Lucy May - The 1982 anime series
Lucy May (in the Japanese original: 南 の 虹 の ル ー シ ー Minami no Niji no Rūshī, lit. "Lucy of the Southern Rainbow") is a Japanese anime series from Nippon Animation. This 1982 adaptation is part of the studio's popular World Masterpiece Theater series, based on the 1982 novel Southern Rainbow by Australian writer Phyllis Piddington (1910–2001), and tells the story of a young girl named Lucy and the hardships and enthusiasm that she and her family encounter when they move from England to Adelaide in Australia to start a farm. The anime has been voiced in French, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, German and Persian. Another adaptation of the story, written by Ken Wakasaki as a link to the anime, was also released in Japan in 1982.
In Italy, after the first broadcast on Italia 1 in 1983, the series was also replicated on Rete 4 in 1986. On June 17, 2010, after more than 20 years of absence, it returned to Hiro. The Italian theme Lucy is sung by Cristina D'Avena.
History
In 1837 an English family, led by Arthur and Annie Poppel, decided to emigrate to Australia, in the hope of founding a farm there and thus starting a new life. The Poppels, with their five children, Clara, the eldest, Benjamin (Ben), Katherine (Kate), Lucy-May and little Toby (Tob), travel by boat to the Australian continent in full development of its colonization.
For Lucy-May and her siblings, this strange place is exciting. There is never a shortage of curious places to explore or exotic animals to discover, such as koalas, kangaroos and badgers. During their fun-seeking getaways, they may even meet and befriend some Aborigines. However, for Mr. Poppel and his wife, things do not go as they had hoped. In Adelaide, getting his own land on which to start his farm isn't easy and despair drives Arthur Poppel into alcoholism.
When things seem to get worse for the Poppels, their little Lucy-May disappears. After suffering a severe blow caused by a carriage, she loses her memory and is picked up by a wealthy family. The Princetons, who sadly lost their little Emily a few years earlier, are fond of Lucy-May.
The Poppels, who were desperately looking for their daughter, finally find her. The Princeton family offers to adopt Lucy and even offer the Poppels land in exchange for their daughter. The Poppels, however, reject both offers.
Lucy-May finally regains her memory and naturally decides to return to the Poppels. His new family understand that trying to extort money from the Poppels is not fair, and they eventually give them, along with their daughter, a piece of land where they can finally start their long-awaited farm.
Characters
Lucy May Poppel : the protagonist of the story. He is seven years old and loves to play and discover the animals of the foresat. For Lucy-May, arriving in Australia is a never-ending adventure, exploring the terrain and discovering all kinds of exotic creatures. Although there is no school in Adelaide, Lucy-May can spend all her free time with her sister, but when it comes time to study, her family discovers that she is not the most diligent and studious girl and it is difficult for her. to focus.
Kate Poppel : Poppel's middle daughter, Kate is 10 at the beginning of the story. Like her younger sister Lucy-May, Kate likes to have fun and is not always helpful, even though she becomes more responsible and understands the situations her family goes through than her sister. Kate is Lucy-May's main playmate, but her sisters fight a lot too.
Arthur Poppel : Head of the family and father of Lucy-May, Arthur Poppel took his family to Australia in hopes of starting a beautiful farm here. However, upon arrival he discovers that things do not go as promised; the process of distributing the land is bureaucratically slow and, what is worse, it makes enmity with its neighbor, the wealthy Mr. Pettiwell, who on more than one occasion succeeds in sabotaging it. Despair leads to alcoholism for a while.
Annie Poppel: Mother of Arthur and wife of Arthur, Annie Poppel is a woman with a calm character and at the same time very responsible. She fully supports her husband and also wishes to fulfill her family's dream of someday getting land on which to run their own farm. Despite being a compassionate mother, she is also adamant in raising her children, especially the three little ones: Kate, Lucy-May and Tob. He has the relentless support of his eldest daughter Clara, and when Mr. Poppel goes through a period of depression, he takes the reins and makes sure his family doesn't give up and move on.
Clara Poppel : Poppel's eldest daughter, Clara is a sweet girl who helps her mother by playing a maternal role over her siblings. He is responsible and takes a leading role in carrying out household chores. During the voyage to Australia he meets the young sailor John, with whom he falls in love. She dreams of being able to marry him someday, but doesn't let that interfere with her obligation to support her family in everything. After a while, he prepares to work in the new bakery owned by Ms. Jane Mac, a family friend.
Ben Poppel : Ben is the second son of the Poppels and the eldest of the two boys. Leaving England to start a new life in Australia means that someday you will have to put aside your dream of becoming a doctor, as Australia still has no universities to study medicine. He is a devoted young man who helps his family in any way he can, even building a large part of his temporary home with his own hands.
Technical data and credits
Anime TV series
Author Phyllis Piddington ("Southern Rainbow" novel)
Regia Hiroshi Saito
Film script Jirô Kiyose, Kôzô Kuzuha, Shigeo Koshi, Takayoshi Suzuki
Char. design Junichi Seki
Artistic Dir Taisaburô Abe
Music Koichi Sakata
Studio Nippon animation
Network Fuji TV
1st TV January 10 - December 26, 1982
Episodes 50 (complete)
Relationship 4:3
Duration ep. 24 min
It network. Italia 1
1st Italian TV 26 September 1983
Episodes it. 50 (complete)
Duration ep. it. 24 min
Double studio it. Group Thirty
Double Dir. it. Ludovica Modugno and Gabriella Genta
