Fancy Lala

Fancy Lala, known in Japan as is a magical girl anime series produced by Studio Pierrot in 1998, following an OVA released in 1988. A two-volume manga adaptation by Rurika Kasuga ran in "Ribon". The original designs were created by Akemi Takada, who worked on many of the 80s' Studio Pierrot series. The anime series has been licensed for English release by Bandai Entertainment, and is produced in Vancouver BC, Canada, by Ocean Productions.
Plot summary.
One day, a 9-year-old elementary schoolgirl named Miho Shinohara is given two stuffed dinosaurs by a unnamed stranger. The stuffed dinosaurs come to life and they present her with a magic sketchbook and pen. Within limits, and subject to varying degrees of control, she can draw in the sketchbook and bring the drawings to life. Miho can also transform into a teenage girl, whom she names Fancy Lala. One day, Lala is scouted by Yumi Haneishi, the president of the talent agency Lyrical Productions, and begins the long road to stardom.
Production.
"Fancy Lala" is a complete remake of an earlier Studio Pierrot OVA titled "Harbor Light Story Fashion Lala Yori". It was also influenced by "Mahō no Tenshi Creamy Mami", the story of a ten-year-old Japanese girl granted the power to transform who also became an idol.
"Harbor Light Story Fashion Lala Yori".
The original OVA was very different than the final series, being a retelling of "Cinderella". In it, the heroine, Miho, a little girl who dreams of being a fashion designer, lives with her aunt and three cousins while her father is away on business. The aunt, who runs a dress shop, exploits Miho's dependence and makes her perform deliveries on her bike, while spoiling her own daughters. Of the three, the two oldest are cruel and mock Miho's dreams, but the youngest is nice to her. A local disco is holding a contest to find the next "Disco Queen." Miho is too young to enter, but decides to design a dress for her cousin. When the aunt finds out, she rips up the dress. After everyone leaves, two fairies take pity on Miho and transform her into "Fashion Lala," a sixteen-year-old blonde, so she can enter the contest herself. While performing, Miho's outfit changes into her previous designs, and it seems that she wins. At the end, she returns to a happy life with her father.
The heroine being named Miho and the two fairies, as well as the concept of an "evil cousin", were the only things retained for the final series.
Impact and influence.
Although "Fancy Lala" did not achieve huge success upon release in Japan ("Cardcaptor Sakura" dominated the magical girl genre at the time and provided little opportunity for other magical girl anime to have much of an impact), some of its influence can be seen in later series that also failed to achieve massive success. Examples of these would be "Chance Pop Session" and the more successful "Full Moon o Sagashite".
Internationalization.
"Fancy Lala" was licensed by Bandai Entertainment for English release in 2001, and dubbed at Blue Water Studios. The series has been released on DVD, but is only distributed in region 1 outside Japan. The series was also aired across Animax's various international networks worldwide, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and its English-language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia.
A Filipino dubbed version was also broadcast over ABC 5 in the Philippines. It was also licensed and dubbed for Italian release by Merak Film. The manga is also available in Italian. In Portugal, "Fancy Lala" was licensed to Canal Panda, who dubbed it into Portuguese and broadcast it from 2003 to the end of 2004.