In accordance with the provisions of the regulation UCA/CG16/2013, de 16 de diciembre, this project is funded by the Universidad de Cádiz, the Spanish Ministry of Universities and the European Union (Next Generation EU funds). In addition to this funding, this project has also been made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Institut de recherche sur le cinéma et l'audiovisuel (IRCAV) –a research unit of the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle–; and the Department of Marketing and Communication of the Universidad de Cádiz.
1Throughout history, different cultures have associated mountains with the sacred or spiritual (Winchester & Mcgrath, 2017). However, it was not until the 19th century that the medical community began to highlight the healing properties of these environments, considering them beneficial to health (Guillaume, 1991). The acceptance of this belief led to an increase in the construction of new spas and sanatoriums built in natural spaces (Chanteloup & Herrmann, 2022); at the same time, several authors from the world of literature began to promote in their works the existence of a connection between nature and our health. This literary approach was studied by Wil Gesler, who defined the concept of “therapeutic landscape” as those spaces that, thanks to a combination of various factors, are considered conducive to human well-being and healing (Gesler, 1992). Thus, his study of Thomas Mann’s “The Magic Mountain” points to the relationship between the mountain of Davos and the healing of tuberculosis (Gesler, 2000).
2Gesler’s work inspired Allison M. Williams’ subsequent study of Johanna Spyri’s literary works “Heidi” (Spyri, 1880) and ”Again Heidi” (Spyri 1881), where Williams concludes that the Alps play the role of therapeutic landscape in these tales (Williams, 2007). Thus, sharing this affirmation, this article focuses on the expressive particularities of an audiovisual object of study: “Heidi, the girl from the Alps” (Takahtata, 1974)—the most internationally acclaimed adaptation of Spyri’s work—. To this end, we will also take into consideration other theoretical nuances such as those contemplated by Amelia Fierro and Michela Totaro, who understand the concept of “therapeutic landscapes” as ”those natural or semi-natural areas that allow man to recover his own characteristic environmental context and the well-being that they can provide” (Fierro & Totaro, 2009). Among their assessments, both underline the problem of urban development and the distancing of human beings from the environmental context and its resources, proposing as a solution the need to find “new motivations and connections with our tradition, with our cultural roots, rediscovering a renewed well-being and quality of life” (Fierro & Totaro, 2009, p. 473). These insights in turn connect with the claims of Environmental Education (EE), which aims to consolidate a society aware of environmental problems—urban development being the main problem pointed out by William B. Tapp as opposed to the declining rural lifestyle—(Stapp, 1969). Thus, this study analyses how this audiovisual adaptation develops the concept of therapeutic landscape and assesses whether there is a relationship with environmental education or not.
3“Heidi” and ”Again Heidi” by Johanna Spyri (1827–1901) were written under the influence of the European Romantic movement. In them, the author praises life in nature through Heidi, a fictional character who has established herself as a symbol of Switzerland by representing and conveying the country’s values and culture. According to Wissmer, the Alpine girl has been translated into more than fifty languages and was first translated into Japanese in 1920 (Wissmer, 2012). Decades of success later, the Japanese television channel Fuji TV decided to make its own audiovisual adaptation for the “Calpis Comic Theatre”, a space that since 1969 has been dedicated to premiering new anime series inspired by classics of world literature. To do so, the channel commissioned the project to animation studio Zuiyo Eizo.
4Composed of fifty-two episodes and totaling twenty-one hours of handcrafted 2D animation, the series featured the participation of a great artistic team made up of figures such as Yoichi Kotabe—character designer—; art director Masahiro Ioka; and two of Japan’s most international animators: Isao Takahata (1935–2018) and Hayao Miyazaki (1941-), founders in 1985—with Toshio Suzuki—of the prestigious Studio Ghibli animation studio. All of them would grow up in a pacifist climate derived from the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 (Lidia, 2022); in a context marked by economic development and the impact of the most serious human-caused environmental catastrophes in the history of Japan: the so-called Itai-itai disease; the methylmercury poisonings in Minamata and Niigata-Minamata; and the asthma caused by atmospheric pollution in Yokkaichi (Masano, 2018). These events, with thousands of deaths and injuries, possibly fuelled the interest in ecology and environmental health present in this production.
