Going back to the Yellow brick road of my Childhood Cartoon memory lane.

      Amidst all of this profile picture changes in Facebook, and the issue on child abuse and maltreatment, I came to a realization that I have been a cartoon and anime addict ever since I could remember. Ever since I was a kid, I spent most of my days indoors and in front of the television. My mom used to tell me my eyes would go bad because of watching too much T.V. and guess what, even when I changed my addiction from television to reading, my eyes still went bad anyway ahhaha. Back then, I wasn’t like the typical Filipino kid who spent their afternoons taking naps and stuff, I preferred watching TV more than anything else. And come to think of it, I’ve only realized recently that almost 85-90% of the cartoons that I loved as a kid was all Japanese-made.

      Shall we walk back on the yellow brick road of memory lane to visit all of my past addictions and probably first loves and such? I can't really remember which ones came first and I really can't describe them in order of how I loved them simply because they're all so dear to me. I'll just say whatever about these cartoons and give a bit of background about them and photos too.

Lady Georgie

In this story an Australian farmer returns home from the woods with a baby named Georgie. The girl lives ignoring the terrible secret hidden in the golden bracelet on her hand. Her "Father" and Her "brothers", Abel and Arthur, love her dearly, but her "mother" considers her an intruder and doesn't manage to open her heart to the girl. After Father dies in an attempt to rescue Georgie, Mother starts hating the girl. Georgie grows up into a beautiful young girl, and both her "brothers" are terribly in love with her. Not knowing the truth Georgie eventually falls in love with the handsome grandson of the British Governor. When Mother finally reveals the truth to her and condemns the girl for being an exile's daughter, Georgie leaves for Britain in search of her real parents- and for her love, who has also left Australia. Abel and Arthur follow her and the three are thrown into the cruel world of London aristocracy, lies and intrigues. (Synopsis from http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon_story/66393-Lady_Georgie.html)

Georgie, as I used to call it back then, was a very memorable story for me. It was probably one of the best cartoons I’ve ever watched. While in most cartoons you would usually see childish-related stories, in this story your eyes are opened to the reality of the cruel world. At a very young age I didn’t really understand how the story went (attention span of a goldfish much right?) but I enjoyed it a lot. Georgie fell in love, with a handsome Englishman and without her knowing it, her “brothers” fell in love with her too. While it talks about life, the story also talks about love and how one should sacrifice for the love of others too.

Wakakusa no Charlotte or Charlotte of the Young Grass

Charlotte was raised by her father, a former French nobleman, who is now living on a ranch in Quebec, Canada.Although motherless, Charlotte was a happy girl until her 12th birthday, surrounded by a loving father and many friendly animals. On that day, however, a package arrives from her “mother”, who was supposedly dead.After Charlotte’s father dies, this mother comes to live with her. At the same time, Charlotte meets a strange boy. This is only the beginning of many heartbreaking incidents in the little girl’s life, but in the end, her trusting and optimistic nature wins over all hardship and Charlotte is able to regain happiness

This is probably one of the cutest yet angst-y-est cartoons I’ve watched ever. It’s quite dramatic. What I loved about it back then was simply the fact that all their names were so cute! Charlotte, Andre, and of course who would forget about Spica!

Remi, Nobody’s Girl

Remi, Nobody's Girl tells the story of Remi, a cheerful and tender-hearted young girl, who is an excellent singer and lives in a French country town of Chavanon with her mother. One day her father returns to the town after a long period working away from home in a city. She discovers that she was a "foundling" or an abandoned child and was adopted by Mother Barberin. Her step father Jerome leaves to work in Paris and expects Mother Barberin to send Remi to the workhouse. He returns 10 years later and finds that Remi is still there, and becomes furious and Remi is almost sold to an evil slave trader. It is Vitalis, a strolling entertainer, who helps Remi. Vitalis discovers her talent for singing and decides to take her in with his troupe. Remi starts her journey with Vitalis and his troupe animals such as the monkey Georicoule and the dogs Capi, Dolce, and Zelbino. On her journeys with Vitalis and his company she must endure and overcome many difficulties while looking for her real family.

