70s Anime ID
June 20, 2013 5:33 PM   Subscribe

Super Hard TV/Movie ID: I am trying to ID an animated film/tv show I saw in the 70s. I recall it having an anime look, like Speed Racer or Star Blazers, but I am reasonably certain it wasn't either of these.

I remember watching it on tv on a weekend afternoon in the mid to late 70s. It would have been on regular broadcast tv (we didn't have cable back then). All I can remember is there was a girl and a boy, and there was a climactic scene near the end where, after running from bad guys, it is revealed that whatever it is the bad guys are looking for/ the key to the puzzle / some important piece of information was in this ankle bracelet the girl was wearing. The ankle bracelet looked like a watch to me (I thought it was odd she would wear a watch on her ankle) or perhaps a locket. The scene takes place at what I remember being the edge of a volcano or crater of some kind, and there is a dramatic scene where (I think) she takes off the anklet and throws it to the bad guy, who falls into the volcano while trying to catch it... or something happens to save the day, I can't recall exactly what. I remember the girl was wearing a purple dress of some kind and had short, dark hair.

Not much to go on, but worth a shot!
posted by evilcupcakes to Media & Arts (11 answers total)
 
Could it be Marine Boy? The listing for Episode 28 at the Wikipedia link mentions a volcano.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 5:57 PM on June 20, 2013


Response by poster: I found that episode online, but sadly it wasn't what I was looking for. I used to love Marine Boy as well as Speed Racer, so I would think I would remember if it were one of those, and I know it pre-dated Star Blazers.

Thanks anyway! Good guess!
posted by evilcupcakes at 9:52 PM on June 20, 2013


Was it black & white or color? The list of anime broadcast in America prior to the 1980s is fairly short. You've already eliminated most of them.
posted by Aznable at 10:02 PM on June 20, 2013


This reminds me of Laputa: Castle in the Sky, but that was '86 and there's an amulet instead of an anklet, I believe.
posted by pineappleheart at 10:05 PM on June 20, 2013


Response by poster: You know, now that you mention it, it may or may not have been in color. IIRC, our tv at that time was still b&w, so even though I remember it in color, I think I was watching it on a b&w tv!

And it was definitely before 1980, I would have been somewhere between 1974-1978.

"Tobor the 8th Man" seems to have some similar character design. I need to investigate that one further.

Thanks for the link, Aznable! Very helpful!
posted by evilcupcakes at 10:16 PM on June 20, 2013


Cutie Honey (1973)?
posted by pineappleheart at 10:21 PM on June 20, 2013


Ugh, scratch that. It's gotta be the Prince Planet one mentioned in Aznanle's link. Now I'm so curious.
posted by pineappleheart at 10:35 PM on June 20, 2013


Response by poster: Actually, "Animal Treasure Island" seems promising.

Jim chases after Silver as he and his monkey lieutenant are climbing towards the top of an extinct volcano where the treasure is hidden. In the end Kathy sacrifices the final secret of recovering the treasure to save Jim's life, but it does no good to Silver; the mechanism he is told to trigger does not reveal the treasure immedialety, but instead serves to drain the island volcano's crater lake. Silver and his lieutenant are swept out into the sea, and the lake drains to reveal Flint's sunken ship, where Jim, Gran, Kathy and the reformed pirates find the treasure. The film ends with Jim and Kathy sailing away with Silver's ship, while the dethroned captain and his lieutenant chase after them on improvised log boats, quarreling all the while.

I checked the videos, and the girl wears a purpley dress.
I can't find the specific scene, and I don't know if it was shown on American TV in the 70s, but this is as close as I have come so far.
posted by evilcupcakes at 10:45 PM on June 20, 2013


Duh. I didn't think to check movies. It looks like Animal Treasure Island was broadcast on TV, according to this Amazon review:

"What's more, for those of us who remember Fred Ladd's well-done English dubbing that was shown on American TV so long ago, Discotek Media has wisely included it as the second audio track."

I think you have a winner there.
posted by Aznable at 3:43 AM on June 21, 2013


Best answer: Yeah, that's totally it. Here's the scene dubbed into Italian. (FF to about 2mins to see the ankle bracelet)
posted by Aznable at 4:07 AM on June 21, 2013


Response by poster: OMG!! THAT IS IT!!! How completely surreal to FINALLY see that after almost 40 years of wondering about it!

This is the scene I remembered.

Of course, in my mind, the scene was much darker and more traumatic. Maybe the image of a pirate pig trying to rip a little boy in half crotch first had something to do with that!
posted by evilcupcakes at 3:08 PM on June 21, 2013


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