View source for Manga Fairy Tales of the World

{{Short description|Japanese anime anthology series}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox animanga/Header
| name = Manga Fairy Tales of the World
| image = Fairy_Tales_of_the_World.jpg
| caption = A scene from the [[opening titles]] with the sad female character
| ja_kanji = まんが世界昔ばなし
| ja_romaji = Manga sekai mukashi banashi
| genre = [[Adventure]], [[fantasy]], [[drama]], [[Romance film|romance]], [[Thriller (genre)|thriller]], [[biopic]]
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
|type = TV series
|title =
|director = Masami Kuzū <br /> [[Osamu Dezaki]] <br /> Yoshihiko Soga <br /> Keinosuke Tsuchiya <br /> Sadao Nozaki <br /> Tan Hakata <br /> Hideo Nishimaki <br /> Tadakata Ishida
|producer = Hiroshi Inoue<small> (TBS)</small> <br /> Yasuo Ooda <br /> Yuji Tanno
|writer =
|music = Harumi Ibe
|studio = {{ubl|World Television|TBS Britannica|Dax International|[[Madhouse (company)|Madhouse]] <small>(eps. 1-52)</small>}}
|licensee =
|network = [[TBS Television (Japan)|TBS]]
|network_en =
|first = October 7, 1976
|last = March 28, 1979
|episodes = 127 (232 segments)
|episode_list =
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}
{{nihongo|'''''Manga Fairy Tales of the World'''''|まんが世界昔ばなし|Manga sekai mukashi banashi|lead=yes|{{literal translation|Manga World Folk Tales}}}}, also known as '''''Tales of Magic''''', '''''Merlin's Cave''''' and '''''Wonderful Tales From Around the World''''', is a Japanese [[anime]] [[anthology series]] produced by World Television, TBS Britannica and Dax International. The series features adaptations of [[Fairy tale|fairy tales]], legends, literature classics and famous characters biographies.<ref name="crystal">{{Cite web |title=Tales of Magic (TV) {{!}} CrystalAcids.com |url=https://www.crystalacids.com/database/title/1581/tales-of-magic/ |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=www.crystalacids.com}}</ref>
==Premise==
The show consists of 127 episodes, each one combining two different stories, which run for 10 minutes each, except for 13 mid-series stories that covered an entire half-hour episode. Some story arcs in the second half of the series are told over several episodes, as in the case of ''[[A Little Princess]]'' lasting 11 episodes, and ''[[Les Misérables]]'', which lasted 13 episodes for a total running time of 120 minutes, but these serial episodes were broadcast alternating with shorter stories, sometimes reruns of earlier episodes in the series. The series features 181 story arcs, consisting of 232 segments in total excluding reruns.
== Cast ==
* [[Mariko Miyagi]]: Narrator, Miscellaneous
* [[Akira Nagoya]]: Miscellaneous
=== English voices ===
; Tales of Magic
* Nicole Richards: Narrator
* Andrew Brennan
* Bruce Malmuth
* Carolyn Stone
* Dwayne Pawloff
* Gia McCaffrey
* Jean Rodgers
* Marylyn Conley
* Sonny Ross
* Steve Watson
* Susie Romero
Source:<ref name="crystal" />
; Wonderful Tales From Around the World
* [[Telly Savalas]]: Narrator (in "Sinbad the Sailor")
* Chuck Howerton
* [[Linda Gary]]
* [[Tony Pope]]
* [[Corey Burton]]
* Dan Sturkie
* [[Hal Smith (actor)|Hal Smith]]
== Production ==
The series was animated by Dax international in cooperation with [[Madhouse, Inc.|Madhouse]] for the first 52 episodes. Every tale is produced by a different staff who gave each episode their own distinctive style. Among the many artists who worked on the series there are: [[Osamu Dezaki]] (under the pseudonym of Kan Matsudo), [[Akio Sugino]], [[Yoshifumi Kondō]], [[Yoshiaki Kawajiri]], [[Toyoo Ashida]] and Shuichi Seki. The narration is provided by [[Mariko Miyagi]], who also voices all the characters in the series along with [[Akira Nagoya]].