            Back then, Remi turned out to be my ultimate favorite stories. It had a little bit of everything and almost came to a point that it was like a soap opera or a teleserye to my young eyes. I started learning how to sing around the time when Remi and Magic Knight Rayearth were airing on Abs-cbn. Even if I wasn’t able to finish the whole story back then, I still loved the show and was glad I had the chance to finish and re-watch the whole show seven years later. Super long delay right? But it was definitely worth the wait. I still recall some of the lyrics of the song, though I’m not as sure as I used to be.   

            “Aking ina, mahal kong ina, pagmamahal mo aking ina, yakap mo sa akin hinahanap ko, init ng pag-ibig, Kumot sa iyong bunso, sa gitna ng pagkakahimbing, yakap mo ang gigising”

            My favorite characters in this show were Remi, Ginoong Vitalis, Mattia, Capi, Zerbino, Dolce, and Joli-ceur. It was sad that two of the dogs and Vitalis died in the story but their characters were and are loved.

Princess Sara

                Sara, daughter of a rich miner from India, comes to Miss Minchin's girls school in London. Sara knows a lot, speaks French perfectly - she immediately becomes the best student. She helps everybody and loves everybody, from little Lottie who is too young for school and desperately needs a mother, to the servants-children Becky and Peter, who are not considered people at all. But the most important thing is Sara's riches - which make her Miss Minchin's representative and evoke the mortal jelousy of Lavinia, the ex-favourite. When word comes that Sara's father has suddenly died bunkrupted, Sara becomes a penniless orphan. Miss Minchin, scared that throwing the girl out will ruin her school's reputation, lets Sara stay, making her life impossible. Sara has to do the hardest work in the kitchen, mostly hungry, with all Lavinia's hatred and Miss Minchin's despise now released at her. But Sara's spirit is not broken, and her true friends never leave her in her misery.

            This story’s probably the most watched and read ever. I know it also came from a book and I’ve watched around four versions of this already, two are Filipino versions of this story; a movie and the other a soap opera, another one in the form of an English film, and the last is this animated version. I’ve yet to see another one so far but I really love the story. Though it’s been years since this was shown on air (though the Filipino movie is still always played in the Cinema channel here. Oh and need I remind everyone that the girl playing Sara back then is already married for six years now) I still enjoy watching and re-watching it.

Peter Pan: The Animated

            I couldn’t find a summary for this one so I’ll just share some thoughts about it. This is probably the funniest version ever. The animation is very much like that of One Piece and Fairy Tail. I’m not sure if they’re from the same animation studio so I’ll just leave that though behind. Anyway, I loved watching this during boring afternoons when all of my cousins are enjoying their naptimes and I’m the only one awake, watching TV and eating merienda. I recall certain parts of the story where Peter actually copies voices of other people. It was a treat that was somewhat different from the classic Disney story that we watched. Tinkerbelle was different in this version too. She’s in PINK! Though, I prefer the green clad Tinkerbelle with yellow/blonde hair. Wendy looks different here too and she’s also in Pink. I wouldn’t say it’s a favorite but I really enjoyed watching it.

Cinderella Monogatari.

The story begins with the departure of the father of Cinderella for a long business trip. The girl was then left alone with her stepmother and two stepsisters, Catherine and Jeanne. Since then things change for Cinderella: handling all the chores in the house and was forced to live in a small room in the attic of the villa.

Fortunately, Paulette, her Fairy godmother watched over her, secretly removed troubles that Cinderealla faced in various situations as well as giving her the gift of being able to communicate with animals. Cinderella was then surround with new little friends: Patch, an appealing dog, Chuchu and Bingo, two clever little mice and a little bird named Pappy, the help whenever they can.

During one of the few occasions when Cinderella is able to go into town (it's virtually segregated at home to cope with household chores, while her stepsisters are out having fun), she meets a strange young man who has nothing to be a friend of Prince Charles. The girl initially does not trust him and called him a liar repeatedly. Cinderella but do not know who this guy is none other than Prince Charles himself, who unwilling to stay at the castle to take lessons from his tutor, sometimes runs under the disguise of Alex, his great friend.

