"Takarajima" (1978) TV series

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Directors:

Osamu Dezaki
Hideo Takayashiki

Writers:

Yoshimi Shinozaki (writer)
Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

8 October 1978 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Drama | Family

Plot Keywords:

Anime | Pirate | Based On Novel

Cast

Gerd Marcel	...	Trelawny / ... (23 episodes, 1979-1994)
Marek Harloff	...	Jim Hawkins (22 episodes, 1994)
Harald Pages	...	Dr. Livesey (21 episodes, 1979-1994)
Marek Erhardt	...	Puppy (19 episodes, 1979-1994)
Klaus Dittmann	...	Smolett / ... (16 episodes, 1979-1994)
Michael Grimm	...	John Silver / ... (16 episodes, 1979-1994)
Walter Wigand	...	Grey (11 episodes, 1979-1994)
Isabella Grothe	...	Karen Hawkins / ... (10 episodes, 1994)
Uli Pleßmann	...	Anderson (10 episodes, 1994)

Also Known As:

"Treasure Island" (International: English title)

Runtime:

24 min (26 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Movie Connections:

Version of "A Ilha do Tesouro" (1963)

Soundtrack:

Takarajima

Get the Black Spot in 3D

When this version of Treasure Island first hit the small screen around my parts the comparisons with "Rittai anime Ie Naki Ko Remi" were obvious: here was another Japanese serial based on a famous novel, starring a small brown haired boy wearing red and blue clothes. On closer inspection, however, this time the character design was perhaps a bit less detailed and the animation somewhat more of a trip (a flying pirate ship in the opening credits, shades of Peter Pan, anyone?). Young lead Jim Hawkins was less realistically drawn than Remi, with an enormous mouth and hardly any nose, as well as long hair covering eyes more often than not. This version also boast the most heroic, hunky looking Long John Silver ever put on film in the hundreds of Treasure Island before or since, sporting flowing long hair (everybody wore it down in this cartoon), strong lantern jaw and piercing blue eyes. No wonder Jim looked up to this man so much. As this was my first introduction to the story, imagine my surprise at seeing classic versions later in life, featuring Long Johns looking untrustworthy from the get go.

Of course there had to be a little fluffy animal, too, in this case Jim's pet jaguar cub (!?) Benbow, who was quickly explained away in the opening narration of the very first episode as being a gift from a friendly guest to his mother's inn (The Admiral Benbow, of course). Apart from Benbow's cuddly presence, the series was remarkably faithful to the Robert Louis Stevenson's source material, and, like "Rittai anime Ie Naki Ko Remi" before it, "Takarajima" was produced using experimental 3D techniques. These effects were most noticeable during the dramatic 'slow motion' sequences where the action would basically freeze, turn into black and white and there would be crazy speed lines all over the place. At least that's when I think I saw them.

Shown on Avro Television in the Netherlands made it almost inevitable that the weekly TV guide Televisier/Avrobode ran the story of Treasure Island as a serial for the entire run of the series, which then had to be cut out and saved for a special collectors album (sold separately) in which the entire story could be pasted (mind you, since these were magazines cuttings, not stickers, it could get pretty nasty depending on the kind of glue you used). I lost my Treasure Island album over the years, but occasionally one pops up at a jumble sale. Which cannot be said of the cartoon series, which has never been repeated since.

8 out of 10