Koalawalla land

Noozles

, also known as The Wonderous Koala Blinky, was a 26-episode anime by Nippon Animation Company that was originally released in Japan in 1984, under the title Fushigi na Koara Burinkī or Brinky and Printy. It depicts the adventures of a 12-year old girl named Sandy and her koala friends, Blinky and Pinky, who are from the extra-dimensional realm of Koalawalla Land. Noozles aired in Japan on the Fuji TV network in its original run from July to December 1984, with reruns continuing until 1987; an edited, dubbed version later aired in the United States on Nickelodeon from November 1988 through April 1993. The show usually aired at 1pm on the weekdays, immediately following another koala themed cartoon, Adventures of the Little Koala. It has been reported that the series has recently begun airing once again in Japan on AT-X.

The series has also been dubbed into French (under the title Les Koalous), Korean, and German.

The series features episode direction by Noboru Ishiguro, best known for his work on the sci-fi anime series Space Battleship Yamato (Star Blazers) and the original Macross series (which became part of Robotech in North America) and layout work by Yasuji Mori.

Plot

One day, 12-yr-old Sandy Brown receives a package containing a stuffed Koala named Blinky that was lost in a shipwreck 38 years ago. Sandy gives the koala a Noozle (another term for an Eskimo Kiss) and it revives him from "magic sleepytime". His first word is "Blinky!!" in response to Sandy thinking out loud what she should name the bear right before she awakens him. They are soon joined by Blinky's sister Pinky, who appears out of thin air soon after Blinky is awakened, and demands immediately that Blinky return with her to Koalawalla Land. Blinky refuses however, and the trio go on to have many adventures together. Blinky is able to sustain himself while living on Earth with Sandy because of the Eucalyptus trees that Sandy's grandmother had planted 38 years ago when her grandfather (who had mysteriously disappeared, just before the ship was lost) told her that he was sending a Koala as a gift, as Sandy's grandmother had expressed that she had always wanted one as a pet.

It takes Sandy some time to determine that the "noozle" is the action that revives Blinky from magic sleepytime. She does this several times without thinking about it, and gets frustrated over the fact that Blinky falls asleep repeatedly (during which time his appearance is similar to that of an ordinary stuffed animal) and stubbornly refuses to awaken until she realizes what she must do to revive him.

Soon, Sandy discovers Koalawalla Land. Koalawalla Land and Earth are twin worlds in parallel dimensions that were linked at the time of their genesis. Unlike Earth, Koalawalla Land is a spherical-space rather than a solid planet, and its "core" is a crystalline tesseral (known simply as "The Crystal Place") filled with brightly colored orbs, which when touched by bare hands immediately entrap that person's essence forever with no escape. These colored orbs are used as a sort of prison-region, as shown when two robbers from Earth (Frankie and Spike, who followed Blinky, Pinky and Sandy through a portal) were apprehended for various misdeeds while in Koalawalla Land. After this, the local koalas decide to never again allow humans into their land, and in fact will imprison one just for being in Koalawalla land. Thus when Sandy visits with her friends, she must wear a koala disguise.

Final Episode

Sandy's grandfather, who had discovered an entrance to Koalawalla Land while in Australia, purposely becomes trapped in the Crystal Place; and when Sandy finally locates him, only his spirit remains within the orb, trapped in a limbo-like state. She is able to communicate with him empathically by placing her hands towards her grandfather's, palm to palm, with only Pinky's protective bubble preventing direct contact with the orb. He informs Sandy that he entrapped himself there because he knew that he would need to live long enough to someday relay to his progeny, the fate which awaited both Koalawalla Land and Earth: in something akin to a conjoined-twin scenario, the two realms were born as one, but would be destined to naturally separate at a time of "cosmic maturity". Unfortunately, they had begun to separate far ahead of reaching this point; and as such, the unravelling of the forces which bound them together, would cause a cataclysmic reaction such as would obliterate both worlds.

The only way to prevent this catastrophe, once the worlds had begun to separate, would be for a skilled "chosen one" to mechanically override and then engineer the separation, via the use of two crystal levers, known as "Wiseman Crystals". Sandy's grandfather had already found one of the Wiseman Crystals, and her father (by the time of the last episode) had unwittingly found the other. It turns out Blinky, now able to see through his amnesia; is the chosen engineer. In the final seconds before Earth and Koalawalla Land destroy each other; the Noozles ascend the slopes of Ayers Rock and place the Wiseman Crystals in a predisposed altar, where they absorb the forces of the impending separation; and allow Blinky to guide the separation of KoalaWallaLand away from Earth in a joystick-like fashion.

Because Earth and Koalawalla Land now exist as completely separate dimensions, Pinky's magic is no longer able to bridge the ties that formerly bound them; meaning Blinky and Pinky must now forever remain in their home, separate from Earth. They are last seen as an image in the sky, wishing Sandy well, and knowing that she has the maturity to live a happy life without them. During the final episode, Sandy's mother also learns the truth about Blinky and Pinky.

