World Masterpiece Theater

was a Japanese TV anime staple that showcased an animated version of a different classical book or story each year from 19:30 to 20:00 on Sunday on Fuji TV. It originally aired from 1969 to 1997 and from 2007 to 2009. Commonly abbreviated to Meigeki (名劇).

History
The first several series were produced by Mushi Production and then by Zuiyo Eizo, and then by Zuiyo's division Nippon Animation, which was officially established in June 1975 during the run of A Dog of Flanders. In both cases, the series originally aired primarily on Fuji TV. Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata both worked on several of the series. World Masterpiece Theater as produced by Nippon Animation lasted for 23 seasons, from A Dog of Flanders in 1975 to Remi, Nobody's Girl (家なき子レミ, Ie Naki Ko Remi, Sans Famille) in 1997. Nippon Animation restarted the series in 2007 with the release of Les Misérables: Shōjo Cosette, which premiered on BS Fuji on 7 January 2007, with Porufi no Nagai Tabi (The Long Journey of Porphy) subsequently airing on the same network beginning on 6 January 2008, making it the 25th World Masterpiece Theater series. The most recent and 26th series is Kon'nichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables (lit. Hello Anne ~ Before Green Gables).

To date, only seven series were ever dubbed in English for the North American market: Fables of the Green Forest (1973), Tom Sawyer (1980), Swiss Family Robinson (1981), Little Women (1987), The Adventures of Peter Pan (1989), The Bush Baby (1992), and Tico & Friends (1994). The anime satellite television network, Animax, who also aired numerous installments of the series across Japan, later translated and dubbed many of the series' installments into English for broadcast across its English-language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia, such as Princess Sarah (小公女セーラ, Shōkōjo Sēra), Remi, Nobody's Girl (家なき子レミ, Ie Naki Ko Remi), Little Women (愛の若草物語, Ai no Wakakusa Monogatari), and others. The serials also found success in Europe, with Anne of Green Gables (1979), Miyazaki's last work for Nippon Animation before leaving the studio), Heidi, Girl of the Alps, as well as the aforementioned Princess Sarah.

The series has been known by various names over the years (as shown below), but "the World Masterpiece Theater" is the name most commonly used by viewers. Nippon Animation's official English name for the series is "The Classic Family Theater Series".

The sponsorship of this series has changed several times, the first was Calpis alone (1969–1978), the second was House Foods alone (1986–1993, 2007–2008).

Starting in 2017 Amazon Prime Video made various series available in HD quality, but cropped for 16:9 displays  in the US and UK markets. However Amazon did not use the "World Masterpiece Theater" label and only kept the subtitle for each series.

Features
The World Masterpiece Theater has the following features.

As these backgrounds, the time when this series was broadcast (1975–1997), it was common that TV was possessed by "one per a family", anime which are easy to put regardless of age were preferred, and were oriented for family. Videos became widespread in Japan in the late 1980s, and the time that TV was possessed by "one per a person" became common is after the Cold War (since 1992).
 * 1) The main character's family environment is an orphan or a single-parent family. The main character loses either or both father and mother.
 * 2) The main theme is family, and the influence of a deceased parent remains until the end.
 * 3) An animal character appears.
 * 4) The stage is set in a real city.
 * 5) The era is set between the 19th century and the end of World War II.

As an exception to the above, the double-parents family is Tales of Little Women (1987), the fictional world is The Adventures of Peter Pan (1989), and the work set after the World War II and without the original novel is Tico of the Seven Seas (1994).

Companion volume
Apart from Fuji TV, there was also a companion volume of the World Masterpiece Theater, which was broadcast on TV Tokyo from 19:30 to 20:00 on Thursday. This is sponsored by Sumitomo Electric Industries alone, but it is characterized by the theme of a specific field rather than the family. Moero! Top Striker (1991) and Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (1992) are works of this companion volume.

Recurring casts
The following people frequently appeared in the World Masterpiece Theater, including the companion volume on TV Tokyo.


 * Director
 * Kōzō Kusuba
 * Yoshio Kuroda : Other than the director, he also worked on storyboards and series composition, for example.
 * Sound director
 * Etsuji Yamada
 * Voice actor
 * Eiko Yamada
 * Mitsuko Horie
 * Keiko Han
 * Rihoko Yoshida
 * Taeko Nakanishi
 * Yoshiko Matsuo
 * Ai Orikasa
 * Kazue Ikura
 * Ogata Ken'ichi

Before Nippon Animation - Calpis Comic Theater (1969–1974)

 * Note: These are the only series that are not included into the World Masterpiece Theater franchise.


 * Dororo and Hyakkimaru (1969)
 * Moomin (1969 - 1970)
 * Andersen Stories (1971)
 * New Moomin (1972)
 * Rocky Chuck the Mountain rat (1973)
 * Heidi, Girl of the Alps (1974)

Nippon Animation - Calpis Children's Theater (1975–1977)

 * A Dog of Flanders (1975)
 * Marco, 3000 Leagues in Search for Mother (1976)
 * Rascal the Raccoon (1977)

Calpis Family Theater (1978)

 * The Story of Perrine (1978)

World Masterpiece Theater (1979–1985; no title sponsor)

 * Anne of Green Gables (1979)
 * The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1980)
 * The Swiss Family Robinson: Flone of the Mysterious Island (1981)
 * Lucy of the Southern Rainbow (1982)
 * Story of the Alps: My Annette (1983)
 * Katri, Girl of the Meadows (1984)
 * Princess Sarah (1985)

House Foods World Masterpiece Theater (1986–1993

 * The Story of Pollyanna, Girl of Love (1986)
 * Little Women: Love Story of the Young Grass (1987)
 * Little Prince Cedie (1988)
 * The Adventures of Peter Pan (1989)
 * My Daddy Long Legs ( 1990)
 * Trapp Family Story (1991)
 * The Bush Baby (1992)
 * Little Women II: Jo's Boys (1993)

World Masterpiece Theater (1994–1997; no title sponsor)

 * Tico of the Seven Seas (1994)
 * Romeo's Blue Skies (1995)
 * Famous Dog Lassie (1996)
 * Remi, Nobody's Girl (1996 - 1997)

House Foods World Masterpiece Theater (2007–2009)

 * Les Misérables: Girl Cosette (2007)
 * The Long Journey of Porphy (2008
 * Kon'nichiwa Anne: Before Green Gables (2009)