Zurich (AFP)

What is the common point between Heidi and Super Mario? At first glance no, except for fans of manga and video games that recognize the leg of Yoichi Kotabe, one of the stars of the Japanese animated film.

Heidi, the story of a little girl from the Alps frolicking in the mountains followed by her goats, served as a launching pad for Yoichi Kotabe, eventually opening the doors of Nintendo, the pioneer of video games, who came to recruit him to create and redraw a crowd of Mario characters.

"Heidi" also marked a turning point in the career of its director, Isao Takahata, known for the "Tomb of Fireflies", and its scenic designer Hayao Miyazaki, creator of "My neighbor Totoro", who, with the success of this series of 70s in 52 episodes, joined a decade later to create the famous studio Ghibli.

The Swiss National Museum in Zurich has put the alpine girl in the spotlight for an exhibition until 13 October. And for the occasion, Mr. Kotabe came to Switzerland to tell the genesis of this character of which he had drawn the first sketches.

"I wanted a little girl + kawaii +, cute," said Kotabe to AFP: big eyes, wide smile but also "two little mats" ... fans of the series have yet never seen.

Because when Yoichi Kotabe presented his first sketches, a specialist of the novel "Heidi" pointed out to him that this little girl "was only five years old", "that she lived in the mountains with her grandfather not very convenient "and that this one" would surely not have the time to make him braids in the morning ".

A gum later, Heidi found himself with a short square, a pace declined throughout this series whose first episode was broadcast in 1974 in Japan under the title "Arupusu no shôjo Haiji" (Heidi, daughter of the Alps) .

- Heidi rather than Pippi Longstocking -

The cartoon Heidi, however, almost did not see the light of day. Takahata originally wanted to adapt Fifi Brindacier, the character of the Swedish novelist Astrid Lindgren, who refused the offer of these Japanese that she suspected of being interested "only by money," says Kotabe.

The choice fell on another classic of children's literature, Heidi, a novel by the Swiss novelist Johanna Spyri published in 1880.

The team, drawing notebooks under the arm, then set sail for Switzerland to make scouting cottages and pastures in the small village of Maienfeld, in the east of the country.

"We had little time, and were very aware that we had to collect as much material as possible," recalls the host.

For a month, the team photographed all over the place and multiplied the sketches.

The cartoons directed by Takahata have become known for their concern for realism, attention to the details of everyday life and nature.

"Many people only see (in" Heidi ") a form of entertainment for children," commented Hans Thomsen, professor of art history specializing in East Asia at the University of Zurich, and commissioner of the exhibition, which considers this cartoon as "a work of art" in its own right, both for "its creativity" and "its visual impact".

- "Alpine paradise" -

For the exhibition, he gathered many animation plates, watercolors or sketches of small goats observed by the Japanese animators in the pastures. But also small objects that testify to the success of the series in Japan, including bento boxes, origami kits and fondue cheese with the effigy of the girl.

"The image of Heidi and his adventures in the mountains have strongly marked the Japanese, young and old," spokesman for Switzerland Tourism spokesman Véronique Kanel told AFP, the body promoting tourism in the country .

The directors themselves "never thought" that the series would have such an influence, she says.

The cartoon, exported all over the world, "helped spread this image of Switzerland as a paradise of alpine nature", pushing many holidaymakers to discover the Heidi Valley, she said.

In her village of Maienfeld, everything now recalls the heroine of the hit series: a dedicated museum, tourist attractions, a hiking trail, souvenir shops.

"In Maienfeld, at the time of the scouting done to prepare the cartoon," I was surprised to see that there was almost no visible trace of Heidi "while the novel was published near a century ago, says Kotabe.

But today in this village, after decades of television broadcast of the series, "everything is related to Heidi", fun the Japanese.

© 2019 AFP