The Littl' Bits


The Littl' Bits is a Japanese anime television series with 26 episodes, produced in 1980 by Tatsunoko Productions in Japan. First shown on Tokyo Channel 12, its Saban-produced English translation was featured on the children's television station Nick Jr. from 1991 to 1995 alongside other children's anime series such as Adventures of the Little Koala, Maya the Bee, Noozles, and Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics.
Due to their similar size and naming scheme, the Littl' Bits has been compared to Smurfs.

Synopsis

The series describes the adventures of a race of tiny people who live in a simple village in Foothill Forest. It focuses in particular on a group of children: Lillabit, Willibit, Snagglebit, Chip, and Browniebit. Snagglebit, the spoiled son of the mayor, is enamored of the beautiful Lillabit, but she's best friends with Willibit, the moral role model and main protagonist. Thus, even though they generally get along well, Willibit and Snagglebit often butt heads, especially over Lillabit. Snagglebit usually pals around with the short-in-stature Browniebit, who is something of a coward, and Chip, who idolizes Lillabit's uncle, Dr. Snoozabit, and wants to be a doctor like him.
Another frequently recurring child character is Teenybit, who befriends Scarybit, an ill-tempered, superstitious old woman assumed to be a witch and shunned by most of the other villagers. Teenybit can see that, under Scarybit's tough exterior, she's just a lonely old lady who needs a friend.
The children are watched over by, and often scolded by, the older Littl' Bits including the doctor Dr. Snoozabit, the wood-cutter Chopabit, the baker Bakeabit, Willibit's father Grumpabit, Helpabit, the elder Elderbit, Mayor Bossabit, and others. Snoozabit has a tendency to drink too much, forcing his young niece, Lillabit, to watch out for him and do her best to keep him on the right track.
Dr. Snoozabit has raised Lillabit since her infancy, and has always told her that her birth parents died shortly after she was born. Not having a mother and father around occasionally depressed Lillabit, especially when she observed her friends having fun with their parents. However, in the second-to-last episode of the series, it was revealed that Lillabit's parents were in fact alive and were "Wanderbits". In the end, the villagers decided to allow them to stay in Foothill Forest, and Lillabit and her parents were joyously reunited - just in time for a devastating earthquake to ravage Foothill Forest in the final episode, forcing the villagers to band together to rebuild.
When they're not involved in politics, the children spend much of their time exploring and interacting with the animals of the forest, both friendly and unfriendly, including raccoons, bears, bullfrogs, squirrels, fish, and horses. Lillabit can even speak directly with animals. They often take advantage of their animal friends for transportation, particularly Snuffly the flying squirrel and Blue the hedgehog.
The show espoused harmony between human beings and the animal kingdom. The plot in every episode of the show had an important lesson for the young audience - amongst the important issues which were addressed in the series, were responsibility, patience, prejudice, hard work and the value of family and friends.

Regional releases

A few episodes of the show were released on VHS in the early 1990s; one of these tapes, called Litt'l Friends, is still available on Amazon. Three DVDs containing two episodes each were released in the United Kingdom by Boulevard Entertainment, and DVDs of the Italian and Arabic versions are also available.