5In it, Isao Takahata oversaw the complete direction of the series and his colleague Hayao Miyazaki acted as layout and set designer (Chaptal, 2020), designing and homogenising the topography of the spaces in which the characters will evolve (Le Roux, 2009). Thus, during pre-production, producer Junzo Nakajima organised a trip in 1973 to Switzerland (Photo 1), where Takahata and Miyazaki worked closely with the aim of achieving a notorious geographical and historical accuracy (Chaptal, 2019). To this end, the Zuiyo Eizo team studied the customs of the village of Dörfli, made the first sketches and visited various locations such as the so-called “Heidi’s Alp Cottage” (Photo 2), which inspired the iconic design of the grandfather’s house (Photo 3).
Photo 1: The importance of meticulous documentation. Journey of 1973.
On the bottom right are photographs by producer Junzo Nakajima showing the condition of the hut in 1973 and interior sketches by Yoichi Kotabe.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production. Exposition “Heidi in Japan”, Landesmuseum Zürich. SA, © Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum nº 52277 (2019).
Photo 2: “Heidi’s Alp Cottage” in Heididorf (Switzerland) in 2023.
Today the hut is part of Heididorf’s tourist attraction.
Image use authorized by Heididorf © Fotografía de Oliver Salas Herrera (2023).
Photo 3: Final design of the Alpine hut.
Acrylic paint on cellulose acetate.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production. Exposition “Heidi in Japan”, Landesmuseum Zürich. SA, © Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum nº 52293 (2019).
6Paradoxically, despite the success of “Heidi, the Alpine Girl”, Zuiyo Eizo did not produce any new series. However, its legacy did not disappear, as its members created a new studio: Nippon Animation. In this new company, Takahata and Miyazaki repeated the same professional roles in series such as “Marco, from the Apennines to the Andes” (Takahata, 1976) or ”Anne of Green Gables” (Takahata, 1979), although this collaborative pairing ceased to be repeated with the series of ”Conan, the Boy from the Future” (Miyazaki, 1978) (Chaptal, 2019).
7Subsequently, Takahata and Miyazaki founded Studio Ghibli, but here, each would direct his own films. Throughout their respective filmographies, both showed their link to Shintoism; an indigenous religion from Japan that is noted for its respect for nature, spirituality and its veneration—a theme very present in anime (Gil, 2020). However, “Heidi, the Alpine Girl” maintains this spiritual sensibility within realistic parameters. Unfortunately, Isao Takahata passed away in 2018, so his and the binomial’s legacy remains thanks to titles like this one by Zuiyo Eizo.
8From its premiere between 6 January and 29 December 1974 on Fuji TV, the series caused a great stir. The premiere of the series revitalised the popularity of Spyri’s work and it became a tourist attraction that is still active today. In 2006, a recreation of “Heidi’s Village” was built in Yamanashi, a town in Japan, where all kinds of products from the series can be found; this is also the case in the museum shop in Heididorf, Switzerland. Here, an open space surrounded by mountains and close to Maienfeld brings together several authentic alpine locations that inspired both the original author and the Zuiyo Eizo team. Perhaps the most prestigious recognition of the anime, is to be found in the permanent exhibition at the National Museum in Zürich, where an acrylic painting of Peter (Photo 4) is displayed alongside the original Spyri books.
Photo 4: Image of © Zuiyo Eizo provided by Toshikazu Sakurai to the permanent exhibition at the Landesmuseum Zürich.
Acrylic paint on cellulose acetate.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production. Image use authorized by Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum © Fotografía de Oliver Salas Herrera (2023).
9In addition, in 2019, this museum exhibited “Heidi in Japan”, a large temporary exhibition (Photo 5) headed by the 1974 anime (Photo 6).
Photo 5: Anime as the axis of the temporary exhibition.
General photograph of the exhibition room “Heidi in Japan” (2019) at the Landesmuseum Zürich.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production. Exposition “Heidi in Japan”, Landesmuseum Zürich. SA, © Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum nº 52168 (2019).
Photo 6: Merchandising following the success of the series.
Exhibition of some of the objects inspired by the anime that were marketed in Japan after the success of the series.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production. Exposition “Heidi in Japan”, Landesmuseum Zürich. SA, © Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum nº 52175 (2019).
10Over the years, the series would cease to be broadcast on television, but its image would return in 3D thanks to the release of “Heidi” (2015), a version made possible by Studio 100 Animation’s acquisition of the rights to Zuiyo.
