Creator Backlash: Mizuki and Igarashi have fought legally against each other so much over ownership of the series that they've come to hate it. As of 2006, Mizuki apparently said that even thinking of Candy Candy "makes her feel sick" and "gives her a headache".
Creator Breakdown: Kyouko Mizuki has said that she wrote the Candy Candy manga adaptation as a consequence of the deep effect that her parents' deaths, specially her mother's, had on her:
"I lost my mother when I was 21, then I was all alone in the world. To write the story healed my sorrow. Before I wrote the story of Candy, one thing I decided was, 'Who is her mother is not the theme.' Whoever are your parents, you must accept your destiny and stand on your own feet—I wanted to say so. When I started to write the story, it was two years after my mother passed away. My father passed away at my 12th year, I lived in solitude because I am their only child. Looking back on my years of writing the Candy story, I realize that I healed my pain by writing".
Creator's Favourite: Argiris Pavlidis, the Greek dub voice of many Candy♡Candy characters, stated that Terry is his favourite character.
Keep Circulating the Tapes: Thanks to the lawsuits, this is the only way to watch this show in any language. This has led to a thriving bootleg market throughout the territories in which it was previously popular.
There was an English dub for the Philippines, but the only traces of it online are the opening themeand the ending theme, both confirmed to be sung by Kaye Blanca (Under the stage name Candy Kay) daughter of Filipino movie star Nida Blanca.
According to this website, Candy Candy was aired on the Hawaii TV station KIKU-TV with English subtitles (except for episode 79 for some reason), from 1978 to 1980, making it extremely unlikely footage of these airings survive.
It also aired on the Czech TV channel Premiéra (nowadays known as TV Prima since 1997) in 1995 and re-ran in 1996 before never being aired for good, likely due to the legal ownership issues of the franchise.
No Export for You: Despite the show's incredible popularity in Europe, Latin America, French Canada, and Africa, and despite being set in the United States, the show never ran in America. There was an American dub produced in the early 80s by Ziv International, but it was rather poorly done and was stopped after the first couple of episodes. Thanks to the legal issues that have held up the show even in its homeland, it's unlikely anyone will try a second time.
Short Run in Peru: The English dub (made by Nippon Columbia) aired in Lithuania, around the 90s but has yet to be shown in the US.
Trivia
Candy Candy was inspired by a Canadian novel called Anne of Green Gables written by L. M. Montgomery. Kyoko Mizuki, Candy Candy's writer, read the novel when she was only 10 years-old. Anne of Green Gables was also very popular in the 80's thanks to Akage no Anne, the anime version of the novel that was broadcast in many countries. The story is about an orphan girl named Anne Shirley, and both Candy Candy and Anne share many things in common.
In the early 1990s, the Candy Candy franchise was in turmoil, as co-creators Kyouko Mizuki and Yumiko Igarashi, along with Toei Co. Ltd., battled over the legal ownership of the title. Igarashi was producing Candy Candy material without the consent of Mizuki or Toei. In 1998, Mizuki brought her case to a Tokyo district court to prove that she has equal rights of ownership of the Candy Candy title. As a result, the anime has not been broadcast in any country since 1998. Mizuki was eventually awarded ¥29,500,000 as compensation for the emotional stress she endured.
Toei left the show with an incomplete VHS release of eight VHS tapes.
The first VHS tape had episodes 1, 5, and 12.
The second VHS tape had episodes 22, 23, and 24.
The third VHS tape had episodes 25, 26, and 29.
The fourth VHS tape had episodes 30, 31, and 32.
The fifth VHS tape had episodes 36, 37, and 38.
The six VHS tape had episodes 39, 40, and 41.
The seventh VHS tape had episodes 42, 43, and 44.
The eighth and final VHS tape had episodes 45, 46, and 47.
about Hello! Sandybell but used a screenshot from Candy♡Candy. The error is still up to this day.