- Source: Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (TV series)
The Girl in the Wind: Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (風の中の少女 金髪のジェニー, Kaze no Naka no Shōjo: Kinpatsu no Jenī) is a Japanese animated television series produced by Nippon Animation which ran for 52 episodes on TV Tokyo from October 1992 to September 1993. It is based on the 1854 song "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" by Stephen Foster.
Outline
This work depicts the childhood of the composer Stephen Foster and his wife Jane McDowell Foster Wiley. The original is the novel based on the biography of Stephen Foster, written by Fumio Ishimori. Among music-themed anime, this work is an anime whose theme is not only music but also biography, and depicts the childhood of a noted composer, but the anime itself has almost nothing to do with the real Foster or his wife. It is one of companion volumes of the World Masterpiece Theater, broadcast on TV Tokyo from 19:30 to 20:00 on Thursday.
This work is the last anime based on Western literatures which was produced by Nippon Animation. In fact, there are no anime based on Western literatures in anime that were first broadcast since 1993, except for Fuji TV's World Masterpiece Theater series.
Synopsis
The story begins in a small town in Pennsylvania in 1838. Jeanie MacDowell is a cheerful and beautiful girl with light brown hair (although this could be perceived as being blonde hair). Jeanie enjoys playing the piano and loves taking piano lessons from her mother.
Steven, a good harmonica player, and Bill, a boy who is good at playing the banjo, are great friends of Jeanie's. They enjoy playing music together like a small band.
Jeanie's happy life changes dramatically after her mother suddenly passes away. Experiencing many difficulties and learning the importance of life, she decides to devote her life to helping many people suffering from illness.
Characters
Narrator: Toshiko Fujita
= Main trio
=Jeanie MacDowell: Voiced by: Mitsuko Horie
Steven Foster: Voiced by: Toshiko Fujita
Bill: Voiced by: Masami Kikuchi
= Other characters
=Freddie MacDowell: Voiced by: Kinryū Arimoto
Jeanie's father.
Angela MacDowell: Voiced by: Waka Kanda
Jeanie's mother.
Dr. Sandy: Voiced by: Keaton Yamada
Diana: Voiced by: Masako Katsuki
Jeanie's stepmother.
Robert: Voiced by: Hiro Yūki
Big Joe: Voiced by: Takkō Ishimori
Bill's father.
Mammy: Voiced by: Noriko Oka
Henry Foster: Voiced by: Hidetoshi Nakamura
Susan: Voiced by: Kei Hayami
Ms. Garland: Voiced by: Rumiko Ukai
An illiberal teacher.
Betty Lambert: Voiced by: Yuri Shiratori
Cathy: Voiced by: Masako Miura
Mora: Voiced by: Kumiko Nishihara
Kanna: Voiced by: Sakiko Tamagawa
Sister Nancy Conrad: Voiced by: Sumi Shimamoto
Dr. Jason: Voiced by: Mitsuo Senda
Jackson
Carla
A snobbish student who dislikes Jeanie.
= Animal characters
=Tray
Bill's domestic dog. It goes well with the Jeanie trio and can even save them from the crisis.
Staff
Director: Ryō Yasumura
Assistant director: Hiroshi Nishikiori
Scenario: Fumio Ishimori, Nobuyuki Fujimoto, Mai Sunaga
Character design: Masahiro Kase
Music: Hideo Shimazu
Sound director: Etsuji Yamada
Animation director: Masahiro Kase, Hirokazu Ishiyuki, Ikuo Shimazu, Moriyasu Taniguchi, Satoshi Tasaki
Art director: Masamichi Takano
Producer: Mutsuo Shimizu (TV Tokyo), Takaji Matsudo, Shun'ichi Kosao (Nippon Animation)
Planning: Shōji Satō (Nippon Animation), Masunosuke Ōhashi (Dentsu Osaka branch)
Production management: Junzō Nakajima (Nippon Animation)
Production desk: Ken'ichi Satō
Copyright management: Tadashi Hoshino
Public relations: Caroline Briey (TV Tokyo)
Theme songs
Opening theme: Chasing the Sun (太陽を追いかけて, Taiyō wo oikakete)
Singer: Mitsuko Horie
Lyricist: Kazunori Sonobe
Composer, arranger: Tomoki Hasegawa
Ending theme: Mirror of Memories (思い出の鏡, Omoide no kagami)
Singer: Mitsuko Horie
Lyricist: Mitsuko Shiramine
Composer, arranger: Hideo Shimazu
The music collection of this work is titled as "Mirror of Memories", which is also the title of the ending theme, and occasionally inserts narrations by Mitsuko Horie who acts as the main character Jeanie McDowell.
