Maple Town
Maple Town (Maple Town Monogatari) was an animated television series, produced by Toei of Japan and originally broadcast on that country's TV Asahi in 1986 and 1987. The show centered on a community of anthropomorphic animals; its main characters were Patty Rabbit and her friend, Bobby Bear. The town was an impossibly friendly, cheerful place, with the only trouble being caused by the thieving swindler, Wild Wolf, and occasionally by the bratty but generally good-hearted Fanny Fox.
In the U.S., Saban Entertainment dubbed the show into English, and added a live-action segment focusing on the moral of each episode, starring Janice Adams as Mrs. Maple. This version aired in syndication and on Nickelodeon from 1987 to 1993.
After 50 episodes, the series underwent a format change and changed its name to "New Maple Town Stories: Palm Town Chapter." In this new series, Patty Rabbit moves away from the forested Maple Town (thus making the title rather misleading) and to a new setting, the tropical Palm Town. Waiting for her there are a new group of friends and troublemakers. None of the other Maple Town denizens tag along, making Patty the only regular character in both series. This move proved unpopular, and the series ended about a year after the change. Note that none of the Palm Town episodes were ever dubbed into English.
The show aired in many other countries, too, including Spain, Italy, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Netherlands.
- Alliterative Name: In the American version, this applied for almost every character (save for Patty): Danny Dog, Fanny Fox, Barney Bulldog, Suzie Squirrel, Roxie Raccoon...
- Alternative Foreign Theme Song: Every country has its own unique themesong.
- Bait and Switch Credits: The intro is far more cutesy and surreal than the show itself.
- Cheerful Child: Patty, as well as several other cast members.
- Frothy Mugs of Water: One episode had wine referred to as "grape juice", but shortly after, one of the voice actors slipped up and called it "wine".
- Loads and Loads of Characters
- No Cartoon Fish: Or birds, for that matter.
- No Export for You: A great deal of the later episodes never made it to the U.S. market. The same goes for the video compliations from Family Home Entertainment in North America, and an obscure distributor going by the name of M.S.D. in the U.K. Moreover, the sequel series, Palm Town, was never shown in English.
- Puppy Dog Eyes: Rolley from Palm Town. Literally... she's a cocker spaniel.
- Screwy Squirrel: Bobby's three brothers (Kin, Kun and Ken) in several of the original episodes.
- Short Anime Movie: Two of them, released theatrically. The one for Palm Town had an extended flashback sequence edited from the original series' finale.
- Species Surname: The original Japanese version was clever in this respect: many character surnames are formed from Japanese words associated with said species, plus European roots. For example: Bobby Kumanoff (Japanese kuma, or bear + Russian noff (nov).