Hobberdy Dick (partially found anime series based on children's fantasy novel; 1992)
English title card of the series.
Status: Partially Found
Hobberdy Dick (original Japanese title: 妖精ディック Yousei Dick, "Dick the Fairy") is an anime series based on the 1955 British children's fantasy novel of the same name by Katharine Mary Briggs, animated by studios Grouper Production and Zuiyo. The show originally aired on NHK (Broadcast Satellite 2/BS2) as part of the Sunday Anime Theater slot from June 7th until December 6th of 1992, consisting of 26 episodes.
Premise
During mid-17th century in England, a centuries-old tiny green hobgoblin, Hobberdy Dick, is charged with protecting a mansion called Winford Manor in the Cotswolds. Previously occupied by the Culvers family, they moved away and were replaced by a family of Puritans. Hobberdy Dick doesn't like those newcomers much until Anne, from the Culvers family, moves in as their maid.
Availability
After its original airing, no episodes were ever released on home media. As of now, there is no available footage or audio of the original Japanese dub, apart for some of the songs.
Currently, 7 out of the 26 episodes have been found, from different foreign dubs: 1 episode in Korean (there known as 요정 딕), 2 episodes in German and 5 episodes in Latin Spanish. Both Korean and German has partially found footage of episode 1.
The anime had an obscure British English dub too, made by Kino Productions. It aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on RTÉ Network 2 from June to December of 1995. However, only its opening and ending credit songs are available too.
The only official physical releases spawning from the show were the opening (OP) and ending (ED) songs on audio cassette, alongside vocal-less karaoke versions, and on various anime song compilation CDs.
A soundtrack album CD of the anime series was also released but it has become rare and out of its 16 songs excluding OP and ED, only 2 unidentified background music tracks and 1 incomplete insert song was shared online so far.
Episodes
| # | Original Title | English Translation | Air Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "ウィドフォードの守り神" | "The protective spirit of Winford Manor" | June 7, 1992 | |
| 2 | "家つき妖精はいたずら者" | "The house fairy is a trickster" | July 14, 1992 | Lost |
| 3 | "人間たちがやってきた" | "Humans have arrived" | June 21, 1992 | Lost |
| 4 | "森には魔物が住んでいる" | "Monsters are living in the forest" | June 28, 1992 | Lost |
| 5 | "帰られちゃ大変だ!" | "It's tough to go home!" | July 5, 1992 | Lost |
| 6 | "もどってきたアン" | "Anne returns" | July 12, 1992 | Lost |
| 7 | "アンの新しい生活" | "Anne's new life" | July 19, 1992 | Lost |
| 8 | "旅は危険がいっぱい" | "A journey full of danger" | July 26, 1992 | Lost |
| 9 | "屋根裏部屋の秘密" | "Secret of the attic" | August 2, 1992 | Lost |
| 10 | "モールキンが現われた" | "Malkin appears" | August 9, 1992 | Lost |
| 11 | "妖精の国は大さわぎ" | "The Fairy Kingdom is agitated" | August 16, 1992 | Lost |
| 12 | "クリスマスだって楽じゃない" | "It is Christmas and I don't feel fine" | August 23, 1992 | Lost |
| 13 | "マザーダークはおそろしい 前編" | "Mother Dark is awful - first part" | August 30, 1992 | Lost |
| 14 | "マザーダークはおそろしい 後編" | "Mother Dark is awful - second part" | September 6, 1992 | Lost |
| 15 | "ディックのたくらみ" | "Dick's plan" | September 13, 1992 | Lost |
| 16 | "もう少しまって!" | "Just wait a little more!" | September 20, 1992 | Lost |
| 17 | "急げ、ジュエル!" | "Hurry, Joel!" | September 27, 1992 | |
| 18 | "金 金 モンガー" | "Gold Gold Monger" | October 4, 1992 | Lost |
| 19 | "墓もり妖精サム" | "Gravekeeper Fairy Sam" | October 11, 1992 | Lost |
| 20 | "妖精たちの怒り" | "Wrath of the Fairies" | October 18, 1992 | Lost |
| 21 | "家つき妖精の家出" | "The House Fairy run aways" | October 25, 1992 | |
| 22 | "モールキンの呪い" | "Curse of Malkin" | November 1, 1992 | Found (Latin-Spanish dub) |
| 23 | "冬の忘れもの" | "Things lost in winter" | November 15, 1992 | Lost |
| 24 | "パンをくだされ幽霊" | "The bread-giving ghost" | November 22, 1992 | |
| 25 | "魔女になったモールキン" | "Malkin becomes a witch" | November 29, 1992 | |
| 26 | "魔女との戦い" | "Battle of the witches" | December 6, 1992 |
Note that some of the found episodes cannot be completely identified due to lack of description or language familiarity, and some have been designated an assumed title until confirmed or disproven.
Found videos
Gallery
Audio cassette tape release containing the OP and ED songs, alongside vocal-less karaoke versions.
Rare soundtrack CD containing additional background music tracks.
Back of the soundtrack CD listing the tracks.
Trivia
- Music of this show was composed by an Osamu Tezuka, but this is a different similarly-named person from the famous mangaka who created Astro Boy. For one, the composer's first name is written "理" while the cartoonist's is written "治" (alternatively "治虫").
- Hobberdy Dick is voiced in the original Japanese dub by Ryuusei Nakao (中尾 隆聖), mostly famous for voicing the famous supervillain character Frieza from the Dragon Ball franchise. Nakao also sang the opening theme of Hobberdy Dick.