Littl' Bits or Belfy & Lillibit (Cheerful Dwarves of the Forest) 森の陽気な小人たち ベルフィーとリルビット : from the Tatsunoko Productions website - "An imaginary Lilliputian society hidden in the deep forest is depicted in this new series. Belfy is a witty, rompish girl who lost her parents in her infancy and lives with her uncle, who is the only doctor in the woods. Though he is an openhearted and generous man, his habit of drunkenness often bothers Belfy, who does not mince her words in trying to keep him on the right track. Meanwhile Belfy gets on well with Lillibit, a lively boy with a strong streak of curiosity. The two friends have heart-warming adventures as they associate with animals and other aspects of nature around their forest homeland. The tales of this tiny community also develop numerous aspects of human relations in a wholesome manner." there are 26 episodes of Littl'Bits. for a long while it was more or less considered 'lost media' for english speakers; only two episodes were availble on the internet, annoyingly both of which were the only episodes that i already had taped to VHS (they must have aired more often than others? maybe?). now, though, the entire thing can be found on youtube Walter Massey performs the narration in the English-language version of the show (click the arrows to view drop-down content ^^)
characters :
belfy / lillabit - pretty belfy is very cheerful and much loved by everyone in her village. poor belfy has to look after her drunkle since he is so often drunk, but she doesn't let it bother her and honestly, the show doesn't really judge drunkle too hard for his behavior anyway. belfy is more or less happy to come home early to cook his meals and care for him since he has been her guardian so long.
belfy has the unique albility to speak to animals and so is able to enlist the creatures of the forest when there is an emergency. her friends are in awe of this ability
belfy doesn't have a harsh word for anyone; she loves her best friend lillibit, as they are equally brave and altruistic, going out of their way to help both littl' bits and the animals they meet in the forest.
lillibit / willibit - lillibit is the gutsy and popular ace of the littl' bit village. he is always courageous and doesn't hesitate to put himself in danger's way to help others, but he sometimes likes to avoid working with his famiy so that he can go play with belfy. honestly that is pretty much the extent of his character, he is not super complicated.
napoleon / snagglebit - napoleon is the son of the littl' bit's village mayor. he is very loyal to his papa and defends him rigorously against any slights against him or his judgement. he has a tendency to act on impulse, which often lands him in danger. thankfully, belfy and lillibit are always there to rescue him.
napoleon has a crush on belfy, and he is always trying to do things for her and impress her. he is forever jealous of belfy's close friendship with lillibit, and likes to start fights with lillibit for this reason. even so, they are friends and work together when it counts
napoleon can be a bit of a bully to the younger bits, although he is never too mean. as a bb he was my favorite character 100% and he still is, tbh
browniebit - a very small and nervous bit that hangs out in napoleon's group; he tries to stay in napoleon's good graces, but sometimes browniebit annoys him because he is so often scared.
chip - another of napoleon's friends. he wants to grow up to be a doctor like drunkle (hopefully without the drunk part!).
chuchuna / teenybit - lillibit's little sister, a tiny bit as her name suggests. teenybit is the only village kid willing to befriend suspected witch scarybit, so she is more brave than she appears, much like her brother.
dr. snoozabit - belfy's uncle, the village doctor and layabout. he is a good and respected doctor, but would rather be drunk/sleeping. belfy is always fretting over him and trying to get him to function like an adult, but he shows no inclination to change.
episodes :
episode 1 / The Children's Festival -
the littl' bits have a spring festival where the most popular boy and girl are chosen as king and queen. napoleon expects to be elected and makes a flower wreath for belfy, the obvious choice for spring queen. he is very disappointed when lillibit gets voted as spring king.
not content with this decision, napoleon tries to get lillibit out of the way so that he can take his place during the festival. his mischief predictably backfires and lillibit and belfy have to save him
episode 2 / Old Mill Stream -
the stream the bake'a'bits use to run their mill has dried up! the village comes together to help them grind their flour, but the work proves to be too much. lillibit, napoleon, and belfy go on an adventure to find the reason why the stream is no longer running.
episode 5 / Election Day -
it is time to hold an election for mayor of the bit village of Foothill Forest. napoleon is very excited, believing that everyone will be there to support his father, mayor bossabit. in reality, everyone is busy with work and none of them care to run against the current mayor anyway.
when election day comes, voter apathy results in no one showing up to cast their ballot. once he realizes that no one is appearing to cheer on his papa, napoleon becomes extremely upset, thinking that the villagers don't care about the hard work his father does, and decides to run away.
episode 7 / Winter Strawberries -
when lillibit and napoleon go to the lake to join their friends who have gone ice-skating, they discover that belfy, browniebit, and chip have all come down with the mysterious "cold sleep" after drinking some of the water from a hole in the ice.
knocked out and getting colder by the minute, the kids are in real trouble. lillibit and napoleon embark on a serious quest to locate the only known remedy for this rare illness- the legendary winter strawberries!
episode 8 / The Snow Woman -
elderbit tells the gang about the legend of the snow woman, who lures naughty children away and takes them to her castle. belfy confides to the boys about her fantasy of the snow woman's castle and how she wishes she could see it over the mountain. napoleon, wanting to help belfy realize her dream, is inspired to create a giant kite that belfy can ride into the sky so she can see over the mountain. his plan turns dangerous when a storm approaches.
episode 9 / Save the Racoon! -
the kids discover an injured baby racoon while playing in the snow; another group of bit children approach, headed by a boy named Ivan who claims the racoon is his pet now. belfy insists that the animal is wild and needs to be treated by her uncle, which almost starts a fight when the boys jump in to defend her.
rather than beat each other up, the bits decide to have a hockey match to determine the racoon's fate, but belfy secretly releases the racoon, compromising the boys' sense of honor.
episode 10 / Madame Bella the Weaver -
the weaver of the bit village, madame bella, is training the young girls to make cloth; she hopes to appoint one of them as her successor, but her granddaughter rosiebit expects to be chosen. madame bella holds a contest to determine the best girl for the job, but rosiebit worries when she overhears her grandmother say that she thinks belfy will win.
even though belfy doesn't particularly want the job of village weaver, rosiebit is threatened and decides to sabotage belfy's chances of winning. as per usual, this winds up having more dangerous consequences than rosiebit realizes.
episode 13 / Poor Old Helpabit -
helpabit is mayor bossabit's live-in gardener and handyman, and napoleon is very fond of him and eager to help him. when there is a yearly contest to see which bit can produce the best honey, helpabit is sure his old family recipe will be the best. he asks the young bits to help him gather flowers, which napoleon is happy to do, recruiting all his friends to join them. when helpabit is reticent to let the children taste the honey before it is finished, they lose their enthusiasm and leave to go play, much to napoleon's annoyance.
the batch of honey does not turn out how helpabit planned, and, after being berated by bossabit, he leaves the village in shame. it's up to napoleon and his friends to prove that helpabit's recipe didn't fail.
merchandise :
Belfy's Playhouse
Lilibit's Payhouse
links :
Tatsunoko Productions
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