
Music byReijirō Koroku
Christian Bruhn (English version)
Country of originJapan
West Germany
Austria
Original languageJapanese
No. of episodes52
Production
Executive producerKōichi Motohashi
ProducersShigeo Endo
Eiko Tanaka
Production companiesNippon Animation
Apollo Films
ORF
ZDF
Original release
NetworkMegaTON (TV Osaka, TV Tokyo) (Japan)
ZDF (West Germany)
ReleaseOctober 10, 1983 (1983-10-10) –
March 26, 1984 (1984-03-26)

Fushigi no Kuni no Alice (ふしぎの国のアリス, Fushigi no Kuni no Arisu) is an anime adaptation of the 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland which ran on the TV Tokyo network and other local television stations across Japan from October 10, 1983 to March 26, 1984.[1] The television series was a Japanese-German co-production between Nippon Animation and Apollo Films.[2] The television series consists of 52 episodes, but only 26 made it to the United States.

Overview

A young girl named Alice follows a White Rabbit into a hole, only to find herself in Wonderland, where she meets many interesting characters, including the mysterious Cheshire Cat and the terrible Queen of Hearts.

The beginning of the series adheres more closely to the original novel, whereas later episodes adapt the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, starting with episode 18.

One departure from the books is that Alice returns to the real world at the end of each episode, and goes back to Wonderland at the beginning of the next episode. These transitions between the two worlds are depicted as dream-like, and it usually takes Alice a moment to notice her surroundings have changed.

Characters

  • Alice (TARAKO; Aya Beher (Tagalog dub)): In contrast to her novel counterpart, she is depicted with red hair instead of blonde, a hat, and a red and white short neck top dress similar in design to her Disney counterpart's blue and white dress. She appears younger due to her anime design (as this is the same case with Dorothy's anime depiction in the anime adaptation of the Wizard of Oz).
  • Benny Bunny (Masako Nozawa): Alice's rabbit companion in her adventures throughout Wonderland. Found when Alice buys a magic hat in an old shop, Benny turns out to be the nephew of the White Rabbit, so he gets along fairly well with most of the Wonderlanders. He is always uncomfortable whenever they have to go to the Jabberwocky though, as the dragon is set on making rabbit stew out of him. He is also the only character in the series not originating from Lewis Caroll's stories.
  • The White Rabbit: Benny's jittery uncle and one of the Queen of Hearts' associates. He has white fur as his name implies, and often worries about being late for his duties.
  • The Cheshire Cat (Issei Futamata): A striped cat with the power to vanish himself and others. In most versions, the Cheshire Cat is portrayed as a smart aleck, but here he's a bit of a bumbler.
  • The Queen of Hearts: The usual instigator of the current adventure's problem, the Queen shares the same Rubenesque figure of her Disney counterpart. She wears a yellow dress and has a sloping, pointed nose, a contrast to her counterpart's flat face and red and black gown. Another difference that separates her from most other depictions of the character is that she is the most human out of all of them; she can be reasoned with, and while she does threaten with beheadings, she usually only sends offenders to the dungeon for a few days.
  • The King of Hearts: The Queen of Hearts' pushover husband and a good friend of Humpty Dumpty.
  • The Jabberwocky: A moody giant dragon living in a castle, beyond the forest. A loner of sorts, he doesn't like visitors that much and usually keeps to himself. Now and then he seems vaguely bent on cooking Alice's rabbit companion Benny Bunny, but he is in the end more grumpy than dangerous, and seems good-natured all in all. Sometimes he ends up helping Alice with her troubles. It is possibly hinted at in "The Little Flute Player" that he may have had a lover in the past.
  • The Caterpillar: Ostensibly the wisest out of all of the Wonderlanders, the Caterpillar can also be considered the sanest or most normal real-world-wise. Usually found in an area filled with mushrooms, the Caterpillar smokes from his hooka while listening to the different woes of the Wonderlanders. Alice usually comes to him for advice, which has developed into the two of them having a close friendship.
  • White King and White Queen: The other monarchy in Wonderland, while the White King likes to take a snooze, his wife is fixated on playing croquet.
  • Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum: Two chubby twin brothers who sometimes fight like in their nursery rhyme.
  • Duchess: Rarely seen without The Cook, she has a piglet as a child who gets casually thrown about.
  • Walrus: A devoted friend of The Carpenter, he is rarely seen without him and was introduced at first as a villain.
  • Humpty Dumpty (Shōzō Iizuka): An irritable living egg who often seen walking on a wall and refuses to believe that he is an egg. Though he would wobble on the wall sometimes, he is often fortunate not to fall and shatter.
  • Mad Hatter: The hatted man who is fond of putting up tea parties.
  • March Hare: The Mad Hatter's closest companion at the tea party.
  • Dormouse: Another tea party attendee, the Dormouse is often asleep and therefore aloof. Although he receives a lot accidental abuse from other characters, he never complains. He also seemingly does not do anything besides dozing, although he is seen playing cymbals on one occasion.
  • Dodo: An elderly, eccentric Dodo who has shown to have dabbled in magic, he was among the characters whom Alice met while participating in the Caucus Race.
  • Mock Turtle: A sensitive Wonderlander that doesn't take much to get him upset, he is usually seen without the Gryphon unlike in the book.
  • The Lion and the Unicorn: Two animals who used to fight like in their nursery rhyme at first, but then became friends. They are rarely seen in the show. The Lion is a bit of a coward like his counterpart in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the Unicorn can screw his horn back on when it comes off.
  • Ceria (Kumiko Mizukura; Aya Beher (Tagalog dub)): Alice's sister who often argues with her.
  • Mother or Lorina Hannah Liddell (Yoshiko Matsuo): Alice's mother.
  • Father or Henry George Liddell (Akio Nojima): Alice's father.

