Alps no Shoujo Heidi

Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Heidi: Girl of the Alps
Japanese: アルプスの少女ハイジ

Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 52
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Jan 6, 1974 to Dec 29, 1974
Producers: Fuji TV
Genres: Drama, Historical, Slice of Life
Duration: 25 min. per episode

synopsis
Adelheid (called Heidi) is five years old when her aunt Dette, who has raised Heidi since her parents' death four years earlier, takes Heidi to live with her formidable grandfather on the Swiss Alps. Dette has found a promising job in Frankfurt, but cannot leave while still Heidi's guardian. The only relative left is Heidi's grandfather, and in Dette's opinion, he should take some responsibility. Alm-Onji (Alps-Uncle), as Heidi's grandfather is commonly known, has a fearsome reputation with the villagers of Dörfli, as rumors claim that in his youth he killed a man. Now he lives a solitary life with his dog Josef in a cabin halfway up the mountain. However, Heidi quickly wins her way into his heart with her enthusiasm and intelligence, firmly establishing herself in his life. She spends her summer days on the mountain top with the goatherd Peter, whose responsibility it is to take the villagers' goats to the high mountains for pasture, and her winters occasionally visiting Peter's grandmother, a blind old woman whose dream is to one day hear her cherished book of psalms read to her. Alm-Onji's misanthropy prevents Heidi from going to school, of which she has no experience anyway.