Little Pollon
Encyclopedia
is a musical Greek mythology
-based Japan
ese anime
television series, based on the 1977 manga
Olympus no Pollon (Pollon of Olympus) by Hideo Azuma
. The TV anime series consisted of 46 episodes and aired across Japan on Fuji TV from May 1982 to March 1983, and was also popular in some Europe
an countries, such as Italy
. The series is noted for its portrayal of the gods of Mount Olympus
as fallible beings succumbing to real human faults and weaknesses, such as selfishness, temper tantrums, debauchery, laziness, and vanity.
.
Pollon's goal in life is to grow up to become a beautiful and powerful goddess. She attempts to do good deeds and help out any way she can in order to achieve the status of godhood. Invariably, her overtures backfire and end up causing major trouble for both the gods of Olympus and their human subjects. However, Pollon's kind heart, perseverance and indomitable spirit win out in the end, as she attains the title of "Goddess of Hope."
during the mid-1980s, where it was known as C'era una volta... Pollon (Once upon a time there was... Pollon) and featured a memorable Italian theme song by Cristina D'Avena
. Many of the Pollon fan sites on the Internet are in Italian. Azuma's original manga has also been published in the Italian market. The series was also broadcast in France on La Cinq in the late 1980s under the title La Petite Olympe et les Dieux, with Pollon's name changed to "Olympe."
Enoki Films
USA holds the U.S. license to the anime series, although no English
dub or subtitling of the series has ever been commercially released.
The Little Pollon production team followed up the series in 1983 with another anime based on a Hideo Azuma manga, Nanako SOS
(aka Nana the Supergirl). In one scene in Nanako SOS, the Little Pollon anime is being played on television.
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
-based Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series, based on the 1977 manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
Olympus no Pollon (Pollon of Olympus) by Hideo Azuma
Hideo Azuma
is a Japanese manga artist born on February 6, 1950 in Urahoro, Hokkaidō, Japan. Azuma made his professional debut in 1969 in the Akita Shoten manga magazine Manga Ō...
. The TV anime series consisted of 46 episodes and aired across Japan on Fuji TV from May 1982 to March 1983, and was also popular in some Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries, such as Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. The series is noted for its portrayal of the gods of Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, about 100 kilometres away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks. The highest peak Mytikas, meaning "nose", rises to 2,917 metres...
as fallible beings succumbing to real human faults and weaknesses, such as selfishness, temper tantrums, debauchery, laziness, and vanity.
Story
The main character of the story is Pollon, a sweet, precocious little girl who is the daughter of the God of the Sun, ApolloApollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
.
Pollon's goal in life is to grow up to become a beautiful and powerful goddess. She attempts to do good deeds and help out any way she can in order to achieve the status of godhood. Invariably, her overtures backfire and end up causing major trouble for both the gods of Olympus and their human subjects. However, Pollon's kind heart, perseverance and indomitable spirit win out in the end, as she attains the title of "Goddess of Hope."
Characters
- Pollon (voice: Masako MiuraMasako Miurais a Japanese voice actress employed by the talent management firm Arts Vision.-TV:*Chibi Maruko-chan *Crayon Shin-chan *Galactic Whirlwind Sasuraiger *Goldfish Warning...
) - The daughter of Apollo, the sun-god, she is a kind-hearted but somewhat naive girl who wants to be a goddess when she grows up. However, her attempts to prove herself worthy of the title of goddess usually result in disasters of comic proportions. - ErosErosEros , in Greek mythology, was the Greek god of love. His Roman counterpart was Cupid . Some myths make him a primordial god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite....
(voice: Keiko YamamotoKeiko Yamamoto', born August 7, 1943, is a veteran female voice actor from Osaka Prefecture. Many of her roles have been young boys or tomboyish young girls.-TV Anime:*Akadō Suzunosuke 1972 *Aria the Natural...
) - The God of Love, and Pollon's cousin and best friend. He shoots heart-tipped arrows at people to make them fall in love, but as he is quite an ugly creature, he ironically has no girlfriend of his own. - ApolloApolloApollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
(voice: Akio NojimaAkio Nojimais a Japanese voice actor. He is the father of voice actors Hirofumi Nojima and Kenji Nojima and is employed by talent firm agency Sigma Seven. He is most known for the roles of Saga in Saint Seiya and the Japanese voice of KITT in Knight Rider-TV Series:...
) - Pollon's father, the God of the Sun. He is a lazy drunk who is somewhat neglectful of his daughter. His main job is to drive the Sun's chariot across the sky each day, but as he is often too lazy and/or drunk to do so, Pollon often ends up driving the chariot herself. - ZeusZeusIn the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
(voice: Masashi AmenomoriMasashi Amenomoriwas a Japanese voice actor. Amenomori died of cirrhosis on April 9, 1984. At the time of his death he was represented by Aoni Production.-Notable voice work:*Ai Shite Knight final role*Gatchaman *Time Bokan Series...