Characters

The Children

  1. "The Children's Festival" - Snagglebit tries to sabotage Willibit's chances of becoming King of the Children's Festival so that he can be King to Lillabit's Queen.
  2. "Doctor Snoozabit" - Chip idolizes Lillabit's Uncle Snoozabit and demands to become his assistant.
  3. "The Old Mill Stream" - The mill stream has dried up, preventing the Bakerbits from making goodies for a wedding, and the children investigate the cause.
  4. "The Rainbow Firefly" - Against the adults' orders, the children sneak into a cave in hopes of seeing the fabled Rainbow Firefly.
  5. "Election Day" - It's mayoral election day, but when no one shows up at the polls to re-elect his father mayor, Snagglebit becomes distraught and runs away.
  6. "Scarybit the Witch" - The children have been warned to keep clear of the mysterious old woman Scarybit, but Teenybit's curiosity gets the better of her.
  7. "Winter Strawberries" - Lillabit, Chip and Browniebit fall into a deathlike coma after drinking some tainted water, and Willibit and Snagglebit set out in search of the legendary Winter Strawberries, said to be the only thing that can revive their friends.
  8. "The Snow Woman" - When a kite-flying mishap sends Lillabit sailing away into the mountains, Willibit goes to rescue her, and the children encounter the legendary Snow Woman, who, according to legend, kidnaps disobedient children.
  9. "Save the Raccoon!" - Willibit and friends play in a hockey game to save the life of a young raccoon.
  10. "Madame Bella the Weaver" - Lillabit stands the best chance of succeeding Madam Bella as head weaver, and Bella's jealous granddaughter, Rosiebit, is determined to make sure that doesn't happen.
  11. "The Baby Bears" - Lillabit befriends a young bear cub who is separated from his mother, but the rest of the villagers are scared of the bear.
  12. "Looking at the Stars" - The children's plans to erect a telescope on the sacred Mount So-High are discouraged by their parents and the village elders.
  13. "Poor Old Helpabit" - Helpabit's special honey recipe is supposed to help the mayor win the village tasting contest, but when the recipe appears to fail, Helpabit decides to leave the village in disgrace.
  14. "Storm Baby" - Lillabit falls into a deep depression over her deceased mother's absence, especially when she observes her friends with their mothers.
  15. "The Mystical Monument" - Tired of being called a coward, Browniebit enters the Mystical Monument in search of a magical white feather said to bring the holder great courage.
  16. "Help the Squirrel" - Willibit and Snagglebit injure a squirrel for stealing their picnic lunch, only to discover that she is a mother squirrel trying to feed her hungry brood. When the squirrel develops a dangerously high fever, the remorseful boys trek into the mountains for ice to save her life.
  17. "The Legend of Red Light" - Elderbit tells the children a story about a demonic red light in the quarry that allegedly causes cave-ins, and the children set out to see it for themselves.
  18. "The Cowardly Colt" - The children embark on a journey to see horses after hearing about them from Dr. Snoozabit, and end up helping a timid young colt find his inner courage.
  19. "The Strange Egg" - The children find a mysterious large egg, but Willibit's parents won't let him keep the egg at his house. While carting the egg back into the forest, the kids must protect it from a hungry weasel.
  20. "Let's Go to the Sea, Part 1" - After hearing Elderbit's stories about the sea, the boys plan to journey to see it for themselves. They exclude Lillabit because she's a girl, but she's not about to be left behind.
  21. "Let's Go to the Sea, Part 2" - As the children continue their journey to the sea, their worried parents send out a search party to find them.
  22. "The Red Rainbow" - Seeing a red rainbow in the sky after a fierce thunderstorm, Scarybit decides to take an offering of fruit to Starlight Lake to appease the angry forest spirits.
  23. "Earthquake!" - Snuffly the flying squirrel runs away after being scolded by Lillabit for interfering with the children's games, and while Lillabit, Willibit and Dr. Snoozabit are searching for him, an earthquake strikes.
  24. "Forget-Me-Nots" - Susiebit's mother is deathly allergic to Mayor Bossabit's forget-me-not garden, so when the garden is mysteriously destroyed, Susie is the natural suspect - or is she?
  25. "The Wanderbits" - Everyone wonders who the mysterious strangers are who showed up one day in Foothill Forest, and why Lillabit's uncle is taking such an interest in them. When the strangers' identity is revealed, it sends shock waves through the village.
  26. "Awful, Awful Days" - Lillabit has been joyously reunited with her parents, but a tragedy of epic proportions is around the corner, and the mountainside cave Grumpabit has been digging may be the only safe place.

    Cast

Japanese Cast

NOTE: It is often mistakenly believed by Westerners that the Japanese "Belfy" and the English "Willibit" are the same character, and that the Japanese "Lillibit" and the English "Lillabit" are the same character. In fact, "Belfy" is the name of the female, not the male, lead of the series in the original Japanese, and "Lillibit" is the male, not the female, lead. This can be confirmed by consulting the English-language section of Tatsunoko Productions' Website.

English Cast

Japanese Version
English Version