Additional English Voices

• Vic Perrin (Postman)
• Alan Reed (Mr. Usher)
• Barney Phillips (Mr. Kaehlin)
• Julie McWhirter (Neighbor Lady)

Main characters

Heidi (ハイジ, Haiji)

Heidi, christened Adelheid, is 5 years old and an orphan at the time the story begins. The story eventually ends some three years later. Heidi's curiosity, enthusiasm, and intelligence charm most people and animals into friendship, with one notable exception being Ms. Rottenmeier, the governess of the Sesemann family. Heidi's only relatives are her Aunt Dete, from her mother's side, and her paternal grandfather, the Alm-Onji, from her father's side.

Alm-Onji (アルムおんじ, Arumu onji)

The Alm-Onji, or Onji (Alm-Öhi in German), is never identified by any proper name; he's Heidi's estranged grandfather, whose deceased son was Heidi's father. He is an old man, but still physically formidable, with a deep well of wisdom and mountain knowledge that he uses to survive the harsh conditions of the Swiss Alps. He is rumored to have killed a man in his youth, and is considered unapproachably stern and grouchy; but he gradually comes out of his shell once Heidi is in his care. He is a skilled woodworker, creating bowls and assorted utensils out of wood, and provides milk for trade with the villagers.

Peter (ペーター, Pētā)

Peter is an 11-year-old goatherd who is responsible for caring for the village goats during the summer; he and Heidi quickly befriend each other during their introduction. He later becomes, Heidi's love interest. He lives with his mother and his blind grandmother in a shack some distance from the village. His father was a goatherd as well, until he died. Peter's family is not wealthy, since neither him nor his mother can read, and he was used to going hungry until he befriended Heidi. He is an indifferent student, and is somewhat notorious for his appetite and academic incompetence; however, towards the end of the animated series he discovers a natural talent at carpentry.

Clara Sesemann (クララ・ゼーゼマン, Kurara Zēzeman)

Clara is the 12-year-old daughter of a wealthy wine merchant who due to professional and personal reasons spends most of his time away from his home in Frankfurt since his wife's death. Because her legs are paralyzed (the exact cause is left unknown, but it is hinted to be due to a long-term illness), Clara has spent a lonely life in her home; therefore the Sesemann family governess, Miss Rottenmeier, has publicized a request for a playmate, which Heidi's aunt Dete answered. Despite their age difference, and because they have only each other to turn to, Heidi and Clara become very close, which occasionally makes Peter jealous of Clara, although he still also cares greatly for Clara and goes to great lengths to help her. While in the original story it is Peter who destroys Clara's wheelchair, in the anime series it is Clara who accidentally wrecks it when she begins to have doubts about wanting to walk.

Others

Joseph

Heidi's grandfather's dog, a St. Bernard. Mostly lazying around the alm hut, he is nevertheless stout and reliable in an emergency, and has a habit of gobbling up any snail he encounters. This character was created exclusively for the series, and does not appear in Johanna Spyri's original story.

Yuki

A kid goat ("Snow"; English name: "Snowflake") among the flock Peter cares for. She had taken an instant liking to Heidi upon first meeting her. Based on a kid goat named "Schneehöppli" from the book.

Brigette

Peter's mother.

Peter's Grandmother

Peter's grandmother who lives with him and her daughter, Brigette. Blind for several years, her greatest dream is to have someone read her favorite songs from an old book in her possession, but unfortunately, neither Brigette nor Peter can read.

Aunt Dete (デーテおばさん, Dete-obasan)

Aunt Dete is the sister of Heidi's mother, Adelheid. In the novel and the series, she is portrayed as a rather self-centered person, considering her own interests first and neglecting the opinions of others. She especially clashes with the Alm-Onji, first expecting him to take Heidi against his well, then taking her away from him.

Fräulein Rottenmeier (ロッテンマイヤーさん, Rottenmeier-san)

Miss Rottenmeier is the governess and housekeeper of the Sesemann family. She cares a lot about Clara, but cannot stand Heidi. She is very strict and believes Heidi is "wild" and needs to be disciplined.

Sebastian

The butler of the Sesemann family. He is getting along well with Heidi and brings her back to Dörfli.

Tinette

The maid of the Sesemann family.

Johan

The carriage driver for the Sesemann family.

Mr. Sesemann (ゼーゼマンさん, Sesemann-san)

Mr. Sesemann is Clara's father and the head of the Sesemann household. Absent from his house most of the time, he leaves the daily proceedings to Fräulein Rottenmeier, though he occasionally returns home when pressing concerns are brought to his attention. He cares a lot about Heidi.