Historical background

In 1984, the Tama Zoo in western Tokyo welcomed its first koala, and the government of Australia sent six koalas to Japan as a token of goodwill. As a result, according to The Anime Encyclopedia by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy, Japan went into a koala frenzy and anything to do with koalas became very popular. It was during this "koala-mania" that the Noozles was made, as was another anime, コアラボーイコッキィ(Koala Boy Kokki), which would later be broadcast alongside Noozles on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block in 1988, as Adventures of the Little Koala.

Credits

Production company: Nippon Animation Company Ltd. Original broadcaster: Fuji TV Japanese distribution: Fuji Eight Company Ltd. American distribution: Saban International Services Written by: Nobuyuki Isshiki & Taku Sugiyama with Akira Nakano, Keiko Mukuroji, Mitsuru Tanabe Series Director: Ki-nam Nam & Taku Sugiyama Episode Directors: Kenji Miyashita, Mitsuru Tanabe, Noboru Ishiguro, Taku Sugiyama Character Design: Isamu Kumata Storyboards: Eiji Okabe, Eimi Maeda, Fumio Kurokawa, Katsumi Endo, Kazuyoshi Katayama, Masayuki Hayashi, Noboru Ishiguro, Taku Sugiyama Animation Director: Eimi Maeda, Masaki Abe, Takao Ogawa Art Director: Koichi Kudo Layout Supervisor: Yasuji Mori Original Music: Reijiro Koroku (U.S. version: Haim Saban and Shuki Levy)

Music

Opening Theme: Fushigi Ufufu by Tarako Ending Theme: Shabadaba Dakedo by Toshio Furukawa

Television history

1984-1987: Fuji TV
2007-Present: AT-X

1988-1993: Nickelodeon
1989-1999: Syndication

Characters

Pinky (voiced by Cheryl Chase (early episodes) & Lara Cody (later episodes)/US & Haruna Ikezawa/Japan)

Blinky (voiced by Brianne Siddall/US, Masako Nozawa/Japan)

Sandy Brown (voiced by Heidi Lenhart/US, Megumi Odaka/Japan)

Sandy's Grandma (voiced by Edie Mirman/US, Kumi Mizuno/Japan)

Prof. Alex Brown (Sandy's father, voiced by Gregory Snegoff/US, Sachiko Saitô/Japan)

Kelly Brown (Sandy's mother, voiced by Mari Devon/US)

Mark (Sandy's best friend and classmate, voiced by Michael Ryan)

High Dingy Doo (de facto authority of Koalawalla Land, voiced by Ted Lehmann)

Frankie (voiced by Dave Mallow/US)

Osgood (a Frill-necked Lizard, voiced by Jeff Winkless/US)

Spike (voiced by Jeff Winkless/US)

Benjamin Brown (Sandy's grandfather, an explorer who mysteriously dissapeared 38 years ago during an expedition to Ayers Rock, voiced by Dave Mallow.)

Mark's mother (Owner of the local flower shop, voiced by Edie Mirman)

Mr. Malisse (Sandy's teacher, voiced by Kerrigan Mahan)

Emily (Sandy's friend, voiced by Lara Cody).

Olivia (Sandy's rival at school, voiced by Mari Devon).

Additional voices were provided by Tony Oliver, Barbara Goodson, Lisa Michelson, Robert Axelrod, Wendee Lee, Rebecca Forstadt, Steve Kramer, Dan Woren, Michael Reynolds, Melanie MacQueen, Tony Pope, and Tom Wyner.

Episode list

(*) denotes a title translated from Japanese which is not necessarily the title of the episode given in the US

A Friend From Down Under *
Granny Meets Blinky And Pinky *
Sandy's Birthday Surprise *
She Loves Me Not
Sandy's Three Wishes *
Sandy's Stardom
To Catch Smoky And Louis *
The Art Contest *
Like Father, Like Daughter *
Naughty But Nice *
That Ol' Pink Magic *
Going Back In Time *
Humans Not Allowed *
The Last Caper
Koalawalla Land *
The Mysterious Message *
Commander Blinky *
Cinderella Sandy *
Star Struck *
The Magical Vacations *
Sandy Runs Away From Home *
Travelling Back In Time *
The Magic Show *
Play Acting *
Ayers Rock *
How It All Began *

Merchandise

Books

Noozles: New Friends (1993 Tor Books; L. Spencer Humphrey & Deborah Morse)

Videos

Released from 1991-1994 by Celebrity Home Entertainment

Adventures in Koalawalla Land (120 min.)
Blinky and Pinky's Excellent Adventure (95 min.)
A Day With Grandma (30 min.)
Fuzzy Was a Noozle (95 min.)
Koala Bear Magic (75 min.)
A New Friend (30 min.)
Nuzzling With the Noozles (110 min.)
Picture Perfect (30 min.)
Blinky's Decision / The Last Caper (50 min.)

Bibliography

The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons, 2nd ed.
The Anime Encyclopedia - A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy