Demetan Croaker, The Boy Frog

Demetan Croaker, The Boy Frog (けろっこデメタン, Kerokko Demetan), also known as Demetan the Frog and The Brave Frog, is a 39 episode anime series by Tatsunoko Productions first aired in 1973.[2]

Demetan Croaker, The Boy Frog
Cover art from the sixth French DVD volume
けろっこデメタン
(Kerokko Demetan)
GenreComedy, adventure, Romance, Fantasy
Anime television series
Directed byHiroshi Sasagawa
Written byJinzo Toriumi
StudioTatsunoko Productions
Original networkFuji Television
Original run January 2, 1973 – September 25, 1973
Episodes39[1]

Overview

The story is about Demetan (Jonathan in the English version), a poor young frog living in Rainbow Pond with his mother and father (a toymaker), who becomes friends with a popular and sweet girl frog named Ranatan (known as Pookie and later Hilary in different English versions), despite the differences in their social standings: Ranatan is the daughter of the leader of Rainbow Pond (English name, Leopold), while Demetan and his parents are tree frogs, which make them automatic outcasts in the community. Together, Demetan and Ranatan enjoy many adventures.

Like many of Tatsunoko's series at the time (in particular its predecessor Kashi no Ki Mokku), the show was often sad and sadistic, with Demetan having to deal with natural predators as well as the bullies who rule the pond. The well-loved theme song sung by Mitsuko Horie has a melancholy sound.

In addition to its original broadcast on Fuji TV in 1973, Kerokko Demetan was re-run on TV Tokyo in 1982, as a replacement for Don Dracula, which was pulled off the air following the bankruptcy of its production company.

The series became very popular in other regions, such as Asia, Europe (particularly in France, where the entire series was released on DVD in October 2005 [3]), Quebec, Canada, and Latin America.

All of the 39 episodes were dubbed in Italian and broadcast on Italia 1 from 1982 as La banda dei ranocchi with an original theme song.[4]

English versions

The series has been translated into the English language on two separate occasions by Harmony Gold. In 1985, two feature-length movie adaptations, edited from the TV series, were produced by Harmony Gold. The two movies, called The Brave Frog and The Brave Frog's Greatest Adventure, tell the entire storyline of the series in heavily condensed form. Rebecca Forstadt portrayed the voice of Pookie (Ranatan). The first movie was released on videocassette in 1994 and on DVD in 1999. In 1990, Harmony Gold also translated the 39 episodes into English under the title "Adventures On Rainbow Pond," which featured Dave Mallow as Jonathan Jumper (Demetan). Ranatan is known as "Hilary Hopper" in this version.

Japanese voice actors

Extra production information
  • Broadcaster: Fuji TV
  • Planning: Tatsuo Yoshida
  • Storyboard(s): Yoshiyuki Tomino
  • Writer(s): Jinzo Toriumi
  • Character Designer(s): Yoshitaka Amano, Tatsuo Yoshida, Masayuki Hayashi
  • Music: Nobuyoshi Koshibe

References
  1. "作品データベース". Tatsunoko.co.jp. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  2. "Tatsunoko Pro". Tatsunoko.co.jp. Retrieved 2012-07-26.
  3. "Amazon.ca". Retrieved 2017-06-17.
  4. "Il mondo dei doppiatori (in Italian)". Retrieved 2019-04-15.
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