The Doctor (お医者さん, Oisha-san)

Clara's attending physician and an old friend of the Sesemann household, who also befriends Heidi when she first encounters him on an errand for Herr Sesemann. In the German version of the series, he is usually called "Herr Geheimrat" (in place of his actual "Medizinalrat" title).

Frau Sesemann

Clara's grandmother and Mr. Sesemann's mother, who lives in Holstein and visits her son's household only infrequently. A lively and informal person despite her age, full of humor and fun, who strongly contrasts (and silently clashes) with Fräulein Rottenmeier and her strict adherence to discipline. She helps Heidi to learn to read through Grimms' Fairy Tales.

Goethe's house in Frankfurt, on which Clara's house is based in the 1974 anime and in the 2015 remake

Spanish versions

In Spain, the series debuted on TVE in 1975, simply titled Heidi. An introduction to anime for many of the 70's Spanish generation, the show became one of the most popular anime of all time in Spain, enough to have its own Spanish merchandise, including a comic book adaptation-turned-continuation of the series, published bi-weekly by Ediciones Recreativas and consisting of over an hundred issues in total from 1975 to 1981. "Abuelito, dime tú" became one of the best known children's songs in Spain^[7] and Heidi herself became one of both Sélica Torcal and Marisa Marco's most famous roles.^[8] The name "Rottenmeier" became synonymous with "uptight, straight-laced hag" among Spaniards and has subsequently been used to describe multiple female politicians,^[9] and the Spanish parliament, among others in Spain, and has the woman been used as a bad type of 'potential' single (the suggestion coming from her first reference name "Fräulein" meaning "unmarried woman").^[10]

The show was also quite popular in Colombia, Venezuela, Chile and Peru.

German version

Christian Bruhn, the composer of "Heidi", famous German theme song version

For the series' German dub, an entirely new soundtrack was composed; the in-episode compositions were created by Gert Wilden and the title song's music by Christian Bruhn and performed by the Schlager folk duo Gitti und Erika. The lyrics for the title song, which was simply titled "Heidi" were written by Andrea Wagner and Wolfgang Weinzierl the last one who also made the script translations and dubbing direction.^[11]

The German-language version of the series was first broadcast on ZDF, German national television programm, from September 18, 1977, to September 24, 1978.

Italian version

Heidi, Girl of the Alps was also a huge success in Italy, where it is still one of the best known and loved anime of all time. Its first broadcast was from February 7 to June 6, 1978, and it had very successful yearly re-runs. A good amount of popularity is also enjoyed by the title song of the Italian version, sung by Elisabetta Viviani. The Italian dub was made from the German one, so it features the same soundtrack and dialogue adaptation.

In Italy, also, the series was summed up and reassembled in three feature films, released in cinemas from 1978 through to 1979. The first of the three, Heidi va in città ("Heidi goes to town"), summarizes the episodes in which the protagonist is brought to Frankfurt and befriends Clara, although the longing for her grandfather makes Heidi understand after many vicissitudes that she should go back to live in the mountains.^[12] The second, Heidi torna tra i monti ("Heidi goes back to the mountains"), summarizes the latest episodes of the television series. Heidi, finally back with her grandfather, continues to maintain the friendship at a distance with Clara. Who, precisely during a visit to the girl initially hampered by Mrs. Rottenmeier, will resume the use of her legs.^[13] The third feature to be released, Heidi a scuola ("Heidi at school"), sums up the first part of the series, which includes the arrival of Heidi in the mountains and the meeting with her grandfather.^[14][15] All three titles were officially distributed in 16mm by Sampaolo Film.

Arabic version

The series was dubbed and aired in the Arab world, and was premiered in 1984. This dub was one of the first produced in the Persian Gulf, being a collaborative production between Kuwait and the United States.^[16] At that time, it was very common for actors of various nationalities to participate in the first dubs in the Gulf area, so the same thing happened in this dub, which was made up of two casts of actors: the first, who worked from Kuwait, made up of actors from Lebanon and Jordan; and a second cast, made up of Arab actors residing in the USA, from Egypt and Jordan. Credited as production studios were United Studios Company (USC), from Kuwait; and to an American studio named Middle East Media Center, which according to the dub credits, is located in Hollywood.^[16] Said American studio was probably close to, or at least known to, the Egyptian-born American businessman Frank Agrama (Harmony Gold founder), who at that time worked, among other things, producing Arabic dubs of anime series with a cast of actors of Arab origin, but who lived in the USA, several of whom would participate both in the Arabic dub of Little Lulu and Her Little Friends,^[17] which was recorded entirely in the USA, and in this collaborative dub by Heidi, with the American staff.^[18] This dub was released in Saudi Arabia on KSA TV in 1984, and on Kuwait TV in 1986,^[19] with great success, to the point that in these two countries the series has been broadcast several times in recent years. Also, the series has been shown in numerous Arab countries, such as Bahrain,^[20] Jordan, Lebanon, Oman,^[21] Palestine,^[20] Qatar, Syria^[22] and the UAE.^[23]

