Around the World With Willy Fog combines the artistic talents of a French author, a Spanish production company, Japanese animators and pop music - a strange combination of ingredients to be sure, but it just works.
As an adaptation of Jules Vernes' classic adventure novel, this series is pretty faithful, though it manages to differentiate itself in a few positive ways. While all major plot points remain intact and only names were changed, additions include a spirited sidekick for Mr. Fog's butler and a villain who constantly tries to thwart the heroes. The backgrounds and scenery are gorgeous and detailed, and are well-utilized by the series' diverse locations, although the character animation lacks fluidity, which is unfortunately typical for anime. It has a great soundtrack as well, composed by Mocedades, a prolific Spanish pop group, and it shows, as the opening and closing songs are particularly pleasant ear-worms. (But strangely, for the English dub at least, any mid-episode song is of much worse sound quality.)
As an adaptation of Jules Vernes' classic adventure novel, this series is pretty faithful, though it manages to differentiate itself in a few positive ways. While all major plot points remain intact and only names were changed, additions include a spirited sidekick for Mr. Fog's butler and a villain who constantly tries to thwart the heroes. The backgrounds and scenery are gorgeous and detailed, and are well-utilized by the series' diverse locations, although the character animation lacks fluidity, which is unfortunately typical for anime. It has a great soundtrack as well, composed by Mocedades, a prolific Spanish pop group, and it shows, as the opening and closing songs are particularly pleasant ear-worms. (But strangely, for the English dub at least, any mid-episode song is of much worse sound quality.)