== Episodes ==
{{Main|List of Manga Fairy Tales of the World episodes}}
==Release==
[[File:Tales_of_Magic.jpg|thumb|English [[title card]] of show]]
[[File:Manga sekai mukashi banashi.jpg|thumb|Japanese title card]]
The show aired in Japan on [[TBS Television (Japan)|TBS]] from October 7, 1976, to March 28, 1979. The entire series has been distributed on home video by [[TDK]] since 1987, first on VHS and later on DVD. A new edition restored in HD was distributed by Broadway in 12 DVD boxes from August 5, 2015 to April 5, 2017. This latest version was added in Japan on [[Amazon Prime Video]], in two seasons of 200 and 45 12-minute episodes respectively, and on [[Apple TV+]].
The show has been released in English-speaking countries by different companies under various titles. In 1979 American Way released a selection of 65 episodes in three seasons with the title ''Tales of Magic''. Some episodes already featured in ''Tales of Magic'', as in the case of ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' or ''[[The Snow Queen]]'' were adapted by [[Fred Ladd|Fred Laderman]] and broadcast by BFA Educational Media on [[CBS]] as single half-hour specials. In 1986 [[Embassy Home Entertainment]] released on VHS selected episodes of ''Tales of Magic'', sometimes under the alternative title ''Merlin's Cave'' (''Merlin's Magic Cave'' on the videotape cover).<ref>{{Citation |last=Embassy Home Entertainment |title=Tales Of Magic Volume 1-3 |date=1976 |url=http://archive.org/details/TalesOfMagicVol01 |access-date=2022-07-15}}</ref>
Another English adaptation of the series titled ''Wonderful Tales From Around the World'' was produced in the 1980s by Cori Films Int'l and distributed by Orient Film Associates.
The series was also released in several other countries such as Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Quebec, Brazil, South Korea and in the Middle East.
===International titles===
* ''As Mais Belas Histórias do Mundo'' (Portuguese)
* ''Castillo de Cuentos'' (Spanish)
* ''Cuentos Populares'' (Spanish)
* ''Cuentos Universales'' (Spanish)
* ''Fiabe così'' (Italian)
* ''Fiabe dal mondo'' (Italian)
* ''Le più belle favole del mondo'' (Italian)
* ''Racconti dal mondo'' (Italian)
* ''Super Aventuras'' (Portuguese)
* ''حكايات عالمية'' (Arabic)
* ''まんが世界昔ばなし'' (Japanese)
* ''アニメ世界の昔ばなし'' (Japanese)
* ''금나라 은나라'' (Korean)
==Stories==
Popular fairytales and [[fable]]s adapted in the series include:
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Snow White]]
* [[Cinderella]]
* [[Beauty and the Beast]]
* [[The Little Mermaid]]
* [[The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats]]
* [[The Emperor's New Clothes]]
* [[Jack and the Beanstalk]]
* [[The Ugly Duckling]]
* [[The Three Little Pigs]]
* [[Little Red Riding Hood]]
* [[The Golden Goose]]
* [[The Little Match Girl]]
* [[The Twelve Months (fairy tale)|The Twelve Months]]
* [[Puss in Boots]]
* [[The Wild Swans]]
* [[The Snow Queen]]
* [[Sleeping Beauty]]
* [[Thumbelina]]
* [[The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse]]
* [[Why the Sea is Salt]]
* [[The Ant and the Grasshopper]]
* [[Hansel and Gretel]]
* [[Town Musicians of Bremen]]
* [[Bluebeard]]
* [[The Spirit in the Bottle]]
* [[Ivan the Fool]]
* [[The Tinderbox]]
* [[The Red Shoes (fairy tale)|The Red Shoes]]
* [[The Goose Girl]]
* [[Aladdin and the Magic Lamp]]
* [[The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean]]
{{div col end}}
Legendary tales in the series include [[The Pied Piper of Hamelin]], [[William Tell]], [[Medusa|Medusa's Head]], [[Midas|The King with Donkey Ears]], [[Robin Hood]], [[Rostam and Sohrab]], [[The Last Leaf]], [[The Flying Dutchman]], [[Knight of the Swan]], and [[Faust]].