The dub included the participation of Nahed Fahim (Heidi, Narrator, Additional Voices), Gashan Al-Mashini (Alm-Onji, Additional Voices), Zuhair Awadh (Peter, Additional Voices), Samira Shamiya (Clara, Dete, Additional Voices), Feryal Qassem (Miss Rottenmeier, Peter's Mom, Additional Voices), and Zuhair Haddad. The dub director was Ghassan Al-Mashini.^[19][16] The translation was done by Afaf and Saba Bader.

It had an original Arabic opening theme, which was very different from the original Japanese opening theme.^[24] The musical theme was composed by the Egyptian Adel Asfour, and was sung by the Jordanian interpreter Sameera Nimri, who would also interpret the Arabic ending, and other additional songs. For the dub, an own soundtrack was composed, replacing the original Japanese soundtrack, but it was not dispensed with, since the Arabic soundtrack is mixed with the Japanese one in several scenes, and even many songs from the Japanese version are reinterpreted, such as the original Japanese opening. All these compositions and arrangements were also made by Adel Asfour, and were recorded in the USA, the same country where the final mixing and editing would be done.^[16]

South African Afrikaans version and English-South African theme single

Dubbed for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) by Leephy Studios, the show was incredibly popular in South Africa during the late 1970s and early 1980s and had a number of re-runs.^[25] While the (German) theme song wasn't initially dubbed into Afrikaans, multiple covers of it in the language exist, including by Carike Keuzenkamp and Kurt Darren, the latter released in 2012 and which makes brand new verses for the song. They describe his childhood memories of Heidi herself and current thoughts of her, including of potentially contacting her by phone, as well as inviting her somewhere.^[26] Later, updated versions of the animated TV series contained the theme song in Afrikaans for the South African audience. At the time the original animated TV series was released in South Africa in 1978, "Heidi" had also been sung in English by artist Peter Lotis, and was released as a single. It attained the Number 2 position on the Springbok Charts on 16 June 1978, and remained on the charts for 13 weeks.^[27]

English versions

An English dub was made possibly in Philippines, and was broadcast on Cartoon Network India in 2001.^[28] The dub has never been released on home media and is very hard to find. This dub, about which there is almost no information, is the only known dub of the complete series in English, and which has been proven a real dub.^[28]

Despite this series' international popularity, the full series is less well known in the US and UK. The only version of this anime to have been commercially released in the United States and United Kingdom is a completely separate feature-length movie version of the TV series, created in 1975 according to the copyright, but supposedly not released until 1979. It was later released to home video in both continents in 1985 by Pacific Arts under the title The Story of Heidi. This version was produced by Claudio Guzman and Charles Ver Halen, with the English translation and dialogue by Dick Strome and featured a voice cast including Randi Kiger as Heidi, Billy Whitaker as Peter, Michelle Laurita as Clara, Vic Perrin as the Alm Uncle, the Doctor and Postman, Alan Reed (who died in 1977) as Sebastian and Mr. Usher, and legendary voice talent Janet Waldo as Aunt Dete.^[29] The version is distilled to only a small number of central episodes, as well as so two of the sub-plots (of the adopted Pichi and Meow, respectively) were part of the main plot instead, as well as cutting many other scenes of the episodes, either by shortening them or, most often, removing them entirely. The movie features excerpt of Takeo Watanabe soundtrack, but used in different sequences than the series. This dub also changes the name of the dog Josef to Bernard, ostensibly because he is a St. Bernard, as well as Pichi to Binky Bird. It aired on Nickelodeon's Special Delivery anthology series in the 1980s.

Tagalog version

The series was also dubbed in Tagalog in the Philippines on ABS-CBN in 1997, as well as in Cebuano in 2000.

Indian versions

In India, the English dubbed version of the series was aired on Cartoon Network in 2001 on 8pm, Heidi was aired in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam on Chutti TV, Kushi TV, and Chintu TV and Kochu TV respectively.

Turkish versions

The series was broadcast in Turkey with Turkish dubbing. Originally broadcast on TRT, the series was later broadcast on CNBC-e, Kanal 1 and Kidz TV. The series, which was popular in the 1990s, is still widely watched and loved in Turkey.