View source for 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother

{{Short description|1976 Japanese animated TV series}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox animanga/Header
| name            = 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother
| image           = Haha o Tazunete Sanzenri DVD vol 1.jpg
| caption         = 1999 cover of the first DVD volume of the anime television series.
| ja_kanji        = 母をたずねて三千里
| ja_romaji       = Haha o Tazunete Sanzenri
| genre           = [[Adventure film|Adventure]], [[drama]], [[historical]]
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = TV series
| director        = [[Isao Takahata]]
| producer        = Kōichi Motohashi
| writer          = Kazuo Fukazawa
| music           = Kōichi Sakata
| studio          = [[Nippon Animation]]
| network         = [[Fuji Network System|FNS]] ([[Fuji TV]])
| first           = 4 January 1976
| last            = 26 December 1976
| episodes        = 52
| episode_list    = List of 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother episodes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = Film
| director        = [[Isao Takahata]] <br> [[Hajime Okayasu]]
| producer        = 
| writer          = 
| music           = 
| studio          = Nippon Animation
| released        = 19 July 1980
| runtime         = 107 minutes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = Film
| title           = Marco: 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother
| director        = Kozo Kuzuha
| producer        = 
| writer          = 
| music           = 
| studio          = Nippon Animation
| released        = 2 April 1999
| runtime         = 98 minutes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}
{{nihongo|'''''3000 Leagues in Search of Mother'''''|母をたずねて三千里|Haha o Tazunete Sanzenri}} is a Japanese [[animated]] television series directed by [[Isao Takahata]] that aired in 1976. It is loosely based on a small part of the Italian novel ''[[Heart (novel)|Heart]]'' (''{{lang|it|Cuore}}'') created by [[Edmondo De Amicis]], i.e., a monthly tale (''racconto mensile'') ''From the Apennines to the Andes'' (''Dagli Appennini alle Ande''), widely expanded into a 52-episode epic.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/kidstop/meisaku/marco/marco.html |title=母をたずねて三千里 |website=www.bandaivisual.co.jp |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226132742/http://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/kidstop/meisaku/marco/marco.html |archive-date=26 February 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nipponanimation.com/catalogue/005/index.html |title=Nippon Animation: Catalogue |website=www.nipponanimation.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715225015/http://www.nipponanimation.com/catalogue/005/index.html |archive-date=15 July 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The series was broadcast on ''[[World Masterpiece Theater]]'' (''Calpis Children's Theater'' back then), an animation staple that showcased each year an animated version of a different classic book or story. It was originally titled ''From the Apennines to the Andes''. [[Nippon Animation]], producers of ''World Masterpiece Theater'', adapted ''Cuore'' into a second anime television series in 1981, although this second series was not part of the ''WMT''.

The series was dubbed into several languages and became an instant success in some countries, such as [[Portugal]], [[Brazil]], [[Peru]], [[Spain]], [[Venezuela]], [[Colombia]], [[Germany]], [[Chile]], the [[Philippines]], [[Malaysia]], [[Turkey]], [[Iran]], the [[Arab world]], and [[Israel]]. In some [[Europe]]an and in [[Latin America]]n countries the series is simply known as ''Marco''. In [[Arabic]] the series was a huge success; it was called ''Wada'an Marco'' ({{lang|ar|وداعاً ماركو}}), meaning ''Goodbye Marco''. In [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], the series was called ''HaLev'' ({{lang|he|הלב}}), meaning ''The Heart'' and was popular in Israel especially during the 1990s.

==Plot==
The plot of the series focuses on Marco, a boy who lives with his family in the harbor city of [[Genoa]], [[Italy]] during a depression period in 1881. Marco's father, Pietro Rossi, is a manager of a hospital who dedicates his time to treating poor patients, and therefore the family has financial difficulties. His beloved mother, Anna Rossi, goes to [[Argentina]] to work as a [[Domestic worker|maid]] to earn money for Marco. When the letters from his mother stop coming after an indication that she is sick, Marco fears the worst for her fate. Since his father is too busy working in his clinic and his older brother Tonio was sent to train as a locomotive driver in [[Milan]], he is the only one free to go search for her.

Marco takes his older brother's pet monkey Amedeo and they sneak aboard the Andrea Doria, a ship bound for [[Brazil]]. In Brazil, Marco boards an immigrant ship and arrives in [[Buenos Aires]], where he meets a [[puppeteer]] called Peppino and his family, whom he knew from Genoa. They accompany him to [[Bahía Blanca]] to try to locate his mother.

