Heidi, Girl of the Alps (アルプスの少女ハイジ, Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji) is a 1974 anime series by Zuiyo Enterprises based on the Swiss novel Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning by Johanna Spyri (1880). It was directed by Isao Takahata and features Yoichi Kotabe (character design and animation director), Toyoo Ashida (co-character design and animation director), Yoshiyuki Tomino (storyboard), and Hayao Miyazaki (scene design and layout). Heidi is one of several World Masterpiece Theater titles produced around the "classical children's literature period" (1974–1997), based on classic tales from around the world. Adelheid (called Heidi) is five years old when her aunt Dette, who has raised Heidi since her parents' death four years earlier, takes Heidi to live with her formidable grandfather on the Swiss Alps. Dette has found a promising job in Frankfurt, but cannot leave while still Heidi's guardian. The only relative left is Heidi's grandfather, and in Dette's opinion, h...