11To analyse the therapeutic qualities of the Alps in this fiction, we will consider the development of the entire narrative of the series. This narrative unfolds in three Aristotelian acts that are marked by the health of the protagonist and the two main locations in which she lives: the Alps and Frankfurt (Salas, 2021). Thus, the first act of presentation takes place in the Alps (from episode 1 to 18) and is triggered by the fact that Dete, Heidi’s aunt, hands her over to Mr. Hassen—the “Old Man of the Alps”—so that he can take responsibility for his granddaughter (episode 1). This gives the viewers the opportunity to discover the nature of the Alps while observing how happy the little girl is in the Alps. The second act then takes place mostly in Frankfurt am Main (from episode 19 to 33), after Dete separates Heidi from her grandfather and gives her to a wealthy family. In this new destination, Heidi becomes the new playmate of Clara Sesemann, a girl in a wheelchair, with whom she forms a beautiful friendship. However, Heidi falls ill due to her homesickness for living far from the Alps, which forces Doctor Klassen to recommend that she be moved to his mountain home. Consequently, the third act (from episode 34 to 52) is marked by Heidi’s return to the Alps, where in addition to her mental recovery, we witness the physical healing of Clara Sesemann, who during her stay in the grandfather’s hut will regain strength in her legs and begin to walk again.
- 1 The minutes of the episodes always include the length of the opening of the series.
12In short, these three acts evolve by linking health and the environment, using the comparison between life in the mountains and the city to expose more clearly the benefits of nature. Thus, the first Aristotelian act presents the mainly bucolic lifestyle of the Alps; the second, the more dehumanised lifestyle of the city; and the third concludes by openly exposing the healing qualities of the Alps. But what audiovisual resources does the anime use to convey this message throughout this structure? To answer this question, we will present the results of the analysis by quoting some of the most significant examples1.
13First of all, with the exception of the opening, the ending, or certain imaginary or dreamlike scenes present in episodes 2, 14, and 25, Isao Takahata chose to assign a predominantly realistic style to this anime, making it easier for viewers of any age to forget the fact that they are watching a cartoon series, thus allowing them to better connect with the story, its message and the internal conflicts of its characters. This realistic style is not only present in the aesthetics of the designs, the staging or the animation of the characters and animals, but also in its audiovisual language, which simulates the expressive codes of cinematographic language through shots that seem to be taken as if they were from a non-animated production. In this context, the Alps are portrayed in a multitude of panoramic shots, as this type of shot is often used for the presentation of scenery. An example of this can be found in the first two animated shots of the opening, where two panoramas—one horizontal (Frame 1) and one vertical (Frame 2)—show the imposing nature of the Alps through the handcrafted backgrounds.
Frame 1: Background used in the horizontal panoramic presentation.
Opening, 0m04s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family
Frame 2: Background used in the vertical panoramic presentation.
Opening, 0m15s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family
14In addition to the use of panoramic views, the Alps painted in acrylic on acetate are also represented in general shots, detail shots, etc., which seem to locate the action of the first and third acts between the village of Maienfeld and the Falknis, Hinter Grauspitz and Schesaplana mountains. Here, nature depicted in acrylic on acetate is brought to life by a changing scenery, the colour palette of which adapts to aspects such as seasonality, the weather or the changes in lighting of each time zone. Thus, images of the colourful meadow in spring (episode 3), the warm autumn (episode 8), the snowy mountain (episode 9), the dense fog (episode 5), the storms (episode 4), the golden sunset (episode 3), the starry night (episode 52) and the rainbow (episode 46) contribute to recreating a dynamic mountain and a colourful landscape; contribute to recreate a dynamic and organic mountain inhabited by small insects, domestic and livestock animals and other wild species, such as the sparrow hawk, the Lord of the Heights –an ibex— (Frame 3), or the friendly sleepyheads. With this meticulous and varied atmosphere, Takahata’s 2D adaptation succeeds in transporting us to a credible three-dimensional space, where the viewer—without knowing it yet—is being seduced by the presentation of a therapeutic landscape.
Frame 3: The changing landscape and the representation of local species create a living environment of the Alps.
Episode 3, 18m24s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
15However, Takahata’s direction goes beyond visual seduction. His mise-en-scène invites us to admire the beauty that exists in the small details of nature, making use of the curious and innocent gaze of the little protagonist. An example of this can be found in episode 1, when Heidi stops for the first time to observe how the wind pushes the branches of the fir trees behind the hut (Frame 4) and, immediately afterwards, she smiles a smile of satisfaction that educates us in the possibility of finding pleasure in the observation of the landscape (Frame 5).
Frame 4: Big close-up shot detail of the fir trees.
Episode 1, 22m31s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
Frame 5: Heidi’s gaze teaches us to admire nature.
