Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16634 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-09-13
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 295 minutes

Synopsis
The 1970's TV series complete with endearingly dodgy dubbing. Re-live the adventures of cute orphan Heidi who goes to live with her grumpy grandfather in the mountains where she also befriends the cheeky chappie Goat Peter. Only when her grandfather begins to warm to his new young house-guest, she's whisked away to Frankfurt to start her education. She's to live with Clara Sesemann, an invalid, and her evil governess Fraulein Rottenmeier.

Customer Reviews

Classic children's tv!
This dvd really does bring back many happy memories! I remember this German tv show (it's dubbed into English) was always repeated on Children's BBC tv during the 1980's.

Although there are no extras on the dvd and the picture quality is really rather poor (the people who released this dvd should have taken some time and effort to digitally remaster the original footage), the charm and memories that this series invokes more than makes up for the lack of quality video and bonus features.

This German series based on the novel by Johanna Spyrie was well acted and produced and filmed in some of the most stunning mountain scenery. It will enchant adults and children alike! I hope they release part two soon!

A good presentation of a beautiful story
This is the history of the small orphan girl Heidi, who grows up with her grandfather Öhi, separated from the people of Dörfli in the idyllic remoteness of Swiss mountains, with General-Peter, and Clara from Frankfurt many beautiful adventures experiences.

A co-production between several international TV countries, three series were made: Heidi in the Mountains, Heidi in Frankfurt, and The Return of Heidi, and they were shown on the BBC in the 1980s (so for people on my age, late 20s or early 30s, this may be a fond remembrance - I tried to find it several times before it came out on DVD in Britain, but could only find it on a 13 videos in Germany). This two DVD set covers the first series and half of the second, and lasts around 5 hours.

The picture quality is as you might expect for a 1970s TV programme, fairly grainy, but the mountains are still beautiful. The sound is obviously in mono, and dubbed (it is obvious that this is a foreign production). If you haven't seen it before, this is a really good dramatisation of the original book.

Why 4 stars? If it were not for the following, I would give it five stars. The picture is grainy (though I wouldn't want it remade), the dubbing has to be ignored at times, there are no subtitles, there are no extras, and there is only one language, English (I would have loved to have heard the actors in their original language, just once).

However, this story should be heard by a new generation, such a change from modern children's television.

Heidi
Yes! another generation is enjoying the simple lives of the folks in the mountains. My daughters have been watching Heidi over the last few days (to string it out!) and I am most upset when they watch without me! They have noticed the dubbing but it doesn't matter they are still lovely stories and will continue onto another generation - hopefully! My youngest cannot wait for Heidi 2 to be released and is now re-reading her book. Thank goodness there are still programmes like this that children can watch and enjoy innocense something not too frequent these days.