Begins here many adventures, including hunting, betrayals and conspiracies of the palace, that feature the Prince, almost always in disguise, Cinderella and her stepmother, who hopes to marry one of her two daughters to the best royal ball of the city, the Prince Charles. But in the end Cinderella discovers the true identity of the boy to whom she gave several times a liar and is distraught and desperate: how will make up for what he said to the Prince?

Meanwhile, the King is organizing a big royal ball, to which are invited all the unmarried girls of the area, so that his son Charles to find a woman to marry. Even Cinderella was invited, but her stepmother ripping her invitation.

The Fairy Godmother, however, always ready to help the girl with his magic wand gives her a beautiful gown with the beautiful glass slippers: Cinderella can then go to the ball, but must return before midnight hour when the magic is completed.

This time Cinderella is to be incognito, and the ball, Prince Charles does not recognize that beautiful princess appeared out of nowhere the companion of many adventures. But come midnight and Cinderella is forced to flee losing a shoe on the staircase of the building. The Prince was fascinated by the mysterious girl, desperate house to house, to find her. It was proclaimed that whoever's feet fits into the shoe she will be the bride of the Prince.

And thus after many difficulties, Cinderella was proved to be that girl and was brought to the palace. In the day of marriage Duke Zaral had planned something other. He gave poison to the Prince in his drink and kidnapped Cinderella. He took her to top of the Clock Tower and forced the King, Charles' father to give up his kingdom in lieu of Cinderella since his son was no more.

Suddenly Prince Charles, who had not really died appeared with the palace guards. He explained that he had already known about Zaral's plan and acted accordingly.

A tough battle ensued between Zaral and the Prince. Atlast Zaral fell from the Clock Tower. Cinderella and Charles were married and lived happily ever after.

This is, by far, the best Cinderella version that I love next to Disney’s. The twist here is that the prince also had a hidden identity and there were certain parts in the story that involved the palace life and such. Loved it to bits!! But I do recall that the name of the prince back in the Tagalog dubbed version was Leandro and not Charles, or maybe this is just my bad memory playing tricks on me. Nevertheless, this is one of my most favorite cartoons ever!

Sailormoon

The protagonist of Sailor Moon, Usagi Tsukino, an ordinary ditzy middle-school girl—or so she thinks—discovers a talking cat namedLuna, who reveals Usagi's identity as "Sailor Moon," a special warrior with the destiny of saving the planet Earth, and later the entire galaxy. Usagi must now find the moon princess and protect Earth from a series of villains, beginning with the Dark Kingdom that had appeared once before, long ago, and destroyed the kingdom of the moon.

The characters in Sailor Moon awaken members of the court of the kingdom of the moon, and the people dedicated to protecting it; when the dark nemesis attacked the kingdom, the Queen sent the Moon Princess, her guardians and advisors, and her true love into the future to be reborn. As Usagi and Luna battle evil and search for the Moon Princess, they meet the other Sailor Senshi, incarnations of the Moon Princess' protectors, and the mysterious Tuxedo Mask.

As the series progresses, Usagi and her friends learn more and more about the enemies they face and the evil force that directs them. The characters' pasts are mysterious and hidden even to them, and much of the early series is devoted to discovering their true identities and pasts. Luna, who teaches and guides the Sailor Senshi, doesn't know everything about their histories either, and the Senshi eventually learn that Usagi is the real Moon Princess. The Moon Princess' mother had her reborn as a Sailor Senshi to protect her. Gradually Usagi discovers the truth about her own past life, her destined true love, and the possibilities for the future of theSolar System.

The plot spans five major story arcs, each of them represented in both the manga and anime, usually under different names:

1.    the Dark Kingdom arc (Sailor Moon)

2.    the Black Moon arc (Sailor Moon R)

3.    the Mugen/Infinity arc (Sailor Moon S)

4.    the Dream arc (Sailor Moon SuperS)

5.    the Stars arc (Sailor Moon Sailor Stars)

The anime added an additional minor arc at the start of the second series, and spent the first few episodes of Sailor Stars wrapping up the plot from the previous series. Taking place before the manga timeline, its sister series Codename: Sailor V tells the story of Sailor V, Minako Aino and her adventures during the year before Sailor Moon itself starts. Many characters from Codename: Sailor Vreturn in Sailor Moon, including Sailor V herself (under the name "Sailor Venus").

