History Theatre / TheBlueBird

* GoldDigger: The Rich Ancestor, on Tyltyl's behalf. When he learns that Rosarelle is wealthy, he immediately advises Tyltyl to marry her.

* BlackSheep: Tyltyl's family is quite good-hearted and noble, but there are four less-than-pleasant characters among his ancestors: the Rich Man, the Sick Man, the Drunkard and the Murderer, especially the latter two who try to hit on Tyltyl's girlfriends.

* FirstGirlWins: The first girl of the seven to appear onstage wins. [[spoiler:It's Joy, who has already been featured in the previous play]].

The second most famous adaptation, and the last film version, was directed by Creator/GeorgeCukor in 1976 and was the first-ever cinematic collaboration between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., featuring Creator/ElizabethTaylor ([[Main/LoadsAndLoadsOfRoles Mother, Berylune, Light, and Maternal Love]]), Creator/JaneFonda (Night), Cicely Tyson (Tylette), Creator/AvaGardner, and Russian performers in most of the minor roles. Due in part to the severe culture clash between the Americans and Russians, [[TroubledProduction the shoot was difficult]] and the expensive result (while quite faithful to the play) was widely derided. It bombed at the box office, and has never had a legit video release in the U.S.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfRoles: Four for Elizabeth Taylor (technically three, due to the CompositeCharacter issue).

The anime series, produced by Office Academy with animation by Creator/GroupTAC and Creator/StudioLive, lasted 26 episodes on Creator/FujiTelevision from January to July 1980 and was directed by former Creator/TatsunokoProduction veteran Hiroshi Sasagawa (''Anime/SpeedRacer'') and developed by a team including many veterans of ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'', notably Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Creator/LeijiMatsumoto (Tyltyl and Mytyl even somewhat resemble Susumu Kodai and Yuki Mori in this version). It moved the setting to the then-modern world of [[TheSeventies the late 1970s]] and introduced a number of fantastical elements not present in other versions. This version was conceived as a musical with a number of [[InsertSong Insert Songs]], and was notable at the time for being one of the first anime to be broadcast in stereo. The series was broadcast in several European countries and even in Canada (in French), but no English version exists.

The anime series lasted 26 episodes on Creator/FujiTelevision from January to July 1980 and was directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa (''Anime/SpeedRacer'') and developed by a team including many veterans of ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'', notably Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Creator/LeijiMatsumoto. It moved the setting to the then-modern world of 1980 and introduced a number of fantastical elements not present in other versions. Unreleased in English, the anime was also screened in Italy, France, Canada (in French), and Poland.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The film is set during UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars, and the Tyrolean rebel [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Andreas Hofer]] is mentioned as rallying the people against Napoleon. However, Hofer was executed by Napoleon in 1810, while American surgeon and pharmacist [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Crawford Long]], who is shown as being fated to be born ''on the same day'' as this story happens, was actually born on 1 November 1815, over four months ''after the Battle of Waterloo ended the Napoleonic Wars''.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Tyltyl and Mytyl's family live in a village in a place clearly based on the Tyrol during the Napoleonic Wars (with Tyrolean rebel [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Andreas Hofer]] being referenced. However, the film opens with a sign posted by the royal forest in which Tyltyl and Mytyl go to catch the bird, reading: "No Trespassing by order Rudolph IV". There was a Rudolph IV who was Duke of Austria and also Count of Tyrol, but he died in 1365. This would seem to imply that the country is a fictional kingdom inspired by the Austrian crownland of the Tyrol.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The film is set during TheNapoleonicWars, and the Tyrolean rebel [[HistoricalDomain Character Andreas Hofer]] is mentioned as rallying the people against Napoleon. However, Hofer was executed by Napoleon in 1810, while American surgeon and pharmacist [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Crawford Long]], who is shown as being fated to be born ''on the same day'' as this story happens, was actually born on 1 November 1815, over four months ''after the Battle of Waterloo ended the Napoleonic Wars''.

The anime series lasted 26 episodes on Creator/FujiTelevision from January to July 1980 and was directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa (''Anime/SpeedRacer'') and developed by many ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' veterans including Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Creator/LeijiMatsumoto. It moved the setting to the then-modern world of 1980 and introduced a number of fantastical elements not present in other versions. Unreleased in English, the anime was also screened in Italy, France, Canada (in French), and Poland.

The anime series lasted 26 episodes on Creator/FujiTelevision from January to July 1980 and was directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa (''Anime/SpeedRacer'') and developed by ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' veterans Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Creator/LeijiMatsumoto. It moved the setting to the then-modern world of 1980 and introduced a number of fantastical elements not present in other versions. Unreleased in English, the anime was also screened in Italy, France, and Poland.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The kids get eight sidekicks, for starters!

* DirtyOldMan: The Sick Man, the Drunkard and the Murderer try to hit on girls who are in love with their ''distant descendant''.

* ShipperOnDeck: By the finale, the Light reveals she has been rooting for Tyltyl to end up with Jalline.

* DemotedToExtra: Mytyl is only mentioned in the sequel, since her time to choose her true love hasn't come yet.

* InfantImmortality: Averted. When Mytyl and Tyltyl meet the spirits of their grandparents, they also meet the spirits of their half-dozen dead siblings, all of whom died very young.

* AnAesop: "We'll find it again because now, we know where to look for it, don't we?"
** And in the sequence with the grandparents, we're reminded that no one ever really dies -- but they mostly sleep, waking only when we remember them.

The original play tells the tale of Mytyl and Tyltyl, two poor children. One night an old crone (who resembles their neighbor Berylune) arrives at their cottage and tells the children they must seek the BluebirdOfHappiness for her sickly daughter. She gives the boy a cap with a magic diamond that reveals the true spirits (anthropomorphic personifications) of all things -- including their cat Tylette and their dog Tylo, and those of Sugar, Bread, Milk, Water, Fire, and Light. This band serves as their companions as they venture through many lands and encounter everyone from the spirits of their grandparents to the decadent Luxuries to the simpler but more enduring Happinesses to Father Time himself. The Blue Bird proves elusive at every turn, but upon arriving home it turns out to be their own pet bird, which they give to Berylune's daughter. It flies away, and Tyltyl asks the audience to help them find it again...

A second anime (an hour-long OVA) was made in 1989 by Creator/{{Sanrio}}, featuring their popular characters Kiki and Lala (aka the Little Twin Stars) as Tyltyl and Mytyl.