History Manga / HoneyHoney

It has been distributed as: Honey e il gatto birbone (Italian); Honey Honey (Portuguese, Latin-American Spanish and English); Favo de Mel (Brazilian Portuguese); I fantastici viaggi di Fiorellino (Italian); Las Aventuras de Silvia (Spanish); Les Aventures de Pollen (French); Miodulinka (Polish); Pollen (French); and هني هني (Arabic). Unfortunately the story was cut short because of how poor the ratings were back in Japan, with the production company quickly moving on to ''Anime/LittlePollon'' (which proved more popular), but most of the manga's plot had been adapted, besides a few better subplots. And the series did become rather popular in Europe - two different dubs exist in Italy - and in Latin America, particularly Brazil. An English dub produced by a company called Modern Programs International was shown in the United States from 1984 to 1986 on [[Creator/{{Freeform}} CBN cable]] and a handful of episodes were also released on VHS, making it one of the earliest shojo anime series to reach the States. Even more remarkably, unlike other anime brought to the U.S. in that time period (and the decades since), the American broadcast was uncut and kept the original music (except for [[AlternativeForeignThemeSong new original opening and ending songs]]) and SFX.

* DubNameChange: Honey's name is almost always changed (she's Fiorellino in the first Italian dub, Pollen in French, etc.), but most of the rest of the other characters' remain unchanged. This was inverted in the Mexican Spanish dub instead.

* MeaningfulName: The nuns who raised Honey Honey gave her that name after they found her abandoned in a flower garden, surrounded by honeybees. Carries over into some of the Western dubs as well, with the original Italian calling her Fiorellino ("little flower") and the French calling her Pollen (as in bee pollen).

** Another episode references the tale of ''Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin'', with Phoenix playing Pied Piper to rid the city of its feline infestation (and hopefully attract Lily so he can grab her).

Lilly belongs to Honey, a young orphaned waitress. Phoenix catches up to her and asks her for her cat, her closest companion, and Honey demands 100 million for her while running off in a hot air balloon along with Lilly. From then on, it's all about the wacky chase over all of Europe (and beyond), in a race to retrieve a missing ring, with even more surprises in store for the princess, suitors and Honey & company. These surprises range from encounters with more racial stereotypes, Film/KingKong, the evil Slag, Vikings, and more...

The rights to the series are currently held by Enoki Films USA, although the series has had no American re-release since Sony released some episodes on VHS in the mid-'80s.

* BerserkButton: ''Never'' call Princess Flora spoiled or ugly.

* NamesToKnowInAnime: MIC subcontracted Creator/ToeiAnimation to work on the show (as well as Korean studios like Creator/DaiWon), and thus the credits include many names which will be familiar to fans of '70s Toei shows like ''Manga/MazingerZ''. And the head writer is award-winning screenwriter and novelist Masaki Tsuji, whose anime credits stretch back almost 60 years.

The story begins in Vienna, 1907 (sort of) with vain Princess Flora's ''(actually ''Florel'') nineteenth birthday celebration, where suitors from all over the world are gathered to try to get their hands on her vast fortune and her hand in marriage. The classy masked bandit named Phoenix crashes the party and declares brashly that Flora wouldn't be nearly as beautiful as she is without her ring. Shocked at Phoenix's brashness and fed up with her suitors' motivations, in a fit of rage, she tucks her priceless diamond ring, the "Smile/Star of the Amazon[[note]]depending on the dub[[/note]]", into a cooked fish and chucks it out the window. A little white cat named Lilly eats the fish whole, swallowing the ring along with it. Flora then declares that she will marry whomever can retrieve the Smile of the Amazon and return it to her.

''Honey Honey'', or ''Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken'' (lit. "Honey Honey's Wonderful Adventures"), first a 1966 manga series by Hideko Mizuno, Creator/OsamuTezuka's assistant and one of the first successful female mangaka. Later it was made into a 29-episode anime series by Creator/ToeiAnimation for the Kokusai Eiga (MIC) company in 1981 and telecast on Creator/FujiTelevision from October 1981 to May 1982.[[note]]It did not air in network time on the Fuji network, and ended up airing on Creator/TokyoBroadcastingSystem or Creator/NipponTV affiliated stations, or not at all, in some areas. In the Fukushima and Kumamoto areas, the show wasn't broadcast until 1984.[[/note]] The manga also got a re-release in 1981 to coincide with the premiere of the anime.

