#or how the enoki films x reeltime collab article called wind in the willows a beloved film DESPITE LITERALLY NOBODY SEEING IT

[pink-octopede64]

A Somehow Long Post About 2 Lost English Dubs of an Anime Adaptation of The Wind in the Willows Nobody Heard About

Hi! My name is Pinkoctopede and I’m a huge fan of The Wind in the Willows. While the book is a classic with many adaptations, what most people don’t know is that there was an anime adaptation made in the 90s. I’ll give a brief summary of what the anime’s is in general but I’m gonna go more in depth with its lost english dubs. And I’ll put it under the keep reading section so I won’t clog anything up.

What it is:

Tanoshii Willow Town (楽しいウイロータウン) is an anime series made in 1993 with 26 episodes lasting around 20 minutes. The first 3 episodes follows the original book but after that, it focuses on the other adventures of Ratty, Mole, and Toad which noticeably, they are now kids with Badger still being an adult.

Lost dub #1 (Saban): 

In 1996, Saban Entertainment decided to get the rights to the show and dub it in English with some now known voice actors (Kathleen Barr, Janyse Jaud, etc). It only aired on Network 10 in Australia as a segment on a TV show called Cheez TV for 2 months from December 2000 to January 2001. Outside from the end credits, it’s completely lost with so little information nor footage.

2 other languages have dubbed the Saban version: Spanish (Pueblo de Sauces) only have 13 out of 26 episodes on Youtube while German (Abenteuer in den Weiden) is completely lost with only the audio of the opening theme being available. Strangely, German did release 3 cassette tapes which is basically the only home media release Saban has but still lost.

Lost dub #2 (Enoki Films USA): 

Before Saban, Enoki Films attempted to dub Willow Town in 1996 but differently: instead of doing the whole series, they took the first few episodes and edited into a 75 minute movie simply titled The Wind in the Willows. Little is known about the dub since it was never released on VHS nor DVD. All that is out there is the opening theme on Youtube which was taken from the Greek copy of the film.

The only confirmed place it did came out however was on a defunct streaming service called Reeltime.com. Currently, its other locations is at 2 libraries in Malaysia as VCDs and Library of Congress.

Conclusion:

So my main goal is to find these dubs although it has been extremely difficult. Saban only aired for a short period of time on top that I’m not Australian and I cannot go to Malaysia nor LoC to get the Enoki Films USA version. It’s the shame because I do love the anime but it is hard to find a good way to watch it due to its general obscurity. Hell, even the Japanese dub is lost with no way to watch episodes nor getting the VHS tapes online. 

You don’t have to but I really do appreciate help or at least spread some word about it (because let’s be real: spending a literal year looking for lost media and making little progress is exhausting). 

If you actually read all this, thank you so much! This has been a lost media search of mine for a long time and I really do love it when people do hear me out despite not sounding as cool as other searches like Nintendo’s Slamfest 1999 or Clockman. Take care! 💝

#the wind in the willows #witw #tanoshii willow town #long post #lost media #there are other weird stuff that i couldn’t fit in #like how in the SEC filing of fox kids willow town have 23 episodes listed instead of 26 #or how the enoki films x reeltime collab article called wind in the willows a beloved film DESPITE LITERALLY NOBODY SEEING IT #it’s a very strange rabbit hole i gotten myself into #also if you’re gonna say something put it in reblog instead of notes/reply because tumblr is garbage and everytime i try to use it the post #would disappear entirely