A Journey Through Fairyland | |
Director: | Masami Hata |
Producer: | Atsushi Tomioka Tsunemasa Hatano |
Story: | ShintarĂ´ Tsuji |
Editing: | Satoshi Yoshioka |
Cinematography: | Iwao Yamaki |
Music: | Naozumi Yamamoto |
Starring: | Masachika Ichimura Tomoko Kaneda |
Studio: | Sanrio |
Distributor: | Celebrity's Just for Kids (US video), Discotek Media (US DVD) |
Runtime: | 91 minutes |
Country: | Japan |
Language: | Japanese |
is a 1985 Japanese animated film by Sanrio, the company which animated Unico, The Sea Prince and the Fire Child and Ringing Bell, though this story is less sought out as a rarity among Sanrio cult classic collectors. It was Sanrio's final feature-length anime film until 2007. It was brought to America in 1989 through a company called Celebrity Home Entertainment. Unlike previous works, this one mainly focuses on music more than plot, prompting it to be compared with Disney's older work Fantasia (Video Business review). The one original piece is "My Name is Florence," which contains lyrics and is sung in the film; all other songs on the soundtrack are works of classical composition, written by Beethoven and other similarly noteworthy composers.
A gentle and talented boy named Michael played beautiful music on his oboe, and his greatest love was to play for and tend to the flowers in the greenhouse at the school of music where he attended. Unfortunately, his gardening made him constantly late for orchestra practice and resulted in his dismissal from the school. When Michael fell asleep that same night, he was awakened by a dainty Flower Fairy named Florence, who would take him on an enchanted journey to a land where flowers came alive, treble notes were mischievous, and adventure beckoned. There, he would soon come to realize that his love of flowers and desire to become a great musician could go hand-in-hand and help him to become focused in life and discover himself.
Character | Original | English | |
---|---|---|---|
Michael | Masachika Ichimura | Jeremy Graham | |
Florence | Tomoko Kaneda | Audra Sears Henning | |
Music Teacher/Prof. Low Note | Asei Kobayashi | A. Gregory | |
Musica/Treble | Mizuki Nakajima | ||
Laura | Chika Takami | Barbara Jane Henning | |
Narrator | - | Jo Catanzaro |