            This is probably the first anime I’ve ever watched. I loved it but not to the point of addiction. There are still parts that are swimming in my brain right now and I recall watching them in the former ABC 5 channel that has long been gone here in the Philippines. I don’t get to watch TV at home during the airing time when my mom gets home so I go to my uncles’ place to invade their living room and watch some much needed cartoons. Haha. Yes. Cartoon/anime addict here.

Magic Knight Rayearth or Maho Kishi Reiasu

Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki, Fuu Hououji are on a field trip to the Tokyo Tower with their respective schools. The girls are blinded by a flash of light and hear a voice calling for the Legendary Magic Knights to save Cephiro. They fall through the sky into another world, Cephiro. Once there, they meet Master Mage Clef. Clef explains, "[In Cephiro], one's will has the ability to change reality for better or worse. The dark fears in people's hearts become monsters, while a well-intended wish can do miracles. One person, the Pillar, whose will is stronger than anyone else's, is responsible for maintaining through her prayers the well-being of Cephiro."

In the first story arc, the current Pillar, Princess Emeraude, has been captured by her high priest, Zagato. The three girls are charged with the task of saving the Princess by activating the three Rune-Gods (魔神 Mashin^?). They are given a bizarre creature named Mokona to guide them on their journey. After the girls find and destroy Zagato, they finally reach Emeraude, but they learn that she had fallen in love with Zagato, hindering her ability to pray solely for Cephiro's well-being, Zagato had attempted to solve the problem on his own terms by stealing and imprisoning Emeraude, but feeling responsible for her actions, she summoned the Magic Knights to kill her since no one on Cephiro could harm the Pillar. Her dark side then took over, seeking to destroy the Magic Knights for killing her love. After a short defensive fight against Emeraude, the Magic Knights had no choice but to kill her.

The second story arc deals with the complications caused by the first season's climax: three warring planets, Autozam, Fahren, and Chizeta, have begun their attempts to conquer Cephiro and a new Pillar must be chosen before the whole planet is destroyed. Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu are once again summoned to Cephiro. It is later discovered that the mysterious Mokona is responsible for their being summoned back to Cephiro as he is the creator of both the Earth, Cephiro, and the three warring planets.

Eventually, Hikaru is chosen to become the new Pillar. However, she rebels against the Pillar system, deciding that the fate of the planet should not be the responsibility of only one person, which like Emeraude before her, effectively prevents that person from ever being able to live and love freely.

Hikaru, Fuu and Umi return to earth, but still can visit their loved ones in Cephiro.

            My first CLAMP-made anime! Yep. It’s from CLAMP and I love it for that and for the story. There’s nothing much that I could say about it, except that it’s really amazing and that I love it to bits. You must watch it to understand why! I actually have a DVD of this anime but it’s dubbed in English. Nothing wrong with that but I really want to see and watch it in Japanese, it makes it even more authentic I guess. My favorite characters here are Lantis, Hikaru, Fuu, Ferio, Umi and Master Mage Clef and of course Mokona!!

I loved the Tagalog version of Yuzurenai negai. I used to sing it for my Tita when I was young.

"Kami narito, asahan mong magtatanggol

makikipaglaban, para sa kapayapaan...

Ang lahat ng nilalang dito ay may karapatan, 

sa magandang bukas.

Kung mayroong gumugulo ay huwag mag-alala
Kami ang dakilang tagapagtanggol niyo
sa lahat ng oras
Handa kaming tumulong
Ang aming mga kapangyarihan
alay sa karapatan.

Kami'y narito asahan niyong magtatanggol
makikipaglaban para sa kapayapaan
at kaayusan..
Kami'y asahan niyo..
Hanggang sa dulo ng mundo...

(here's a video link c/o Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHjjpq7vObQ)

This bathing scene was a fave of mine all because it was the funny and they all look so pretty and sexy :)

Okay, so now that I've grown up (?) I've added loads of other cartoons/animes in my list. That's another blogpost since this has been such a long one already. I'll do that next time. 


Cheers and Buh-bye!