Koala Anime's Euca-lasting Impact On North America

• Author: Borealis Capps

• Editor: Samantha Ferreira

In Japan, Adventures of the Little Koala and Blinky the Wonderful Koala came, were enjoyed by children, and went with little fanfare. Outside of a singular, later broadcast of Adventures of the Little Koala by IBC Iwate Broadcasting in 1986, the series had little long term impact in Japan.(1) The show’s reception proved to be vastly different internationally, as the shows reached France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Russia, Portugal, and would be particularly popular in several Arabic speaking countries.(2)(3) But nothing would match how it changed the world of American animated television networks forever.

Just six days after the koala's arrival in Japan was delayed, Qantas Airlines launched their first-ever non-stop commercial flight from Australia to America. The idea of putting “a shrimp on the barbie'' had just entered the American lexicon thanks to Paul Hogan just two years prior. His acting in Crocodile Dundee led to a massive box office success, earning more than $8 million in its opening weekend, and $174 million over the course of its theatrical run. The songs "Who Can It Be Now” and “Down Under” were making Australian pop group Men at Work a household name. An entire genre of Ozploitation Films developed to sate the growing hunger for Australian themed movies in North America. Hell, an Australian-themed restaurant opened in the United States and sparked a major franchise to spread across the world.

Suffice it to say, those in North America have no right to judge Japan over its obsession with koalas and Australia at the time.

Nickelodeon was just as aware as everyone else that an Australian frenzy was sweeping the nation. In the 1980s, Nickelodeon had become particularly popular due to its live action programs like Double Dare and You Can’t Do That on Television. In the mid-’80s, the network was looking for just the right cartoons to license to take advantage of, and came across two shows from Japan that had aired a few years earlier. Adventures of the Little Koala and what would become known as Noozles would hit the airwaves in 1987 and 1988, respectively, to massive success. The shows not only helped with Nickelodeon’s main channel, but were also vital in the success of launching its Nick Jr. programming block. While they quickly stopped being rerun in Japan, both shows would continue airing through 1993 in the United States, and even inspired a limited VHS release for Adventures of the Little Koala.

This financial triumph helped Nickelodeon launch its first three NickToons: Doug, Rugrats, and The Ren & Stimpy Show.(4) Indeed, everything from The Fairly OddParents to SpongeBob Squarepants and even Avatar: The Last Airbender owe their existence to two shows that Japan seems to have now mostly forgotten about. Even one of the original koalas sent to Japan, Tam-Tam, outlived both shows inspired by its existence to become the oldest male koala of all time.

Still, if old anime fansites and those who saw them as they aired are to be believed, Adventures of the Little Koala and Noozles were and still are beloved series. Perhaps we’re not clamoring to purchase koala poop necklaces in North America, but our love of koalas and the shows inspired by them lives on in the efforts to find and preserve the original Japanese release of Adventures of the Little Koala.

Works Cited

• "TV Station Network" " Animedia " June 1986 issue, Gakken , p. 58

• Adventures of the Little Koala (TV) - Anime News Network:W. (n.d.). Copyright (C) 2006 Anime News Network. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1044

• Fushigi na Koala Blinky (TV) - Anime News Network:W. (n.d.). Copyright (C) 2006 Anime News Network. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1382

• Banet-Weiser, S. (2007). Kids rule!: Nickelodeon and Consumer Citizenship. Duke University Press.