Music

The series uses two pieces of theme music for the original Japanese version. The Japanese opening song is called "Yumemiru Wonderland (夢みるワンダーランド Dreaming Wonderland)", and the Japanese ending song is called "NAZO NAZO yume no kuni (ナゾナゾ夢の国 Mysterious Dreamland)", both sung by the Japanese vocalist Tarako (also the voice actress for Alice).[3]

Disco-style theme music used in European dubs is composed by Christian Bruhn, originally with German lyrics, "Alice im Wunderland".

Episodes

Alice in Wonderland

Episode Title (Japanese) Storyboard Director Animation Director
1 Alice and Benny (アリスとベニー) Taku Sugiyama Unknown Takao Ogawa
2 Rabbit Hole (ラビットホール)
3 Alice in the Sea of Tears (涙の海のアリス)
4 Caucus Race (コーカス・レース)
5 Giant Alice (でっかいアリス)
6 Humpty Dumpty (ハンプティ ダンプティ)
7 Big Puppy (大きな仔犬)
8 Nameless Forest (名なしの森)
9 Pirates of the Crow Sea (カラスの海賊)
10 Caterpillar's Advice (キャタピラの忠告)
11 Tall Alice (のっぽのアリス) Shigeo Koshi
12 Surprise Baby (びっくりベイビー) Unknown
13 Crying Mock Turtle (泣きむしまがい亀) Taku Sugiyama
14 Tweedledee & Tweedledum’s Showdown (ディーとダムの大決闘) Unknown
15 Lion VS Unicorn (ライオンVSユニコーン) Takao Ogawa
Teruo Handa
16 Queen’s Croquet Tournament (クィーンのクローケー大会) Shigeo Koshi Takao Ogawa
17 Cheshire Cat (チェシャキャット) Teruo Handa
18 The Oysters’ Great Escape (カキたちの大脱走)
19 Lobster Quadrille (エビのカドリール) Takao Ogawa
20 Mad Tea Party (おかしなティーパーティ)
21 Lovely Circus Land (すてきなサーカスランド) Takao Ogawa
Teruo Handa
22 Hungry Jack (くいしんぼうジャック) Takao Ogawa
Koki Miwa
23 Upside-Down Parade (さか立ち大行進) Teruo Handa
24 Benny Disappears (消えたベニー) Taku Sugiyama Takao Ogawa
25 Secret of Greenland (グリーンランドの秘密)
26 Mirror Alice and the Mirror (鏡のアリスと鏡) Seiji Okuda Shigeo Koshi Takao Ogawa
Teruo Handa

Through the Looking-Glass

  1. The Queen's Picnic
  2. Bird's of a Feather (The Shy Duck)
  3. Washing Day
  4. Wool and Water
  5. Alice and the Dawson Twins
  6. The White Rabbit Leaves Wonderland
  7. The Strange Trainride
  8. The Corkscrew Mouse
  9. The Weathermakers
  10. The Giant Kangaroo
  11. The Balloon Ride
  12. Cloudland
  13. An Unpleasant Guest
  14. The Little Flute Player
  15. The Honey Elephants
  16. Little Bill in Love
  17. The Pearl of Wisdom
  18. The Fixit Pixie
  19. The Family Portrait
  20. The Magic Potion
  21. Octopus (The Vanished Light Fairy)
  22. All Things Nice (Many Colored Candles)
  23. The Non-Birthday
  24. Monkey Business (The Chimpanzee's Child)
  25. The Knight's Battle
  26. Queen Alice

English releases

UK VHS Releases

  • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (VC1176): October 1, 1990, episodes: "Alice's Family" and "Down the Rabbit Hole"
  • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Vol. 2 (VC1188): October 1, 1990, episodes: "The Pool of Tears" and "The Caucus Race"

International English release

Recently, it was announced that Studio 100 had licensed the anime for an English release and it was be distributed by Dreamscape Media.[4][5][6]

References

  1. ^ ふしぎの国のアリス [Alice in Wonderland]. Nippon Animation (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  2. ^ "ふしぎの国のアリス | 作品紹介". 日本アニメーション NIPPON ANIMATION (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-07-26.
  3. ^ "ふしぎの国のアリス | 作品紹介". 日本アニメーション NIPPON ANIMATION (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-07-26.
  4. ^ "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Studio 100 International". www.studio100international.com. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
  5. ^ "Single Video – Dreamscape Publishing". www.dreamscapepublishing.com. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
  6. ^ "Single Video – Dreamscape Publishing". www.dreamscapepublishing.com. Retrieved 2025-07-18.