Episode 1, 22m40s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
16All these features, combined with ambient sound effects and an elaborate soundtrack incorporating traditional instruments from the region, contribute to an idealised image of the mountains. However, the anime does not omit the dangers of the wilderness, as demonstrated by the scene in which Heidi is about to fall off a cliff (episode 3, 10m30s); another in which Peter and Heidi get lost in the fog (episode 5, 19m40s); or when the grandfather saves both children from a sudden snow avalanche (episode 12, 22m03). These tense events show the most inhospitable side of the Alps, something that, despite seeming a negative aspect, helps to strengthen the identification with therapeutic landscapes, as their risks and inaccessibility favour mythification.
17Even so, the dangers of the mountains are only dealt with in isolated situations, while the quality of life is dealt with on an ongoing basis. In this respect, the contributions of Pedro, the goatherd boy who guides Heidi through the meadows and teaches her his trade (Frame 6); and the actions of Mr. Hessen —the “Old Man of the Alps”— who shows the viewers the sustainable lifestyle of Canton Graubünden. To this end, the animation shows how Heidi’s grandfather mows the grass with a sickle (episode 4, 19m10); prepares a bed of hay (episode 2, 8m13); or his carpentry skills enable him to build his own furniture (episode 2, 16m25s), wooden toys (episode 9, 14m42s) or even renovate a house (episode 38). This autonomy will be useful to be able to exchange products with other neighbours (episode 6 and 50) since, in these barters, Hessen offers from his services as a carpenter to wooden utensils or artisanal cheeses that he cooks with the milk of his goats (episode 7, 13m36). These dairy products are the anime’s main way of highlighting the ecological quality of the region’s gastronomy. Takahata therefore strove to provide viewers with an attractive and appetising image of processed cheese (Frame 7), going so far as to study the interaction of processed cheese with the bread consumed in the region at the time (Chaptal, 2019).
Frame 6: The anime brings us closer to the lifestyle of the Alps.
Episode 6, 21m18s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
Frame 7: Attractive presentation of artisanal food.
Episode 2, 11m26s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
18Ultimately, the anime positively links the Alpine lifestyle with simplicity and austerity, something radically at odds with the characteristics of Frankfurt. This contrast is explicitly manifested in the first reference viewers receive to Frankfurt: the return of Dete, who, after living in the city for three years, comes back to take Heidi with him. In this appearance, Dete wears a pompous hat and an elegant suit that distinguishes himself from the basic, unstylish clothes worn in Maienfeld (episode 17, 15m15). Thus, her striking attire anticipates the characteristics of the Frankfurt model of life and suggests what Heidi might grow up to be like if she decides to follow in her aunt’s footsteps.
19In the second act, Dete and Heidi leave the mountains behind and arrive in Frankfurt am Main, which is respectfully described as a beautiful city built along the river Main (episode 19, 14m29). In this presentation, the shots do not show solemn mountains but historical monuments such as the Eschenheim Tower (Frame 8), the Römer, or the Imperial Cathedral or Kaiserdom; forming an urban panorama where the brown colour of the buildings and the golden tones of a sunset with cloudy skies predominate.
Frame 8: Frankfurt as the opposite of a therapeutic landscape (Eschenheim Tower).
Episode 19, 14m45s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
20In contrast to the first act, the second act takes place mainly in an interior space: the Sesemann family home, a large, luxurious residence located in one of the most elegant streets of the city (episode 19, 15m00). Here, fiction portrays a materialistic lifestyle in contrast to Alpine austerity. This is exemplified in the scene in which Clara, the young wheelchair-bound girl, expresses that she has no friends like Heidi, but boasts of having a wardrobe full of dresses or exclusive drawers for dozens of dolls, shoes and hats (episode 21, 10m28). In fact, in a sense, Heidi arrives at the house as a new addition to the Seemann’s household, something Dete sees as an opportunity. However, Heidi has no attraction to this opulence. All she wants is to be able to see the trees through the windows (episode 20, 20m33) or to be able to hear the fir trees as she leaves the house —and not the sound of horse-drawn carriages— (episode 21, 7m45). This necessity to feel connected to nature leads the protagonist to escape and climb the bell tower of St. Catherine’s Church —Katharinenkirche—, where she hopes to see her longed-for mountains (episode 22). Unfortunately, Heidi finds that the Frankfurt skyline does not allow her to see the Alps, which triggers the development of her depression (episode 22, 21m45s).
