Adventures of the Little Mermaid

Adventures of the Little Mermaid (人魚姫 マリーナの冒険) is an animated series produced by Fuji Television in the early 1990s, based on upon the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Little Mermaid.

This 26-episode TV series was originally a Japanese/South Korean co-production directed by Takehiro Miyano and Yun Suk Hwa. The title of the series in Japan was Ningyo Hime Marina no Boken (The Adventures of Mermaid Princess Marina), and the series was broadcast on Japan's Fuji TV network from February to July 1991. As in the 1975 feature-length movie version produced by Toei (with which this series may be confused), the mermaid protagonist was drawn as a blonde in this version and given the name Marina. It also added a new ingredient to the story: a magical whistle given to Marina by the Sea Witch allowing her to shift back and forth between human and mermaid form when blowing it.

Released in America for Saturday-morning and weekday afternoon syndication by Saban Entertainment in the fall of 1991, the series wasn't nearly as popular as Disney's version and faded quickly.

Protagonists:

Marina: The Main Protagonist of the show. After saving Prince Justin of Gandor, she fell in love with him and desired to become human.

Justin: Prince of Gandor and Marina's boyfriend.

Chauncey: Prince Justin's loyal page.

Anselm: Prince Justin's tutor and secretly a sorcerer who was once in love with Hedwig.

Winnie: Marina's sea horse friend. She scream at high pitches causing people to faint.

Bobo: Marina's clown fish friend. He has extensive knowledge of anicent legends.

Ridley: Anselm's sea otter companion. He has a bit of a smart alek attitude.

Antagonsts:

Hedwig the sea witch: The Eel-like sea witch who acts as the main antigonist of the show. She was once a sorceress who was in love with Anselm until her hunger for power forced Anselm to banish her to the sea. She comes up with plot after plot to capture Marina and Justin so she can exchange them for the Amulet of Power.

Duhdlee: Hedwig's dim-witted hammerhead shark lackey. While a bit on the nasty side, he really has a good heart.

Hugo: Hedwig's octopus who acts as her strongman.

Manta: Hedwig's manta-ray. He doesn't speak much and acts as her transport.

Sharks and Barracudas: Hedwig's loyal army of troops.

Prince Lothar: Prince of Brakston, Gandor's enemy country, and Justin's sworn enemy. He usually works with Hedwig.

Voice cast (English-dubbed version)

 * Sonja Ball as Marina & Hedwig the sea witch
 * Thor Bishopric as Prince Justin
 * Ian Finlay as Duhdlee
 * Arthur Holden as Ridley
 * Gordon Masten as Chauncey
 * Anik Matern as Winnie
 * Aron Tager as Anselm
 * Jane Woods as Narrator
 * Richard Dumont as Prince Lothar
 * Clarissa Burt as Coral
 * Carlyle Miller as Bobo
 * Kathleen Fee as The Queen
 * A.J. Henderson as The King
 * Michael O'Reilly as Additional Voices
 * Bronwen Mantel as Additional Voices
 * Susan Glover as Additional Voices
 * Liz MacRae as Additional Voices
 * Terrence Scammell as Additional Voices
 * Pauline Little as Additional Voices
 * Mark Hellman as Additional Voices
 * Rick Jones as Additional Voices
 * Michael Rudder as Additional Voices
 * Walter Massey as Additional Voices
 * George Morris as Additional Voices
 * Rachelle Cano Opening and Closing Theme Vocals as wells as additional songs used in the series
 * Dean Hagopian as Additional Voices
 * Pierre Lenoir as Additional Voices
 * Dan Lebel as Additional Voices
 * Julian Bailey as Additional Voices
 * Arthur Grosser as Additional Voices
 * John Tarzwell as Additional Voices
 * Norman Groulx as Additional Voices
 * Philip Pretten as Additional Voices
 * Harry Hill as Additional Voices
 * Harry Standjofski as Additional Voices
 * Judi Richards as Additional Voices
 * Gary Jewell as Additional Voices
 * Neil Shee as Additional Voices
 * Teddy Lee Dillon as Additional Voices
 * Vlasta Vrana as Additional Voices

Music
The series uses two pieces of theme music for the original Japanese version. The opening theme is called "Yumemiru Mermaid (夢みるMERMAID lit. Dreaming Mermaid)" and the ending theme is called "Pearl-no Kimochi (パールな気持ち lit. Pearl Feelings)", both by the Japanese vocalist Yumi Hiroki