It has been distributed as: Honey e il gatto birbone (Italian); Honey Honey (Portuguese, Latin-American Spanish and English); Favo de Mel (Brazilian Portuguese); I fantastici viaggi di Fiorellino (Italian); Las Aventuras de Silvia (Spanish); Les Aventures de Pollen (French); Miodulinka (Polish); Pollen (French); and هني هني (Arabic). Unfortunately the story was cut short because of how poor the ratings were back in Japan, with the production company quickly moving on to ''Anime/LittlePollon'' (which proved more popular), but most of the manga's plot had been adapted, besides a few better subplots. And the series did become rather popular in Europe - two different dubs exist in Italy - and in Latin America, particularly Brazil. An English dub produced by a company called Modern Programs International was shown in the United States in 1984 on [[Creator/{{Freeform}} CBN cable]] and a handful of episodes were also released on VHS, making it one of the earliest shojo anime series to reach the States. Even more remarkably, unlike other anime brought to the U.S. in that time period (and the decades since), the American broadcast was uncut and kept the original music and SFX.

* DubNameChange: Honey's name is almost always changed, but most of the rest of the other characters' remain unchanged. This was inverted in the Mexican Spanish dub instead.

* NamesToKnowInAnime: Most notably head writer Masaki Tsuji.

* PurelyAestheticEra: The AnachronismStew is PlayedForLaughs. It starts in episode one, including Japanese text on a street sign in ''Vienna''.

* BaitAndSwitchCredits: The opening animation, along with the accompanying theme song (at least in Japanese, English, and Italian), suggests the viewer is in for a straightforward ''shoujo'' adventure. At least until Honey crashes into a banquet table while dancing...

It has been distributed as: Honey e il gatto birbone (Italian); Honey Honey (Portuguese, Latin-American Spanish and English); Favo de Mel (Brazilian Portuguese); I fantastici viaggi di Fiorellino (Italian); Las Aventuras de Silvia (Spanish); Les Aventures de Pollen (French); Miodulinka (Polish); Pollen (French); and هني هني (Arabic). Unfortunately the story was cut short because of how poor the ratings were back in Japan, with the production company moving on to ''Manga/LittlePollon'' (which proved more popular), but most of the manga's plot had been adapted, besides a few better subplots. And the series did become rather popular in Europe - two different dubs exist in Italy - and in Latin America, particularly Brazil. An English dub produced by a company called Modern Programs International was shown in the United States in 1984 on [[Creator/{{Freeform}} CBN cable]] and a handful of episodes were also released on VHS, making it one of the earliest shojo anime series to reach the States. Even more remarkably, unlike other anime brought to the U.S. in that time period (and the decades since), the American broadcast was uncut and kept the original music and SFX.

''Honey Honey'', or ''Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken'' (lit. "Honey Honey's Wonderful Adventures"), first a 1966 manga series by Hideko Mizuno, Creator/OsamuTezuka's assistant and one of the first successful female mangaka. Later it was made into a 29-episode anime series by Creator/ToeiAnimation for the Kokusai Eiga (Movie International) company in 1981 and telecast on Creator/FujiTelevision from October 1981 to May 1982.[[note]]It did not air in network time on the Fuji network, and ended up airing on Creator/TokyoBroadcastingSystem or Creator/NipponTV affiliated stations, or not at all, in some areas. In the Fukushima and Kumamoto areas, the show wasn't broadcast until 1984.[[/note]] The manga also got a re-release in 1981 to coincide with the premiere of the anime.

It has been distributed as: Honey e il gatto birbone (Italian); Honey Honey (Portuguese, Latin-American Spanish and English); Favo de Mel (Brazilian Portuguese); I fantastici viaggi di Fiorellino (Italian); Las Aventuras de Silvia (Spanish); Les Aventures de Pollen (French); Miodulinka (Polish); Pollen (French); and هني هني (Arabic). Unfortunately the story was cut short because of how poor the ratings were back in Japan, but most of the manga's plot had been adapted, besides a few better subplots. And the series did become rather popular in Europe - two different dubs exist in Italy - and in Latin America, particularly Brazil. An English dub produced by a company called Modern Programs International was shown in the United States on [[Creator/ABCFamily CBN cable]] and a handful of episodes were also released on VHS, making it one of the earliest shojo anime series to reach the States. Even more remarkably, unlike other anime brought to the U.S. in that time period (and the decades since), the American broadcast was uncut and kept the original music and SFX.