In Bahía Blanca, he discovers his uncle stole the letters which his mother had sent him. He returns to Buenos Aires and sails off on a ship to [[Rosario, Santa Fe|Rosario]]; there he tries to figure out how to get on a train to [[Córdoba, Argentina|Córdoba]]. Marco's Italian friends collect money and buy him a train ticket. Marco arrives in Córdoba, and successfully finds the agricultural engineer Mister Mequinez. He tells Marco that his mother works for his brother in [[San Miguel de Tucumán|Tucumán]] and gives him enough money for a train ticket. But Marco ends up giving the money to a doctor to save the life of a poor girl he meets. Marco sneaks on the train, but he gets caught and tossed off in the middle of nowhere. A group of traveling [[Romani people|Roma]] rescue him and give him an old donkey.

After a few days, the donkey dies and Marco continues to walk to Tucumán. He eventually arrives to his destination hungry and tired, and finds his mother. His mother is very sick and needs an operation, but she is too weak. As soon as she sees Marco, she regains her strength and manages to go through the surgery successfully.

At the end of the series, Marco and his mother return to Genoa, where the family is reunited.

==Characters==
* Marco Rossi – a 9-year-old boy in search of his mother.
* Amedeo – Tonio's pet monkey, that comes on the journey with Marco.
* Anna Rossi – Marco's mother, who works in Argentina to support the family.
* Antonio (Tonio) Rossi – Marco's older brother, who attends an engineer school.
* Pietro Rossi – Marco's father, manager of a charity hospital in Genoa.
* Fiorina – Marco's friend in Italy and Peppino's second daughter; she assists her father in his puppet theater business.
* Peppino – a man who performs outdoor puppet shows for a living, with his daughters, Concetta, Fiorina and Giulietta.
* Concetta – Peppino's elder daughter, who controls the puppets, also actress and dancer in his puppet show.
* Giulietta – Fiorina's baby sister.
* Francisco Merelli - Marco's uncle, he helped Anna to send money to Genoa.
* Pablo Garcia - Marco's friend in Argentina, a boy with Native American Ancestry living in a slum, thought to be a [[Mestizo]].
* Juana Garcia - Pablo's younger sister.

==Media==
A condensed film was released in the 1980s using edited footage from the TV run. Nippon Animation also re-animated ''3000 Leagues'' as a feature-length film in 1999, with a theme song performed by [[Scotland|Scottish]] pop superstar [[Sheena Easton]] ("Carry a Dream", which was included in her 1999 album called ''[[Home (Sheena Easton album)|Home]]'' that was only released in Japan).{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

===Anime===
{{Main|List of 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother episodes}}

=== Movie versions===
* {{nihongo|'''''3000 Leagues in Search of Mother'''''|母をたずねて三千里|Haha o Tazunete Sanzenri}} is the film edited by the staff of the anime television series. The theatrical release date was July 19, 1980. It was distributed by Toho Towa and screened at Toho Yoga group theater. The running time is 107 minutes.
* {{nihongo|'''''Marco: 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother'''''|Marco 母をたずねて三千里|Maruko Haha o Tazunete Sanzenri}} is the remake film based on the TV animation series which Nippon Animation produced and released on April 2, 1999. The original staff did not participate in the direction and the script applied to the TV series. Moreover, under the influence of group negotiations to demand improvement of the voice actors, the original cast did not participate.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

==Reception==
The series was ranked 81st in a Top 100 Anime list by [[TV Asahi]] in September 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-09-23/tv-asahi-top-100-anime-part-2|title=  TV Asahi Top 100 Anime Part 2|date=23 September 2005|access-date= 2 August 2014|work= [[Anime News Network]]}}</ref> It was also ranked 20th in a TV Asahi list of the favorite television anime of 100 celebrities in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-10-13/japan%27s-favorite-tv-anime|title= Japan's Favorite TV Anime|date=13 October 2006|access-date= 2 August 2014|work= [[Anime News Network]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Anime News Network|anime|436}}
* {{IMDb title|0074002}}
* {{IMDb title|0264837}}

{{Isao Takahata}}
{{World Masterpiece Theater}}
{{Nippon Animation}}
{{Nippon Animation films}}

[[Category:1976 anime television series debuts]]
[[Category:1980 anime films]]
[[Category:1980 films]]
[[Category:1999 anime films]]
[[Category:1999 films]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 1881]]
[[Category:Adventure anime and manga]]
[[Category:Animated films based on animated series]]
[[Category:Anime and manga set in Italy]]
[[Category:Fuji Television original programming]]
[[Category:Historical anime and manga]]
[[Category:Japanese animated films]]
[[Category:Studio Ghibli]]
[[Category:Television series set in the 1880s]]
[[Category:Television shows set in Italy]]
[[Category:Television shows set in Argentina]]
[[Category:Television shows set in Brazil]]
[[Category:World Masterpiece Theater series]]
[[Category:Fictional Argentine people]]
[[Category:Films based on works by Edmondo De Amicis]]
[[Category:Works based on Heart (novel)]]
[[Category:Animated films set in Genoa]]
[[Category:Animated films set in the 1950s]]
[[Category:Animated films set in Argentina]]
[[Category:Anime and manga set in South America]]
[[Category:Fiction about mother–son relationships]]