Heidi, Heidi in Japanese and German

Heidi is a children's novel written by Johanna Spyri, a 19th century Swiss author who lived most of her life in Zürich. Heidi became tremendously popular outside of -ple amongst others, and there is a recent Heidi musical that was popular last summer in Switzerland. But in the non-English speaking world, Heidi is probably best known via the anime series produced in Japan in the 1970s called Arupusu no sho-jo Haiji (アルプスの少女ハイジ). (Wikipedia English entry)

It's a bit ironic in a way that a Japanese anime has helped to make a Swiss classic (written in German) so popular. But the series really was of top quality, and it's no wonder that it is still shown on TV all over the world. (Except for the English speaking parts of course. Crap like Pikachuu and Yuugi-Oh can make it on the Toon channels but an old anime of a classic children's story...no no no.)

Since I'm a Japanese person currently living in Switzerland. Heidi is never that out of mind. Because whenever I talk to a new Japanese acquaintance, I can guarantee that Heidi will come up in the conversation. Heidiland, the area around Maienfeld in the Grisons (Graubünden), is a major draw for Japanese tourists. (Don't let that deter you from visiting the area though - it really is beautiful around there.)

I hadn't watched the Heidi anime for decades, since I was a kid really. Recently though, I had an opportunity to view the series on DVD. (As far as I know it's only available in Japan I'm afraid.)  Except for minor things like mono audio and slightly fuzzy picture, it barely shows its age. What I didn't notice before is how wonderful the attention to detail is. (If you didn't know, two men who later became giants in the anime world, Isao Takahata, Yoichi Kotabe, and Hayao Miyazaki were involved in the production.) The Swiss scenery doesn't look like anywhere specific but it certainly does look Swiss, not just generic mountains. The architecture is defintely Swiss, not just 'alpine'. Even the simple furniture in Grandfather's house and such look just right - I have an antique miniature chair that looks exactly like the chairs shown in the anime.

It is a bit funny to me how Japanese Heidi looks. Well so do the other characters a bit, but at least they are given light brown or blonde hair and such. Heidi has short dark hair and round dark eyes. She look a lot like my little sister Meg did when she was about 5.

Here in Switzerland we occasionally get Heidi on one of the German (from Germany) channels, ZDF or ARD. Hearing Heidi dubbed in German is sort of hilarious. Well the whole thing is hilarious - Swiss story, in Japanese, with sort-of-Japanese looking characters, original Japanese, dubbed to German... Ok I'm easily amused. But anywho it makes me giggle.

The German version of the title song is very literal. Here's a YouTube video of it (which may disappear due to rights issues, but just go to YouTube and search for Heidi - it keeps cropping up):

The lyrics in German, followed by an English translation:

(Yodeling)

Heidi, Heidi,
Deine Welt sind die Berge
Heidi, Heidi,
Denn hier oben bist Du zu Haus

    Heidi, Heidi,
    your world are (is) the mountains
    Heidi, Heidi
    'Cause up here you are at home

Dunkle Tannen,
grüne Wiesen im Sonnenschein
Heidi, Heidi,
brauchst Du zum glücklich sein

    Dark firs
    green pastures in the sunlight
    Heidi, Heidi,
    that's what you need to be happy

(Yodeling chorus)

Heidi, Heidi,
komm doch heim,
find Dein Glück
komm doch wieder zurück

    Heidi, Heidi,
    oh come home
    find your happiness
    oh come back home

Now here's the original Japanese version:

The lyrics:

(Yodeling)

Kuchibue wa naze
Touku made kikoeru no
Ano kumo wa naze
Watashi o matteru no

    Why can a whistle
    be heard from far away?
    Why is that cloud
    Waiting for me?

Oshiete Ojiisan
Oshiete Ojiisan
Oshiete
Arumu no Momi no ki yo

    Tell me Grandfather
    Tell me Grandfather
    Tell me
    The Alm's fir trees

(Yodeling)

As you can see, the German version is quite literal. The Japanese version is in fact, quite abstract. I guess you could call it poetic or haiku-like. I prefer the Japanese version (which I can still sing from memory, God help me) but I've had long arguments with eh, German-speakers who say the German version is more descriptive and therefore better.

I guess I could draw some deep analogies about the difference between German and Japanese thinking based on this. Eh....maybe after a few drinks.

Yaha yahihaiho, Yara hahihaiho...

Comments

[basak]

Every now and again I launch a desperate search on the Japanese version with Eglish subtitles and come up with nothing. Not sure if the one in Japan has English subtitles, either. I can't understand more than 15 phrases in Japanese, but it only feels right when anime is in Japanese. Incidentally I've found the version I watched as a child on Youtube, but it just doesn't feel right anymore. Whenever I try the dual audio on any anime I notice that the dubbing translation is very different: all those moments of subtle silence is hijacked, crammed with some irrelevant gabbing.
I'd appreciate it very much if you let us know in case you come across any release of original Heidi with English subs outside Japan.

[maki]

No the Japanese DVDs don't have any English subs. I've not seen any fansubs of it either...probably it's too old for the fansub community. It's such a great 'family-friendly' series, Disney or someone should get a hold of the rights and get it translated and out there. Too bad it doesn't belong to Studio Ghibli or there might be some possiblity of that happening....

[Loretta]

I've got tears in my eyes now.
I have all the Japanese DVDs for Heidi (it's something I'd want my own children to grow up with) and "Kuchibue wa naze" was the first song I ever learnt in Japanese.
This was part of Spanish TV in the 70s at a time when there was only one and a half channels. It was shown at lunch time during a period when everyone ate at home with their families. Almost everyone who had TV watched Heidi. It's unlikely that there will ever be a more popular program shown in Spain (too many channels now), it is, officially, the top rated show in Spanish History.