* DoorstopBaby: Honey was raised by nuns after being left abandoned in a basket in a meadow. Lily

* AnachronismStew: PlayedForLaughs. It starts in episode one, including Japanese text on a street sign in ''Vienna''.

* BerserkButton: ''Never'' call Princess Flora her spoiled or ugly.

* AdaptationDyeJob: Early promotional artwork for the anime depicts Honey as a brunette (and Phoenix as blond). She remained a brunette even in some merchandise released ''when the show was already on the air''. In the finished product, she became a blonde.

The story begins in Vienna, 1907 (sort of) with vain Princess Flora's nineteenth birthday celebration, where suitors from all over the world are gathered to try to get their hands on her vast fortune and her hand in marriage. The classy masked bandit named Phoenix crashes the party and declares brashly that Flora wouldn't be nearly as beautiful as she is without her ring. Shocked at Phoenix's brashness and fed up with her suitors' motivations, in a fit of rage, she tucks her priceless diamond ring, the "Smile/Star of the Amazon[[note]]depending on the dub[[/note]]", into a cooked fish and chucks it out the window. A little white cat named Lilly eats the fish whole, swallowing the ring along with it. Flora then declares that she will marry whomever can retrieve the Smile of the Amazon and return it to her.

It has been distributed as: Honey e il gatto birbone (Italian); Honey Honey (Portuguese, Latin-American Spanish and English); Favo de Mel (Brazilian Portuguese); I fantastici viaggi di Fiorellino (Italian); Las Aventuras de Silvia (Spanish); Les Aventures de Pollen (French); Miodulinka (Polish); Pollen (French); and هني هني (Arabic). Unfortunately the story was cut short because of how poor the ratings were back in Japan, but most of the manga's plot had been adapted, besides a few better subplots. And the series did become rather popular in Europe - two different dubs exist in Italy. An English dub produced by a company called Modern Programs International was shown in the United States on [[Creator/ABCFamily CBN cable]] and a handful of episodes were also released on VHS, making it one of the earliest shojo anime series to reach the States. Even more remarkably, unlike other anime brought to the U.S. in that time period (and the decades since), the American broadcast was uncut and kept the original music and SFX.

* BelligerentSexualTension: Between Honey and Phoenix.

''Honey Honey'', or ''Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken'' (lit. "Honey Honey's Wonderful Adventures"), first a 1966 manga series by Hideko Mizuno, Creator/OsamuTezuka's assistant and one of the first successful female mangaka. Later it was made into a 29-episode anime series by Creator/ToeiAnimation for the Kokusai Eiga (Movie International) company in 1981 and telecast on Creator/FujiTelevision from October 1981 to May 1982.[[note]]Although Fuji TV broadcast the series, it did not air in network time on Fuji TV affiliates, and aired on affiliates of other broadcasters such as [[Creator/TokyoBroadcastingSystem TBS]] or [[Creator/NipponTelevision Nippon TV]] in some cities. In fact, the show didn't even air in some areas until as late as 1984![[/note]] The manga also got a re-release in 1981 to coincide with the premiere of the anime.

''Honey Honey'', or ''Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken'' (lit. "Honey Honey's Wonderful Adventures"), first a 1966 manga series by Hideko Mizuno, Creator/OsamuTezuka's assistant and one of the first successful female mangaka. Later it was made into a 29-episode anime series by Creator/ToeiAnimation for the Kokusai Eiga (Movie International) company in 1981 and telecast on Creator/FujiTelevision from October 1981 to May 1982.[[note]]Although Fuji TV broadcast the series, it did not air in network time on Fuji TV affiliates, and aired on affiliates of other broadcasters such as [[Creator/TokyoBroadcastingSystem TBS]] or [[Creator/NipponTelevision Nippon TV]] in some cities.[[/note]] The manga also got a re-release in 1981 to coincide with the premiere of the anime.