Episodes
Kinpatsu no Jeanie (1979 TV series)
This series is almost completely different from its 1992 counterpart.
During the civil war a girl living in Virginia, named Jeanie, waits for her old boyfriend Robert to marry him, according to a childish promise, but the war makes the things complicated and, Robert comes back as northerner soldier.
Only with the conflict's end, and many misadventures, their dream will become true.
Episode list
My First Love
A Meeting of Hearts
The Rose Pendant
A Long-Awaited Reunion
Mother's Secret
So Close Yet So Far
The Beginning of A New Road
A Kiss
Goodbye My Dear
A Bittersweet Birthday
Boy Wearing A Dress?
Days That Will Not Return
I Will Look To The Future
VIZ Blu-Ray DVD Region 1/A
Part 1 (ep. 1–28) (May 28, 2020)
Part 2 (ep. 29–52) (October 22, 2020)
International broadcast
The series was broadcast in the Arab World on several Middle Eastern networks, titled ابنتي العزيزة... راوية ("My Dear Daughter").
In France, the series aired starting on December 23, 1996, on French TV channel TF1, during the children's program Club Dorothée. It aired as Le Rêve de Jeanie ("The Dream of Jeanie"). Only 38 episodes out of the total 52 were aired on French television, leaving episodes 39–52 unreleased on television on France. The anime was never released on DVD in France, and only received a TV airing.
In Italy, it aired on the private television channel Italia 1 in June 1994, titled Fiocchi di Cotone per Jeanie ("Cotton Balls for Jeanie"). It has since been released on DVD by Yamato Video with both the original Japanese audio and the Italian dub. The Italian version also had its own theme song, "Flakes of Cotton for Jeanie", performed by Cristina D'Avena. It has also been published on a streaming channel on YouTube under "Yamato Animation" by Italian anime distributor Yamato Video.
In Spain, the series was broadcast on the private television channel Telecinco in 1997, titled Dulce Jana ("Sweet Jana"). The Spanish version also had its own theme song, "Sweet Jana", performed by Sol Pilas.
The show aired in three Scandinavian countries in 1996: in Norway (as Jeanie Med Det Lysebrune Håret) on NRK in September; in Sweden (as Jeanie Med Ljusbrunt Hår) on SVT2 in August; and in Denmark (as Jeanie Med Lysebrunt Hår) on DR2 in May. The anime was again being broadcast in all 3 countries in 1998 on the Scandinavian version of FOX Kids.
In Indonesia, it was broadcast on RCTI, Lativi, and Spacetoon in mid-2000s.
In the Philippines, it was aired on ABS-CBN in 2002, rerun in 2004, and was rebroadcast on QTV-11 in 2010.
Notes and references
External links
風の中の少女 金髪のジェニー. Nippon-animation.co.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. (official site)
Kaze no Naka no Shoujo Kinpatsu no Jeanie (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
Kinpatsu no Jeanie (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia — an earlier television series based on the same source
http://www.planete-jeunesse.com/fiche-426-le-reve-de-jeanie.html
http://www.animeka.com/animes/detail/reve-de-jeannie.html
http://www.antoniogenna.net/doppiaggio/anim/fiocchidicotoneperjeanie.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRzgv2OE8mQ&list=PL8jk9jEnr_70Sq1v70ahGGFQ5-dHxhvrx
See also
My Daddy Long Legs: an anime planned by Masunosuke Ōhashi and starring Mitsuko Horie. Broadcast on Fuji TV in 1990.
Moero! Top Striker: one of companion volumes of the World Masterpiece Theater aired on TV Tokyo on Thursday, and is the predecessor of this work.