Version française

• Series length: 52 episodes
• Director: KURODA Yoshio
• Original novel: A Dog of Flanders & Other Stories by Marie Louisa De La Ramée

Story:

In spite of his talent and his love for painting, the young Nello knows he will probably never become a famous artist. He's orphaned from a poor family and now lives alone with his Grandfather and helps him in his work. Fortunately, "supported" by his friend Aloa, and the big dog Patrasche, that he once took in while it had been beaten and abandoned by its master.

Personal comments:

This is the first anime ever produced by Nippon Animation (Heidi had been made by its predecessor Zuiyo Enterprise). This series has had a great impact in Japan. When NA asked to the public which WMT they wanted to see readapted for the big screen, 'DoF' won the competition, although TMS had just made a series based on this story (with higher technical qualities, but rather "soopy"). It must be said that A Dog of Flanders have a quite touching end, that makes it one of the most tragic anime ever made.

LINKS:

• MercuryN's page: A huge Japanese site full of information about the series (episodes synopsis as they can be read on the LD-boxes, staff and cast...), and some cultural sections about Antwerp and Rubens.
• Neko's site (?): Another big Japanese site on Dog of Flanders with several extra pages about the other anime adaptations of Ouida's novel.
• The English text of the novel (HTML document of 437KB) is available on the site of the Victorian Women Writers Project.

A Dog of Flanders in Germany and Austria:

The series was shown in Germany on ZDF and TV München, and in Austria on ORF 1 (now aired). The new German opening is available on a CD, with other anime songs. A sound file provided by Mike is also available.

English fansub:

An English fansub of the series is now under construction. Go to Andre's site to know more about it.

Opening date: January 31, 1999 - last update: June 4, 2000