Novels adapted in the show include ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin]]'', ''[[Don Quixote]]'', ''[[The Happy Prince and Other Tales|The Happy Prince]]'', ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'', ''[[Monkey King]]'', ''[[The Adventures of Tom Sawyer]]'', ''[[The Prince and the Pauper]]'', ''[[A Dog of Flanders]]'', ''[[Little Women]]'', ''[[Treasure Island]]'', ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'', ''[[Les Misérables]]'', ''[[A Little Princess]]'' and ''[[The Adventures of Pinocchio]]''.
In addition to fairytales and fables, the show also features [[biopic|biographical]] episodes about scientist [[Galileo Galilei]] and social reformer [[Florence Nightingale]], adaptations of [[William Shakespeare]]'s tragedies [[King Lear]] and [[Romeo and Juliet]], gothic horrors [[Dracula]] and [[Frankenstein]], religious stories about [[Joan of Arc]] and [[Noah's Ark]], and as well as [[epic poem]]s such as [[The Iliad]].
== Music ==
All songs were performed by [[Mariko Miyagi]].
'''Opening theme:'''
{{Track listing
| title1        = Uba Uba Ukyakya
| note1         = {{nihongo4||ウバ・ウバ・ウキャキャ}}
| lyrics1       = Mariko Miyagi
| music1        = [[Koichi Morita]]
| length1       = 2:52
| title2        = Watashi O Yobu No Wa Dare
| note2         = {{nihongo4||私を呼ぶのは誰}} (English: ''Who Is Calling Me?''
| lyrics2       = Mieko Arima
| music2        = [[Koichi Sugiyama]]
| length2       = 2:50
| title3        = Mama! Himitsu Dayo
| note3         = {{nihongo4||ママ!ひみつだよ}}
| lyrics3       = Mariko Miyagi
| music3        = Koichi Morita
| length3       = 2:13
}}
'''Ending theme:'''
{{Track listing
| title1        = Yume O Mita No
| note1         = {{nihongo4||夢をみたの}}
| lyrics1       = Mariko Miyagi
| music1        = [[Koichi Morita]]
| length1       = 2:50
| title2        = Memoir
| note2         = {{nihongo4||めもわーる}}
| lyrics2       = Mieko Arima
| music2        = [[Koichi Sugiyama]]
| length2       = 3:24
| title3        = Tenshi Ga Toru
| note3         = {{nihongo4||天使がとおる}}
| lyrics3       = Mariko Miyagi
| music3        = Koichi Morita
| length3       = 2:40
}}
In the English version, the Japanese opening theme song "''Watashi O Yobu No Wa Dare''" is titled ''Tales of Magic''. Written by Kenny Ellis, it is [[song cover|sung]] in English with only a slight melodic change.<ref>{{Citation |website=CrystalAcids.com.  |title=Crew Positions|url=https://www.crystalacids.com/database/person/10661/kenny-ellis/|access-date=2022-07-15}}</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* [https://sekaimukashibanashi.net-broadway.com/index.html Official website] at sekaimukashibanashi.net
* [https://www.madhouse.co.jp/works/1983-1973/works_tv_sekaimukashi.html Official website] at madhouse.co.jp
* ''[https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/235555 Manga Sekai Mukashi Banashi]'' at Allcinema
* ''[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2314 Manga Sekai Mukashi Banashi]'' (anime) at [[Anime News Network]]'s encyclopedia
* ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374191/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 Manga Sekai Mukashi Banashi]'' at [[IMDb]]
* {{YouTube|njZ1FjWIqKQ|Kenny Ellis – Tales of Magic (opening theme song in English)}}
* {{YouTube|dbnUEg6sUE0|Mariko Miyagi – 私を呼ぶのは誰 (Japanese original)}}
[[Category:TBS Television (Japan) original programming]]
[[Category:Adventure anime and manga]]
[[Category:Drama anime and manga]]
[[Category:Fantasy anime and manga]]
[[Category:Romance anime and manga]]
[[Category:Anime and manga based on fairy tales]]
[[Category:1976 animated television series debuts]]
[[Category:1976 television series debuts]]
[[Category:1979 television series endings]]