Adventures of the Little Mermaid


Adventures of the Little Mermaid is a Japanese/French animated series produced by Fuji Television and Saban International Paris in the early 1990s, based on the 1837 Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Little Mermaid".
This 26-episode TV series was originally created by Jean Chalopin and directed by Takehiro Miyano. The series was broadcast on Japan's Fuji TV network from February to July 1991. As in the 1975 feature-length film version produced by Toei, Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, the mermaid protagonist was drawn as a blonde in this version and given the name Marina. It also added a new ingredient to the story: a magic potion given to the prince which he could use to breathe underwater and be with Marina. 26 episodes were produced.
Released in America for Saturday morning and weekday afternoon syndication by Saban Entertainment in the summer of 1991, intended to capitalize on the success of the Disney film adaptation of the same story. Disney coincidentally released their own TV series adaptation, which did far better than Saban's in the ratings.

Plot

Marina is a mermaid who is in love with Prince Justin, a human prince from a kingdom on the shore. Marina saves Justin when he almost drowns after a chase from a giant Cyclops and a shipwreck attack from a three-headed sea serpent. She then makes a deal with Hedwig the sea witch to become human temporarily to try to win Justin's love. Justin and Marina become close but Justin thinks that Princess Cecily, a human princess, was the one who saved him from drowning and therefore he gets engaged to her. Justin eventually remembers that Marina was the one who saved his life but by then Marina becomes a mermaid again. The two continue to secretly meet and try to find a way to be together while dealing with Hedwig's plans to take over the kingdom and Cecily's attempts to get Justin to marry her. Marina and Justin are aided by their underwater friends Winnie the seahorse, Bobo the tropical fish, and Ridley the sea otter. They are also aided by the wizard Anselm and by Chauncey, Justin's page.

Characters

Main characters

  1. Return to the Sea
  2. In the Wrong Hands
  3. Water Water Everywhere
  4. A Leopard and Her Spots
  5. Lothar's Revenge
  6. What's Cookin'?
  7. Be Careful What You Wish
  8. A Day In the Country
  9. Safe Deposit
  10. Sugar and Spice
  11. A Friend Indeed
  12. Song of the Sea Witch
  13. The Valley of the Volcanoes
  14. Quest for the Golden Tablet
  15. A Case of Mistaken Identity
  16. Beauty and the Beastly Prince
  17. A Man's Beast Friend Is His Dogfish
  18. A Mortal In Mermaid's Clothing
  19. Nature Hike
  20. My Bonnie Lies Under the Sea
  21. The Trojan Seahorse
  22. A Rose By Any Other Name
  23. X Marks the Spot
  24. One Man's Bread Is Another Man's Poison
  25. Hold That Thought
  26. Waste Not, Want Not

    Music

The series uses two pieces of theme music for the original Japanese version. The opening theme is called "Yumemiru Mermaid " and the ending theme is called "Pearl-no Kimochi ", both by vocalist Yumi Hiroki, who also portrayed the voice of Winnie in the Japanese version of the show. Rachelle Cano performs the theme music for the English dub version.
Music from the English version was used for the English dub of Digimon Adventure.