| The Adventures of the Little Prince | |
| Ja Kanji: | 星の王子さま プチ・プランス |
| Ja Romaji: | Hoshi no Ōjisama Puchi Puransu |
| Genre: | Adventures |
| Type: | tv series |
| Director: | Kōji Yamazaki, Takeyuki Kanda |
| Producer: | Hiromichi Mogaki, Hiroshi Hashioka |
| Music: | Kunihiro Kawano |
| Studio: | Knack Productions |
| Licensee: | [1] |
| Network: | TV Asahi |
| First: | July 4, 1978 |
| Last: | March 27, 1979 |
| Episodes: | 39 (35 on Japanese TV; 26 in English dub) |
| Episode List: | List of The Adventures of the Little Prince episodes --> |
The Adventures of the Little Prince is an anime series based on the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Made by the animation studio Knack Productions, the series, originally titled, aired in Japan on the TV Asahi network from July 1978 to March 1979. Dubbed into English, the series premiered in the United States in 1985 on Nickelodeon and was rerun through June 1, 1985 to December 29, 1989.[2] It was also broadcast on TVOntario throughout the 1980s beginning in 1985,[3] a station that would later pick up the dub of the 2010 French adaptation. Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, of Mobile Suit Gundam fame, was involved in this series as a director.
In total there were 26 episodes aired in English, with 39 episodes made for the original Japanese run. On July 17, 2017, it was announced that Discotek Media has picked up the North American license for the anime.[1] In May and December of that same year, Discotek Media has uploaded a Japanese language with English subtitles of the first episode on YouTube, all 39 episodes of the Japanese language version with English subtitles on Crunchyroll.[4] [5]
According to The Anime Encyclopedia by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy, only the first 35 episodes were actually aired on Japanese TV; the remaining four episodes remained unreleased until the series was reissued on video.
The series followed the Little Prince as he travels on a comet from his home planet, B-612, to Earth. He lands in Europe and embarks on a journey across the continent, where he helps various people along the way.[6]
The premise was altered for the English version. It had the Little Prince traveling to Earth and planets that resembled it and returning home at the end of each episode, and helped people at the various places he went to. In addition to the premise, episode plots were also altered. Ever since Discotek Media acquiring the anime license in North America, all 39 episodes can now be watched on Crunchyroll in Japanese with English subtitles.
| Character | Japanese voice | English voice | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Prince | Julie Dees, Katie Leigh | ||
| Rose Girl | Yoshiko Matsuo | Janet Waldo | |
| Swifty (Bird) | Hal Smith | ||
| Saten | |||
| Boss | |||
| Peter | Kaoru Kurosu | ||
| Old Man | |||
| Danya | Janet Waldo | ||
| Narrator | Masaaki Yajima |
On September 6, 2005, Koch Vision released a 4-disc DVD of the entire English series in Region 1. Koch Vision has subsequently begun releasing the series in Volumes each containing 3 or 4 episodes each, which sell at a lower cost than the complete series.
Discotek Media released all 26 episodes of the English dub on DVD on October 31, 2017. On December 6, 2017, Discotek Media uploaded the first episode of the Japanese version with English subtitles to YouTube, and on May 16, 2019, the entire Japanese version was added to Crunchyroll.[7] The anime will also make its debut on Retrocrush.[8]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete Animated Series | 26 | September 6, 2005 | |
| The complete English language series | 26 | October 31, 2017 |
In September 2019, the English dub of the series was made available on Amazon Prime.