I used to spend my summers in Spain and adored Heidi - but back in school in England I had no-one I could speak to about it. I also got hooked on Marco (Haha wo tazunete sanzenri) the same way - another huge hit in Spain.

I never knew I was watching Japanese cartoons, that realisation came later in life and probably explains my own embracing of Japanese culture.

Here's the Spanish version
(Abuelito is the 'familiar', more personal version of the word abuelo - grandfather)

Abuelito, dime tu:
¿Qué sonidos son los que oigo yo?
Abuelito, dime tu:
¿Por qué yo en la nube voy?
Dime ¿por qué huele el aire así?
Dime ¿por qué yo soy tan feliz?
Abuelito,
nunca yo de ti me alejaré.

Granddad tell me
What are those sounds I can hear?
Granddad tell me
Why am I floating on a cloud?
Tell me, why does the air smell like this?
Tell me, why am I so happy?
Grandaddy
I'll never go far from you (I'll never leave your side)

Abuelito, dime tu:
lo que dice el viento en su canción.
Abuelito, dime tu:
¿por qué llovió, por qué nevó?
Dime ¿por qué todo blanco es?
Dime ¿por qué yo soy tan feliz?
Abuelito,
nunca yo de ti me alejaré.

Granddad tell me
What is it the wind is singing?
Granddad tell me
Why did it rain? Why did it snow?
Tell me, why is everything so white?
Tell me, why am I so happy?
Grandaddy
I'll never leave your side

Abuelito, dime tu:
si el abeto a mi me puede hablar.
Abuelito, dime tu:
¿por qué la luna ya se va?
Dime ¿por qué hasta aquí subí?
Dime ¿por qué yo soy tan feliz?
Abuelito,
nunca yo de ti me alejaré

Granddad tell me
Can that fir tree speak to me?
Granddad tell me
Why is the moon now leaving?
Tell me, how did I get to climb/arrive up here?
Tell me, why am I so happy?
Grandaddy
I'll never leave your side

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsEUU-w3XlQ

Now my face is all wet - gets me every single time (why does Heidi make me cry so much??)

[maki]

Thanks for the Spanish version Loretta!

Heidi is such a classic...I really hope someone decides to make it more available worldwide someday. It deserves it! It's so well done, and so family-friendly. I remember watching it as a kid, and I can still remember the opening and closing songs.

[Heidi]

I used to live in New Zealand but now I live with my family in Austria. I´ve often heard about the series, but I cant remember ever watching it, they dont sell it here and it isnt on TV or anything. My parents named me after the cartoon character Heidi, or maybe the girl in the book. Does anyone know where to get a DVD?

[Loretta]

"Does anyone know where to get a DVD?"
Heidi,
the DVDs are currently available from many places in Japan. However, they aren't cheap and there are many DVDs in the series. You might be best off getting the film
アルプスの少女ハイジ 劇場版 (トールケース版)
LINK - http://www.amazon.co.jp/アルプスの少女ハイジ-劇場版-トールケース版-杉山佳寿子/dp/B00008BDES

As this condenses many of the key parts of the series into one DVD.
There are companies which will buy goods in Japan on your behalf and send them to you (google: "auction deputy" japan)
If you want the series in Spanish, It's currently being sold alongside Marco by http://www.rbacoleccionables.com/heidi-marco/presentacion/ (2 DVDs, each with 4 episodes was 6.95Euros - a bargain compared to the Japanese price!). Alas, there is no Japanese option on these DVDs. I don't think these are available outside Spain though.

[Loretta]

"Does anyone know where to get a DVD?"
Heidi,
the DVDs are currently available from many places in Japan. However, they aren't cheap and there are many DVDs in the series. You might be best off getting the film
アルプスの少女ハイジ 劇場版 (トールケース版)
LINK - http://www.amazon.co.jp/アルプスの少女ハイジ-劇場版-トールケース版-杉山佳寿子/dp/B00008BDES

As this condenses many of the key parts of the series into one DVD.
There are companies which will buy goods in Japan on your behalf and send them to you (google: "auction deputy" japan)
If you want the series in Spanish, It's currently being sold alongside Marco by http://www.rbacoleccionables.com/heidi-marco/presentacion/ (2 DVDs, each with 4 episodes was 6.95Euros - a bargain compared to the Japanese price!). Alas, there is no Japanese option on these DVDs. I don't think these are available outside Spain though.

[Annalie Killian]

Thanks for sharing this. I also wrote a blogpost about Heidi and the effect she had on my life on http://www.msmaverick.blogspot.com

[steven dunne]

you can find links at http://www.animated-divots.com/heidi.html
yes Asia might be good (the list at http://www.nausicaa.net/ showed a version that enables sound fx and music only tracks without voices- I'd be tempted to rip this version and do an amature dub but can't!) I want to hold out for at least a subtitled release- if people keep up the talk, the series holders may finally decide to do at least that much. I bought Anne of Green Gables to stave me of my wait for a Heidi sub and i think it ironic that related series have subs and were bought as a result the the attention to Heidi- Anne by the way, is an awsome series that my well be better than Heidi- YOU WILL CRY AT THE END find it and others at http://www.uk2usa.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=0001386
info at http://www.nipponanimation.com/catalogue/index.html

[Juan Gonzalez]

You can find the DVDs also at a mexican store:

http://www.mixup.com.mx

Just search under "Heidi"

They sell the whole series in 4 seasons, each season with 4 DVDs. Or you can buy the series by individual DVD packages.

The only problem (if any) is the language: it's spanish audio only.