The Adventures of Christopher Columbus (Les aventures de Christophe Colomb) is a one-hour 1992 French-Japanese historical anime film directed by Thibaut Chatel and Yorifusa Yamaguchi, and produced by AB Productions. It premiered in the AB Productions kids show Club Dorothée on the French TF1 channel on Christmas Day 1992 then had a VHS release.
The film was made for the 500th anniversary of the first expedition of Christopher Columbus (voiced in French by Daniel Beretta) to The Americas and offers a fictionalization/dramatization of it.
See also 1492: Conquest of Paradise and Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, which were made the same year to commemorate the events. Not related to either the 1992 anime series
produced by Nippon Animation and Mondo TV or The Magic Voyage.
The Adventures of Christopher Columbus provides examples of the following tropes:
- Anachronism Stew: The pirates who attack the expedition after their departure from Spain have a Jolly Roger as figurehead. Such symbolism didn't exist in 1492, not until the early 18th century in the late Golden Age of Piracy.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Don Talavera is an Obviously Evil nobleman who will stop at nothing to ruin Columbus' expedition.
- Artistic License – History:
- The Real Life chief mate of Columbus was named Martín Alonso Pinzón, not Rodrigo. And he had no need for either an Eyepatch of Power or a peg leg. Rodrigo rather comes of as a stereotypical fictional pirate (minus the actual piracy) from The Golden Age of Piracy, which wouldn't start until over a century and a half after 1492.
- There was no aristocrat like Don Talavera conspiring to have Columbus' expedition fail.
- Columbus' expedition had no Tagalong Kid.
- The expedition was never boarded by pirates, much less so pirates resembling the stereotypical ones of The Golden Age of Piracy (1492 was quite far removed in time from the latter).
- Boarding Party: The Santa Maria is boarded by pirates when sailing West. Said boarding ends up a failure, notably with Columbus throwing the pirate captain overboard.
- Bold Explorer: Columbus, who else?
- Conveniently an Orphan: Paco is orphan. He brings this up to Columbus to be kept onboard during the voyage, since no-one will miss him in Spain.
- Evil Wears Black: Don Talavera smears Columbus at the court of The Catholic Monarchs and does his best to sabotage the expedition, and he's dressed all in black.
- Eyepatch of Power: Columbus' chief mate Rodrigo wears an eyepatch.
- Fanfare: The opening theme is quite bombastic.
- Flat World: Don Talavera is either a staunch believer in the "flat Earth" theory (pretending people on the other side of the world would live upside-down if the Earth was round) or at least doesn't want to be proven wrong.
- Grayscale of Evil: Don Talavera dresses in black, and his skin is somehow gray-ish to make him even more Obviously Evil.
- Green Around the Gills: The voyage makes Don Escovedo seasick, complete with a green-ish face.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Like Conquest of Paradise, Columbus is depicted as a calm, kindly explorer, and it even amps up the heroic factor. Long story short, it's the direct opposite of his aggressive, greedy and overzealous historical counterpart, who massacred or enslaved some native populations.
- King Incognito: Well, "Queen Incognito". Queen Isabella of Castile secretely visits Columbus before his departure to say him goodbye, wish him to return, pray God to keep him safe and give him a golden pendant. She wears a dark cloak, stays inside her stagecoach and she's accompanied by a jester. King Ferdinand apparently wouldn't approve if she had done it officially.
- Mischief-Making Monkey: Sire Rocco (Rodrigo's pet monkey) helps himself on some of the expedition food reserves even before the caravel leave Spain.
- Parrot Pet Position: Rodrigo's pet monkey, Sire Rocco, often sits on the shoulder of either his master or Paco.
- Pirate: The expedition is attacked by pirates when sailing West.
- Politically Correct History: Columbus is portrayed as the direct opposite of his aggressive, greedy and overzealous historical behavior, and he isn't seen massacring or enslaving native populations (this being a film made for kids doesn't quite help either).
- Really 17 Years Old: Paco lies about being 16 years old when Rodrigo recruits sailors for the expedition, and neither Columbus nor Rodrigo buy it.
- Regal Ruff: Don Talavera wears a white ruff.
- Tagalong Kid: Paco dreams of being captain of a ship like Columbus and admires him, and after being rebuffed from enlisting for the expedition Sire Rocco helps him sneak onboard the Santa Maria.
