A 1981 World Masterpiece Theater anime based on the book The Swiss Family Robinson, about a family which gets stuck on a tropical island after a shipwreck and have all sorts of adventures there.
While there, they build a huge treehouse. As they explore the island, they find out they're not the only ones stuck there.
Features theme songs sung by Keiko Han, though she doesn't have a voice role in the series.
This was one of the few World Masterpiece Theater series to air in the United States, premiering on Christian Broadcasting Network's Family Channel (now Freeform) in 1989. Years later, both this and Tales of Little Women aired at the same time during the late 2000s/mid 2010s when TBN's channel Smile of a Child used to be part of it (This originally aired 10 PM/ 7PM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but switched to Tuesdays and Thursdays). It's now released digitally on Amazon.
Now with a character page that needs some wiki love.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Name Change:
- Mr. Robinson's first name is changed from "William" to "Ernest" (this actually is the name of one of the children in the novel).
- Mrs. Robinson's name changed from "Elizabeth" to "Ana".
- And the Adventure Continues: The final Episode has the family settling in Australia, where they are reunited with Emily, and Mr. Robinson starts his work in the hospital. Emily announces her intention to become a nurse and promises to keep in touch with Fritz.
- Apocalyptic Log: The diary of Eric Bates, found by the Robinsons next to his skeleton, he was a fellow castaway who lived on the island before getting sick with malaria and eventually succumbed to the disease.
- Artistic License – Gun Safety: Averted Trope, the rifles are handled with absolute care by the parents and Fritz, at one point when Mrs. Robinson is practicing how to hold a rifle Becca playfully stands in front of her aim and gets scolded by her by telling her that even if the rifle is unloaded, guns are still dangerous.
- Big Friendly Dog: Brewster, the St. Bernard who used to be the captain's dog. Although Jack was initially afraid of him they quickly become friends and he ends up becoming the family's dog.
- Canon Foreigner: Flone/Rebecca was added as the only girl of the Robinson's children, in the novel they're all boys.
- Chekhov's Volcano: In the last quarter of the series the volcano on the island starts awakening, producing intense earthquakes. All which drive the Robinsons, Mr. Morton and Tom-Tom to abandon the island and try to reach Australia.
- Con Man: The Robinsons encounter one during their trip from Switzerland to England, who claims to be a music expert and butters up to Flone by telling her she has singing talent, and then tries to scam money out of the father. He's later exposed as a fraud by one of the passengers who happened to be an actual opera star.
- Developing Doomed Characters: The first six episodes focus on the family's doomed trip to Australia, and we see several subplots involving other passengers, like the parents of Fritz's friend, Emily, wanting to separate, the Government official that tries to humiliate Mr. Robinson but later has to eat humble pie when his wife has to give birth and Mr. Robinson is the only available doctor. All these for naught since we later learn that the Robinsons and Emily were the only survivors of the shipwreck.
- Deserted Island
- Due to the Dead: Used three times:
- First when the Robinsons find the Captain's body (who saved Fritz life), and make a funeral for him with Brewster howling the loss of its master.
- After finding Eric Bates' skeleton, the family decides to properly bury him next to the Captain.
- When pushing their new boat into the sea, the donkey gets terribly ill and dies due to exhaustion and old age, and the Robinsons, Mr. Morton and Tom-Tom make a funeral for it burying it next to the other humans.
- Dub Name Change: In the U.S. dub, Flone is renamed "Becca". The Italian dub simply shortens her name to "Flo."
- A bit inverted with Fritz: while the Japanese original renamed him as "Franz", the U.S. dub became recursive in naming him back to Fritz to make it more compatible with the original novel.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: They certainly do, and by the final episode, they have settled in Australia.
- Emergency Food Supply Animal: During their voyage from the island to Australia, as their supplies dwindle, Mr. Morton suggests eating the animals, starting with the chickens and then the goats, much to Becca's objections; fortunately the chickens had just laid a few eggs that they can eat.
- From Bad to Worse: Jack getting sick with malaria has Mrs. Robinson and Flone desperately taking care of him, with Mr. Robinson and Fritz scouring the island in search for a cinchona tree which is his only hope, then things get worse when Mrs. Robinson also gets the disease.
- Foreshadowing: At one point in the show, Mrs. Robinson tells Becca and Jack that sugar helps boost energy and it can be eaten whenever there's no other food or drink left. It turns out that advice would become very useful in Episode 51 where the Robinsons, Mr. Morton and Tam-tam were saved from starvation by eating honey.
- Good Parents: Both Mr. and Mrs. Robinson and very dedicated and loving to their three children.
- Jerkass Has a Point: When the family starts making plans to leave the island conflict ensue when Mr. Morton is adamant on leaving behind the animals and Becca opposing it. However Mr. Morton rightfully points out that success in reaching Australia is by no means guaranteed, the trip will take several days and that load capacity and weight is limited in their small boat, and that they also will need to bring extra food for the animals. Even the parents have to agree that he is making a good point. In the end Becca devises a plan to carry the animals with a reduced impact on space and feed them with milk during the voyage.
- Lens Flare: OP
- Locked in a Room: Becca does this to Emily's parents, in order for them to sort out their issues, during the voyage to Australia.
- Mama Bear: When Fritz and Mr. Robinson go on an exploring trip of the island for several days, one night the rest of the family is attacked by a pack of jackals, and Mrs. Robinson is the only one to fend them off to protect her children.
- Nature Is Not Nice: Despite the beauty of the island and its abundance of resources, the Robinsons are well aware of this trope, as the island is also the home of a vicious pack of jackals and other dangerous animals. Made more poignant on an episode in which Becca gets lost on the island when she wanders off. And made even worse when the volcano on the island threatens to erupt, causing all sort of intense earthquakes.
- No One Gets Left Behind: In the last quarter of the series the conflict focuses on the parents and Mr. Morton wanting to leave behind the animals when they embark on the ocean to attempt to reach Australia, while Becca adamantly opposes abandoning them on the island.
- Open-Minded Parent: At the beginning Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, are very understanding of Fritz' misgivings of moving to Australia, so they give him a choice of coming to Australia with them or remaining in Bern and pursue his dream of being a musician.
- Sole Survivor: Barring the Robinsons, Emily, the teenage girl who made friends with Fritz, was the only passenger who was rescued from the shipwreck.
- Ship Tease: Fritz and Emily have a lot of this both during the trip to Australia and when they reunited in the final episode.
- Twice-Told Tale
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Several attempts of the family to leave the island end up in failure after an initial promising sucess:
- First when a ship comes near the island and the entire family desperately tries to signal it, only to pass them by.
- Mr. Robinson and Fritz spend several days building a boat to carry the family off the island, after successfully testing its sea-worthiness that very night it gets destroyed by a tropical storm.
