The Littl' Bits (森の陽気な小人たち ベルフィーとリルビット Mori no Yōki na Kobitotachi: Berufi to Rirubitto, "Cheerful Dwarves of the Forest: Belfy and Lillabit") is a Japanese anime television series with 26 episodes, produced in 1980 by Tatsunoko Productions in Japan. First shown on TV Tokyo (then called Tokyo 12 Channel), its Saban-produced English translation was featured on the children's television station Nick Jr. from 1991 to 1995 alongside other children's anime series such as Adventures of the Little Koala, Maya the Bee, Noozles, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, and Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics.
Due to their similar size and naming scheme, an analogy is often drawn between the Littl' Bits and the Smurfs.
The series describes the adventures of a race of tiny people who live in a simple village in Foothill Forest. It focuses in particular on a group of children: Lillibit, Willibit, Snagglebit, Chip, and Browniebit. Snagglebit, the spoiled son of the mayor, is enamored of the beautiful Lillibit, but she's best friends with Willibit, the moral role model and main protagonist. Thus, even though they generally get along well, Willibit and Snagglebit often butt heads, especially over Lillibit. Snagglebit usually pals around with the short-in-stature Browniebit, who is something of a coward (and is often teased by Snagglebit for this), and Chip, who idolizes Lillibit's uncle, Dr. Snoozabit, and wants to be a doctor like him.
Another frequently recurring child character is Teenybit (Willibit's younger sister), who befriends Scarybit, an ill-tempered, superstitious old woman assumed to be a witch and shunned by most of the other villagers. Teenybit can see that, under Scarybit's tough exterior, she's just a lonely old lady who needs a friend.
The children are watched over by, and often scolded by, the older Littl' Bits including the doctor Dr. Snoozabit, the wood-cutter Chopabit, the baker Bakeabit, Willibit's father Grumpabit, Helpabit, the elder Elderbit, Mayor Bossabit (Snagglebit's father), and others. Snoozabit has a tendency to drink too much, forcing his young niece, Lillibit, to watch out for him and do her best to keep him on the right track (In the American version, Snoozabit's drunkenness was rewritten as being constantly sleepy and needing a nap, hence his English name).
Cast[]
| Image | Character | Jap | USA | Mex | Ger | Fra | Ita | Pol | Neth | Spa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Berufi | Rocío Garcel | Laura Boccanera | Brygida Turowska | ||||||
|
Rirubitto | Mayumi Tanaka | Patricia Acevedo | Agnieszka Kunikowska | ||||||
|
Napoleon | Marina Huerta | ||||||||
|
Moki | Jorge Roig Jr. | ||||||||
|
Shimejiru | Ariadna Rivas | ||||||||
|
Chuchuna | María Fernanda Morales | ||||||||
|
Dokkurin | Kaneta Kimotsuki | Ricardo Hill | |||||||
|
Meimondo-sonchô | Eduardo Borja | ||||||||
|
Witch Margie | Carmen Donna-Dío |