Serendipity the Pink Dragon is a 1983 anime (original title Serendipity Monogatari Pure to no Nakamatachi — "Serendipity Stories: Friends on Pure Island") by Zuiyo Enterprises that originally aired on Nippon Television and was edited into a feature-length movie for U.S. release in 1989 (other countries got the TV series in its entirety, including Canada (in French)). The story follows Bobby (or Kona in Japanese), a young boy who is shipwrecked in the Antarctic. He finds a pink egg and floats on it out to a magical island, where the pink sea dragon Serendipity hatches. The island where she lives is endangered by the threat of humans coming when Captain Smudge realizes there is gold on the island.
The original anime, and the movie made from it, was based on a series of children's books called, oddly enough, Serendipity Books. Each book was designed to deliver a lesson, such as "Enjoy being you," "Treat others the way you want to be treated," and "Not everyone enjoys the same things."
The character designer for the anime is Yoichi Kotabe, a former collaborator of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata who later went on to a long association with Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. and Pokémon franchises.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: And how! The original Serendipity Books were mostly stand-alone stories with different characters and settings (with the exception of a few mini-series here and there). Serendipity herself only appeared in one or two books, the plot of which the anime and movie only follow quite vaguely.
- Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The feature-length English dub keeps most of the Japanese OP animation but uses a different theme song.
- Ambiguous Gender: A baffling example in the English dub, Peela-Peela is referred to as a female in the first half of the movie and a male in the second half.
- Ascended Extra: Lord Winston manages to be both this and Demoted to Extra at once. He gets a lot more screen-time and characterization than in the original story (wherein he was only known as "the Dolphin"), and is a fairly important character, but he's no longer one of the rulers of the sea.
- Because Destiny Says So: The speaking stones' prophecies. Although Prophetic Fallacy and Loophole Abuse often apply.
- Bishie Sparkle: Often with Princess Laura
- But Now I Must Go: At first played straight, then subverted with Serendipity.
- Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Peela-Peela, at first, but then he/she ends up becoming a Karma Houdini.
- Carnivore Confusion: Bobby eats a coconut, but they talk and have feelings...
- Cassandra Truth: Without proof of the island's existence, Smudge is reduced to ranting which is promptly ignored by the other humans.
- Demoted to Extra: The Walrus. He barely appears at all in the film when in the book he was the first character Serendipity met after hatching, helped her to make her journey across the ocean, and was the other ruler of the sea.
- Dinosaurs Are Dragons: The title calls Serendipity a dragon, but the theme song says she's a dinosaur.
- Dub Name Change: Serendipity is known as either Biniky or Dinosabella and Kona (Bobby) as Boubi or Toby, depending on whether you're watching the European French dub or the Quebecois French dub.
- Egg MacGuffin
- Everything Talks: Rocks talk, the fruits on the trees talk, etc.
- Filling the Silence: The dub movie has several songs filling quiet moments and quite a bit of extra speech. It also has additional BGM where presumably there was none in the original version, and it's not hard to tell which music is new and which is Takeo Watanabe's original score.
- For the Evulz: Captain Smudge- "What's that bird doin'? Well, it's a shame I'm in such a foul mood-" *cocks gun to shoot Peela-Peela*
- Gosh Dang It to Heck!: From Bobby at one point. "What the heck was that?"
- He Will Not Cry, so I Cry for Him: Literally true for Princess Laura—because she is a princess and not allowed to openly express her emotions, there is a race of creatures on the island that will do it for her. When she is sad, they wail and produce endless streams of tears; when she is happy, they bounce around joyfully.
- Humans Are Bastards: Humans are the main threat to the island.
- Humans Are Special: ...except Bobby, who defends it and is thus viewed as an exception (eventually).
- Lost World: The island is this to some degree; this is the reason its discovery by Smudge is so exciting to him, and so distressing to its natives.
- Mighty Whitey: Shades of this with Bobby, since the island and its denizens need him to save the day. However Serendipity plays as much of a role, and Bobby's race is never exactly clear despite his pale skin. (Which just makes it a case of Humanity Is Superior.)
- Seadog Beard: Captain Smudge has one.
- Sugar Bowl
- Talk Like a Pirate: Captain Smudge