) - The king of the gods, father of Apollo and grandfather of Pollon. Despite his advanced age, he has a strong attraction to younger women, which often gets him in trouble with his wife, Hera. - HeraHeraHera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
(voice: Eiko Yamada) - The queen of the gods, mother of Apollo and grandmother of Pollon. She is portrayed as the stereotypical hen-pecking wife, somewhat neurotic and given to temper tantrums, and often responds violently to her husband Zeus' flirtatious ways. - ArtemisArtemisArtemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...
(voice: Rumiko UkaiRumiko Ukaiis a Japanese voice actress best known for voicing Frau Bow in the original Mobile Suit Gundam. She is a member of 81 Produce.-Voice Roles:*Frau Bow in Mobile Suit Gundam *Kitty Kitten in Space Runaway Ideon *Miyuki Tokita in Brigadoon...
) - The Goddess of the Moon, one of Pollon's aunts. - AphroditeAphroditeAphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....
(voice: Yoko Kawanami) - The Goddess of Beauty, and another of Pollon's aunts. She is also the mother of Eros. Aphrodite is very beautiful and very vain, and spends hours admiring herself in the mirror. - PoseidonPoseidonPoseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
(voice: Banjou Ginga) - The God of the Sea is very tall in stature, towering way over the other gods. Although he is the god of the sea, he ironically can't swim. - AtlasAtlasAn atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats...
- Atlas is the Titan who holds the weight of the sky. It is shown that he is ticklish. - HephaestusHephaestusHephaestus was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan. He is the son of Zeus and Hera, the King and Queen of the Gods - or else, according to some accounts, of Hera alone. He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes...
(voice: Kenichi Ogata) - AthenaAthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
(voice: Kachiko Hino) - DionysusDionysusDionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
(voice: Masaharu SatoMasaharu Satois a Japanese voice actor currently working for Aoni Production.Along with the late Kōji Totani, he is considered the No. 1 supporting actor of the Japanese voice acting world....
) - HadesHadesHades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
(voice: Naoki TatsutaNaoki Tatsutais a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Aoni Production.He is most known for the roles of Buta Gorilla , Daima Jin , Oolong , Ashibe's Father , and Scoop-kun ....
) - Cha Cha Cha
- Dosankos (voice: Masaharu Sato) - Apollo's horse.
- The Sun - The long-suffering Sun is often ripped, torn or otherwise disturbed by Pollon and/or the other gods. He has become a heavy smoker to deal with the stress in his life.
- Narrator - A cute little sprite who tells the story of Pollon and the gods as it unfolds.
Overseas Distribution
In addition to its success in Japan, Little Pollon was an extremely popular television program in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
during the mid-1980s, where it was known as C'era una volta... Pollon (Once upon a time there was... Pollon) and featured a memorable Italian theme song by Cristina D'Avena
Cristina D'Avena
Cristina D'Avena is an Italian singer and actress. She sings for television and animation series, and has recorded numerous albums, selling nearly 6 million copies....
. Many of the Pollon fan sites on the Internet are in Italian. Azuma's original manga has also been published in the Italian market. The series was also broadcast in France on La Cinq in the late 1980s under the title La Petite Olympe et les Dieux, with Pollon's name changed to "Olympe."
Enoki Films
Enoki Films
Enoki Films Co., Ltd. is a producer of anime based in Tokyo.Enoki Films also has a North American division, established in 1986, headquartered in the Encino area of Los Angeles, California, United States called Enoki Films USA, Inc.. Enoki Films USA acts as a middle-man between Japanese companies...
USA holds the U.S. license to the anime series, although no English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
dub or subtitling of the series has ever been commercially released.
The Little Pollon production team followed up the series in 1983 with another anime based on a Hideo Azuma manga, Nanako SOS
Nanako SOS
is a seinen manga series created by Hideo Azuma which ran in Popcorn and Just Comic from April 1980 to July 1986. The series was adapted into 39-episode anime TV series produced by Kokusai Eiga which aired on the Fuji Television network from April 2, 1983 to December 24, 1983...
(aka Nana the Supergirl). In one scene in Nanako SOS, the Little Pollon anime is being played on television.
Anime staff
- Original creator: Hideo Azuma
- Executive producer: Juzo Tsubota
- Series director: Takao Yotsuji
- Scenarists: Masaru Yamamoto, Kenji Terada, Toyohiro Ando
- Character designs: Toshio Takagi, Tsutomu Fujita
- Animation directors: Toshio Takagi, Hirokazu Ishiyuki
- Music: Masayuki Yamamoto
- Theme song performance: Yoshie Hara
- Production: Kokusai Eiga (Movie International Co., Ltd.) / Fuji TV