The Swiss Family Robinson: Flone of the Mysterious Island

Swiss Family Robinson
Screenshot of the opening logo of The Swiss Family Robinson: Flone of the Mysterious Island
家族ロビンソン漂流記 ふしぎな島のフローネ (Kazoku Robinson Hyōryūki Fushigi na Shima no Furōne)
Genre	Adventure
Anime television series
Directed by	Yoshio Kuroda
Produced by	Koichi Motohashi, Takaji Matsudo
Written by	Shozo Matsuda
Studio	Nippon Animation
Original network	Fuji Television
English network	The Family Channel, Smile of a Child
Original run	4 January 1981 – 27 December 1981
Episodes	50 (49 in the English dub due to two episodes being merged into one episode)

The Swiss Family Robinson: Flone of the Mysterious Island (家族ロビンソン漂流記 ふしぎな島のフローネ, Kazoku Robinson Hyōryūki Fushigi na Shima no Furōne) is an anime series produced by Nippon Animation.

The story is loosely based on the novel Swiss Family Robinson by Swiss author Johann David Wyss. As such it exhibits the same geographically impossible array flora and fauna.

The character of Flone is not present in the original novel, in which the Robinson family consists of only a father, a mother, and four sons (no daughters). It is likely that Flone was introduced by Nippon Animation as a new character for the anime version in order to attract more girls as viewers. Also in the anime version, the oldest of the Robinson children, Fritz, is named "Franz" (though his name is changed back to Fritz in the English dub), and the character of Jack is a three-year-old rather than a ten-year-old.

Very popular in Europe, this anime is one of the few World Masterpiece Theater series to have been dubbed into the English language for the American market. An English dub by PMT, Ltd, titled simply Swiss Family Robinson, aired on The Family Channel cable network in the U.S. in 1989. This dub renames Flone "Becca" as well as her older brother Franz "Fritz". It can currently be seen on the Smile of a Child network and Amazon Prime video.^[1]

Episodes

(First in the series original Japanese episode titles followed by the original English translation and English dub (PMT, Ltd,) episode titles)

Characters

• Flone Robinson (Rebecca/Becca in the American English dub): The main protagonist and middle daughter of the Robinson family. Flone is free-spirited and willing to do almost anything. She always speaks her mind, and enjoys doing new things. The story is usually told from her point of view. Her family celebrate her 11th birthday on the island on September 13. She is voiced by Reba West in the English Dub, and by Yoshiko Matsuo in Japanese.
• Franz Robinson (Fritz in the American English dub): The oldest of Flone and her brothers, being fifteen and in high school. In sharp contrast to his out going sister, He's extremely introverted and shy. He longs to be a music composer, and sets out to accomplish that dream. Because of these facts, Fritz is anything but athletic, spending all of his time after school, in his room, playing his flute and guitar or writing music. Fritz appears to have few, if any frends, at the start of the series. He becomes a more outgoing person, after he meets Emily on the ship and falls in love with her. He also becomes stronger, once the Robinson's become stranded on the island, helping his father with various building projects. On his birthday, Fritz and his siblings catch an ostrich, with help from Tom-Tom. He is voiced by R. Dwight in the English dub and by Tōru Furuya in Japanese.
• Dr. Ernest Robinson: Dr. Ernest Robinson is the 46-year-old father of Flone and head of the Robinson family. He is a wealthy medical doctor who helps poor people who can't afford medical assistance. He decides to take his family to Australia after receiving a letter, leaving behind the home of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He is voiced by Jeremy Platt in the English dub and by Katsuhiko Kobayashi in the first part of the series and later by Osamu Kobayashi in Japanese in the second part of the series.
• Anna Robinson: Anna is Flone's mother, and easily frightened by small rodents, reptiles, as well as other things. She is the typical housewife, tending to the home and children, as well as frowning upon the carefree ways of her free-spirited daughter, Flone, as well as the smoking habit of Captain Morton. She accompanies her husband on the trip to Australia saying she'll always stand by his decision. Her family celebrate her 37th birthday on the island. She is voiced by Wendee Swann in the English dub, and by Michiko Hirai in Japanese.
• Jack Robinson: The youngest son. Unlike his mother, he seems to take after Flone and not be afraid of anything. He always gets into trouble some way and loves to collect things from seashells to small animals and reptiles. He is 3 years old and has a feminine voice. He is voiced by Grace Michaels in the English dub and by Makoto Kousaka in Japanese.
• John/Brewster: A Saint Bernard who once belong to a Captain of the Ship which drowned in the Typhoon which shipwrecked the Robinsons that becomes the family pet and Guard Dog. Jack was afraid of him at first because of how big he was, but Jack eventually became good friends with him.
• Mercedes/Meri Chri: A bear cuscus or phalanger (a type of marsupial native to the Australasian ecozone) that becomes a family pet. Becca (Flone) and Jack spend lots of time playing with her. She is also friends with Brewster.
• Donkey/Robert: A donkey who survived the shipwreck and became a useful member of the Robinsons and a Pack Animal for carrying wood and sugar cane to the Robinsons compound. Donkey later died of stress related issues and possible old age after helping the Robinsons, Captain Morton and Tam Tam hauling the Catamaran into the ocean.
• Eric and Bates: A mother and baby goat that the family found on the island, named after Eric Bates, a man who stranded several years before the events of the series and died there. His skeleton and diary were later discovered by the Robinsons.
• Captain Morton: A grumpy, hard-drinking, cigar-smoking Sea Captain who the Robinsons discover living in a cave. Anna disapproves of his smoking habit and dislikes him strongly at first, especially after he tries to get Jack to smoke a cigar, but gradually warms to him. He is voiced by Michael Sorich in the English dub and by Ichirō Nagai in Japanese.
• Tam Tam (Tom Tom in the American English Dub): A young Australian Aborigine boy about age 9 to 10 years old who is the companion of Morton and becomes good friends with Flone/Becca, Franz/Fritz and Jack. He is voiced by Tom Wyner in the English dub and by Yoku Shioya in Japanese.
• Emily: A young woman who becomes friends with the Robinsons before being separated during the Typhoon. She is voiced by Kaoru Kurosu in Japanese.
• Marie: The Robinson family's live-in servant, who decides not to accompany the family from Switzerland to Australia. She is voiced by Ellyn Stern Epcar in the English dub and by Satomi Majima in Japanese.
• Elliott: voiced in Japanese by Tamio Oki
• Emily's Father: voiced in Japanese by Kan Tokumaru
• Emily's Mother: voiced in Japanese by Yoshiko Asai
• Emily's Grandmother: voiced by Mona Marshall in the English dub and by Atsuko Mine in Japanese.
• Gerhardt: voiced in Japanese by Kõichi Kitamura
• Haizecupp: voiced in Japanese by Keiko Hanagata
• Dr. Samuel Elliot: A friend of Dr. Ernest Robinson who lives in Australia. Voiced by Richard Epcar in the English dub.

Music

• Opening theme: "Hadashi no Flone" (裸足のフローネ, "Barefoot Flone") by Keiko Han
• Ending theme: "Flone no Yume" (フローネの夢, "Flone's Dream") by Keiko Han
• English opening theme song by Ron Krueger.

References

External links

• The Swiss Family Robinson: Flone of the Mysterious Island on IMDb
• The Swiss Family Robinson: Flone of the Mysterious Island (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• "Swiss Family Robinson, Season 1". www.amazon.com. Retrieved June 12, 2016.