Trivia / Ringing Bell

• Adaptation First: For anglophone regions, the 1978 film adaptation was able to gain an English dub. However, the original book never gained an English translation, while it's popular in Japan where it's ingrained in Japanese pop culture. It even gained a special exhibit in 2015◊ at the "Kami City Takashi Yanase Memorial Hall & Anpanman Museum" which shows Concept Art and animations cells for the movie, and Yanase's own sketches of Chirin.
• Creator's Oddball:
  • This was the first adult themed work Sanrio did until Aggretsuko in 2016. And even then, it's the only work they made that is very depressing and doesn't end happily.
  • This is the only piece of fiction Takashi Yanase wrote that is rather dark, contrast to his other works like Anpanman, The Rose Flower and Joe, and Mighty Cat Masked Niyandar which are very light hearted.
• Crossdressing Voices: Chirin as a lamb is voiced by a female in both versions. Particularly Barbara Goodson in the English dub and Minori Matsushima in the original Japanese version.
• Colbert Bump: The film alongside the book has gained a small following after "Steve Reviews" made a video discussing the film in May 2019. Years earlier, Media Hunter made a review for the movie back in August 2011.
• No Export for You: While the movie was released in Japan, United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the original book was never given an official English translation or released outside of Japan.
• Uncredited Role:
  • In the original VHS release, Barbara Goodson was not credited as the voice of young Chirin.
  • In the English dub, the voice actors who provided the voices of animals that were never given a speaking role (such as an owl, a group of bats, and the unnamed lambs from Chirin's flock) are uncredtied.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In earlier promotional material and rare merchandise from 1976. Chirin was originally going to wear a pink bow around his neck before it was changed to a bell collar in 1977.
  • During the film's production between 1976 and 1977, earlier Concept Art and merch promoting the film sometimes depicted Chirin with Black Bead Eyes which was carried over to the 1977 comic adaptation by Lyrica Magazine.
  • The Lyrica graphic novel is based on the storyboard for the film, which is drastically different from the final product.

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