Ozu In Space.

Hey, it's my 900th post, so here's a treat for you. I'd spoken in the past about the anime/manga version of Dorothy and the gang, but did you know they did a Josie & the Pussycats gig and blasted off to Outer Space? (Hmmm. This post just got hijacked...that Josie link drew me to Cartoon Network Japan with a whole bunch of classic Hanna Barbera toons that have been manga-tized. I'll have to get back to this page another time.)

Okay, back to earth. From 1992/10/05～1993/04/04, there was another anime based on L. Frank Baum's cast of characters. This one was called
スペースオズの冒険 or Supe-su Ozu no Boukan = The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz. The plot is similar to the original storyline, but the characters have been transposed into space. There were 26 episodes in Japan and those were squished down into a 76-minute dubbed version for an American video release. I have never seen that version and am now on the prowl for the Japanese version.

Here is the cast, which seems to be made up of several J-pop stars of the early 90s and a few Dramatic actors. (I've translated and linked the first two; for the rest, you're on your own.)
ドロシー：國府田マリ子 Dorothy: Mariko Kouda
チョッパー：竹村拓 Chopper: Hiroshi Takemura
グルーミルダ：上村典子
アルヘリヒト：稲葉実
ブランティ：塩屋浩三
ビスティ：掛川裕彦
ヘンリーおじさん：岡和男
エミリーおばさん：さとうあい
オズ：飯塚昭三
オズ軍将軍：鈴木勝美
ラクドー：辻村真人
オガタン：愛河里花子

The Opening Theme is "To a Dream Adventure (夢の冒険へ)" and the Ending Theme is "Hikari no tabibito" by Yukari Morikawa. (An American version?? I'm not sure.) The Japanese soundtrack was the 9th album of a group called S.E.N.S. It shouldn't be too hard to track down.

The DVD/Video is proving to be a little more difficult to find, but in the interim, I present you with the opening theme...



Tomorrow, be on the look out for Baum's Santa Claus Adventures!