Maple Town Episode 2 Commentary

Now without further ado, let's move onto the next episode of Maple Town!

Maple Town Episode 2
English Dub Title: The Stolen Necklace
Japanese Title:  "Nerawareta kubikazari" (ねらわれた首飾り)
Spanish Dub Title:  El Robo Del Collar


This episode continues to build up on the previous episode as it introduces many of the children of Maple Town; in the first episode, we met Patty Rabbit and her family along with Bobby Bear.  More characters get introduced, namely because this episode deals with Patty's first day in Maple Town's school.

The episode opens with Patty Rabbit waking up in her new home and being excited because it's the first day of school.  I'm not sure whether this episode takes place the day after the first episode or a few days after as the English dub never says.  Anyway in her excitement, Patty rushes to wake up her sister Rachel, who's upset about being awakened since it's still too early.  Patty rushes downstairs to the kitchen where her mother and little brother Ricky are.  We learn it's so early that Mrs. Rabbit hasn't even started breakfast yet.  

The Mysteries of Maple Town Part 2: Palm Town

There are more mysteries about Maple Town that I have yet to solve.

Maple Town actually had a sequel made.  Some of you here in North America just read that last line and I know what you are thinking.  Maple Town had a sequel?  Yes, it did.

Many out there, like myself, never even knew of this sequel until years later with the Internet coming along.  The name of the series was Palm Town or more precisely as New Maple Town Stories: Palm Town Chapter - the Japanese title was 新メイプルタウン物語-パームタウン編  or Shin Maple Town Monogatari: Palm Town Hen.  It aired from 1987 to 1988 on TV Asahi in Maple Town's same time slot.

I plan to talk some more about Palm Town in a future blog post and will also have episode commentaries on those.  But now we come to yet another mystery to solve.  

Why was Palm Town never dubbed into English for North America?

For some strange reason, the sequel series to Maple Town, Palm Town, never made it to the USA and Canada.  Some countries though that got Maple Town did get Palm Town; I know the show broadcast in Italy because I watched the Italian dubs.  I did confirm with a Dutch Maple Town fan that Palm Town did not broadcast either in the Netherlands.

Palm Town screenshot courtesy of Maple Town Story Boards

Having watched the Italian dubs of Palm Town, the series isn't as good as Maple Town but still has its own charm.

If anyone out there has information, I'd appreciate hearing from you.  You can comment below or email me at mapletown(at)gmx(dot)com.

That's it for now.

Be sure to check out my blog about my comics series Sunnyville Stories and my webcomic Tiffany & Corey.  If you like this blog, be sure to buy me a Ko-Fi.

Maple Town Episode 1 Commentary

So how about a write-up of the first episode of Maple Town?  Before we continue, I need to emphasize that just as I will be using the English dub names of the characters, I will be using the English dub titles where I can.  I will also use the Japanese episode titles and the Spanish dub titles as well.

Maple Town Episode 1
English Dub Title: Welcome to Maple Town
Japanese Title:  "Kochira dōbutsu taun" (こちら動物タウン)
Spanish Dub Title:  El Senor Conejo Cartero


This episode is essentially a "welcome" episode designed to introduce the main characters, namely Patty Rabbit and the Rabbit family.  Anyway, let's get on with the show.

As the episode opens up, we get some nice camera shots of a steam powered train moving through a dense forest.

As the train moves through the forest, we cut to a shot of our protagonist Patty Rabbit looking out the window of the rear train car.  

Patty Rabbit

Today, I'm going to talk about the protagonist and heroine of Maple Town and its sequel Palm Town.  Her name is Patty Rabbit and is pretty much the iconic character of both series.

Before I go any further, I want to emphasize that for clarity, I will be using the North American English names for the characters like Rachel Rabbit, Fanny Fox, Suzie Squirrel, etc.  Should I come across a character that I'm unsure of their name or if they made it to the English dubs, I will use the best name I can find from the dubs I have.  If anyone out there can help fill in the missing information, comment here or email me at mapletown(at)gmx(dot)com.  Anyway, without further ado, let's get this show on the road.