21The Sesemann house, despite its size, becomes a kind of prison for Heidi. This captivity is represented in the series through a symbol integrated into the Sesemann house: the caged bird (Frame 9). Thus, we could say that Heidi is a wild bird imprisoned in this urban cage, while Clara is a bird that has grown up without this freedom.
22In this context, Heidi wants the same freedom for Clara that she facilitates for the Sesemanns’ bird by opening her cage to fly free (episode 21, 13m40s), although Clara’s governess does not take kindly to the “wild” influence of the Alpine girl. Thus, Miss Rottenmeier becomes Heidi’s main opponent, playing the role of the house jailer. Among her actions, the governess not only prevents the little girl from running away, but also insists that Heidi abandon any habits acquired in the mountains. To this end, Miss Rottenmeier seems to want to erase Heidi’s personality, insisting that everyone call her Adelaide (episode 20, 15m58); or ordering the characteristic dress worn by the girl during the first act to be burnt (Frame 10). Finally, these aggressions against the protagonist will provoke Heidi’s illness to break out at the end of the second act and motivate viewers to empathise even more with Heidi and the simplicity and naturalness she represents.
Frame 9: The Sesemanns’ caged bird as a symbol of repression.
Episode 21, 13m40s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
Frame 10: The burning of the dress is a metaphor for the rejection of Heidi’s Alpine origins.
Episode 21, 21m07s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
23The climax of Heidi’s illness begins in episode 32 in a scene in which Heidi plays deliriously alone in front of a canvas with a pastoral depiction of the Alps (Frame 11). At the end of the scene, Heidi is punished for the last time by the governess, who forbids her to speak of the mountains ever again (episode 32, 11m45). This results in Heidi crying deeply (episode 32, 20m05) and unleashing the deepest symptom of her anxiety: sleepwalking.
Frame 11: Heidi’s illness is aggravated by her longing for the Alps.
Episode 32, 10m40s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
24To emphasise the gravity of the situation, the series becomes darker and more mysterious during episodes 32 and 33, featuring candlelit night-time lighting, storm effects and chiaroscuro tinting (Frame 12). This tension is heightened by the fact that the inhabitants of the house believe that a burglar or ghost is leaving the door of the Sesemanns’ house open every night. However, everything is resolved after Doctor Klassen –at gunpoint— discovers that it is Heidi who sleepwalks up to the front of the house (episode 33, 8m21s).
Frame 12: The atmosphere darkens as Heidi gets worse.
Episode 32, 16m04s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
25After talking to Heidi alone, the doctor diagnoses homesickness and recommends to Herr Sesemann that the girl be moved indefinitely back to the mountains: “No medicine can cure Heidi of her homesickness. What Heidi needs is to breathe the mountain air. Otherwise, she may fall seriously ill, and if that happens, you will be the first to feel responsible“(episode 33, 12m45s). With this explicit argumentation, Doctor Klassen —as the scientific voice in the story— validates the Alps as a therapeutic landscape for the first time. However, the concept will be developed in the third act, where two main healings take place: Heidi’s healing and Clara’s healing.
26In Heidi’s case, her improvement is immediate and is perceived through the symbolism of the wardrobe. As soon as she returns, Heidi gives her clothes to Pedro’s mother (episode 34, 20m00) and then runs in her white nightgown to the cottage to see her grandfather (episode 34, 20m54), just as she did in the first episode of the series (episode 1, 13m36). Once she is settled in her home, the theme of illness is poetically brought to a close when her grandfather gives her a new suit identical to the one she was burnt in Frankfurt, allowing the viewer to see Heidi again with the same aesthetics as in the first act (episode 36, 22m33).
Frame 13: Heidi is herself again.
Episode 36, 23m19.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
27As for Clara, the third act devotes more time to her healing, posing it as a process of overcoming obstacles. First, Clara’s visit to the Alps depends on the validation of Doctor Kassen, who will visit Grandfather’s hut to assess the risks of the environment. In this analysis, the series exposes through Heidi, Grandpa and the Doctor how advantageous the air, the sun or the quality of food such as alpine milk are, which inspires Doctor Kassen to approve Clara’s visit to the Alps (episode 41, 22m51). Among her arguments, Heidi openly expresses that Alpine milk is better than Frankfurt milk (episode 41, 18m45).
28Once in the Alps, Clara convinces everyone to move into the Alpine hut instead of the house in Dörfli. This change of plans allows Clara to immerse herself in Alpine life without interference from her governess, participating in the preparation of cheese (episode 44, 14m38s), going on herding trips to the meadows (episode 45, 14m07), or experiencing the feeling of being useful by reading to Peter’s blind grandmother (episode 46, 21m05). These experiences seem to have a positive influence on Clara, who manages to stand up on her own when frightened by a cow approaching her (Frame 14).
Frame 14: Clara begins her healing in the Alps.
Episode 48, 13m54s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
29This unexpected healing could be interpreted as a religious miracle or one granted by the therapeutic landscape, although the discourse of the anime undercuts these expectations. This is seen in the first visit of Doctor Klassen, who expresses that Clara can be cured —albeit with little chance— (episode 41, 16m55s). Similarly, the Old Man of the Alps also explains to Clara’s grandmother that, unlike other disabled people who have no chance of being cured, she can be cured because he himself has noticed sensation and improvement in his legs (episode 47, 16m48s). These conversations are crucial to clarify that, although the fiction argues that the Alps are a therapeutic landscape, it does not grant them the ability to work miracles and cure any kind of illness. In this way, this adaptation moves away from the stronger religious discourse of Spyri’s works (Williams, 2007).
30After this event, the series focuses on the recovery process of the young woman, who will have to try to exercise her legs and overcome her fear of failure. To do so, Clara will count on the unconditional support of Heidi’s grandfather (episodes 49 and 50) who, besides motivating her emotionally, takes care to give her quality food, such as the appetising artisan butter of her neighbours (episode 50, 16m14s); or the milk of her goats —which she improves thanks to collecting the healing fragrant herbs of the Alps (Frame 15)—. These plants also saved the life of Snowflake (episode 15, 21m25), whose owner wanted to sacrifice her because of the poor quality of her milk.
Frame 15: Grandfather collects medicinal herbs from the Alps in areas that are difficult to access.
Episode 50, 17m58s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
31Finally, Clara’s stay culminates with the arrival of Clara’s grandmother and father, who come from the spa town of Bad Ragaz to take Clara to Frankfurt. In this sequence, Clara surprises them by standing up unaided and walking towards them (episode 52, 5m21), provoking a cathartic and emotional scene that allows the characters to leave their hopelessness behind. With this ending, the series does not fully resolve Clara’s healing process, although a daydream of Heidi’s allows us to visualise that Clara will be fully recovered on her next visit (Frame 16).
Frame 16: The Alps as a place to enjoy your health.
Episode 52, 22m01s.
“Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (Takahata, 1974) © Zuiyo Production / Studio 100 Animation / Heidi Productions PTY LTD / DeAPlaneta Kids & Family.
32As for other healings, Takahata’s adaptation does not address the cure for depression suffered by Doctor Klassen in Spyri’s texts (Williams, 2007), but hints at a subtle change in Miss Rottenmeier, who in her final scene motivates Clara during her physical exercises, reminding her that she can soon return to the Alps—a place that seems to have changed even the strict governess—recovered (episode 52, 18m30).
33In conclusion, we can affirm that the artistic resources of the series help to convey the theses of Johanna Spyri and Isao Takahata, where the link between nature and health is highlighted. In this way, the series emphasises the attractiveness of nature in the Alps as opposed to the cities. To this end, the Alps become co-protagonists in the anime alongside Heidi, as her health is indivisibly connected to this place. In this context, the city of Frankfurt is presented as a dehumanised and claustrophobic environment in which both Clara and Heidi seem to live together as prisoners in a golden cage. Thus, the healing of both girls openly presents the Alps as a therapeutic landscape, although in this case, the anime does not focus on the miraculous of its power, but on how these therapeutic spaces have the capacity to improve us and connect us with ourselves, something that seems to destabilise materialism and life away from nature. Therefore, we understand that Isao Takahata and the artistic team of Zuiyo Eizo depicted the Alps as an invisible protagonist. A silent, witness and living “whole” capable of balancing our health.
34On the other hand, from an environmental point of view, it is important to note that the anime raises awareness of the problem of urban development. Thus, although its plot does not promote direct actions to solve this problem, it does encourage an emotional connection with nature. To this end, the narrative takes advantage of audiovisual and dramatic resources to immerse us in Spyri’s work through Takahata’s vision —whose approach, unlike other adaptations, delves deeper into the drama and creates, with delicacy and finesse, a unique universe—. In this way, fiction seems to transform screens into a window from which we can connect with nature and with ourselves. Perhaps for this and other reasons, after 50 years, this handcrafted anime remains one of the most transcendent in the history of animation; and its Alps, a therapeutic icon.