* DoorstopBaby: Honey herself. Actually a variation on this trope, as Honey is left not at someone's door but in a field in the springtime, surrounded by honeybees -- which is where she got her name from -- and subsequently brought up in a (presumably Catholic) convent. Her cat Lily was also abandoned, and as Honey explains in the first episode, that's why she and her cat are so close.

''Honey Honey'', or ''Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken'' (lit. "Honey Honey's Wonderful Adventures"), first a 1966 manga series by Hideko Mizuno, Creator/OsamuTezuka's assistant and one of the first successful female mangaka. Later it was made into a 29-episode anime series by Creator/ToeiAnimation for the Kokusai Eiga (Movie International) company in 1981 and telecast on Creator/FujiTelevision from October 1981 to May 1982.[[note]]Although Fuji TV broadcast the series, it did not air in network time on Fuji TV affiliates, and aired on affiliates of other broadcasters such as [[Creator/TokyoBroadcastingSystem TBS]] or [[Creator/NipponTelevision Nippon TV]] in some cities.[[/note]]

* BreakingTheFourthWall: One of ''many'' examples, from episode 6.
-->'''Gustav:''' Here's a surprise, Phoenix! My new laser ray!\\
'''Princess Flora:''' [[AnachronismStew I didn't know lasers had been invented already]]!\\
'''Gustav:''' They haven't, but in cartoons, anything is possible.
* CrazyCatLady: Hamelin in episode six is a Crazy Cat ''Town'', with the townspeople, having had their children lured away by [[Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin the famous Pied Piper]], substituting cats for children.

''Honey Honey'', or ''Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken'' (lit. "Honey Honey's Wonderful Adventures"), first a 1966 manga series by Hideko Mizuno, Creator/OsamuTezuka's assistant and one of the first successful female mangaka. Later it was made into a 29-episode anime series by Creator/ToeiAnimation for the Kokusai Eiga (Movie International) company in 1981 and telecast on Creator/FujiTelevision from October 1981 to May 1982.[[note]]Although Fuji TV broadcast the series, it did not co-produce the series, and thus it was not a Fuji TV network show, airing on [[Creator/TokyoBroadcastingSystem TBS]] or [[Creator/NipponTelevision Nippon TV]] affiliates in some markets.[[/note]]

It has been distributed as: Honey e il gatto birbone (Italian); Honey Honey (Portuguese, Latin-American Spanish and English); Favo de Mel (Brazilian Portuguese); I fantastici viaggi di Fiorellino (Italian); Las Aventuras de Silvia (Spanish); Les Aventures de Pollen (French); Miodulinka (Polish); Pollen (French); and هني هني (Arabic). Unfortunately the story was cut short because of how poor the ratings were back in Japan, but most of the manga's plot had been adapted, besides a few better subplots. And the series did become rather popular in Europe - two different dubs exist in Italy. An English dub produced by a company called Modern Programs International was shown in the United States on [[Creator/ABCFamily CBN cable]] and a handful of episodes were also released on VHS, making it one of the earliest shojo anime series to reach the States.

The rights to the series are currently held by Enoki Films USA.

* AnachronismStew: PlayedForLaughs

* BreakingTheFourthWall

* GagDub: Particularly the Portugeuse dub, but the original Japanese is equally silly.

* NamesToKnowInAnime: This series is a rare ''shoujo'' project for series director Takeshi Shirato, whose extensive resume as an animator and/or director includes monster action hits like ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'', ''Anime/MazingerZ'' and ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato''. Masaki Tsuji, the head writer for the anime, is an award-winning screenwriter and acclaimed mystery novelist.

Literally "Honey Honey's Wonderful Adventures", first a 1966 manga series by Hideko Mizuno, Creator/OsamuTezuka's assistant and one of the first successful female mangaka. Later it was made into a 29-episode anime series by Creator/ToeiAnimation for the Kokusai Eiga (Movie International) company in 1981 and telecast on Creator/FujiTelevision from October 1981 to May 1982.[[note]]Although Fuji TV broadcast the series, it did not co-produce the series, and thus it was not a Fuji TV network show, airing on [[Creator/TokyoBroadcastingSystem TBS]] or [[Creator/NipponTelevision Nippon TV]] affiliates in some markets.[[/note]]