Superbook (anime)

Anime Oyako Gekijō (アニメ 親子劇場, Animated Parent and Child Theatre), also known as Superbook, is an anime television series from the early 1980s, initially produced at Tatsunoko Productions in Japan in conjunction with the Christian Broadcasting Network in the United States and more recently solely produced by CBN for global distribution and broadcast.

The series chronicled the events of the Bible's Old and New Testaments in its 52-episode run. The first 26 episodes aired from October 1, 1981 to March 25, 1982. The series returned as Superbook II: In Search for Ruffles and Return to the 20th Century (パソコントラベル探偵団, Pasokon Toraberu Tanteidan, Personal Computer Travel Detective Team) with 26 episodes to air from April 4, 1983 to September 26, 1983. Between both series in the first run was the companion series The Flying House. The Christian Broadcasting Network is producing a new Superbook series and has released 5 seasons. CBN is distributing the first, second and third seasons for free on their Superbook Kid's Website.

Season 1
Christopher "Chris" Peeper discovers a magical sentinent Bible named Superbook which sends him, his friend Joy, and his clockwork toy figure namely Gizmo the Crusader Robot back in time during the events of the Old and New Testaments.

Season 2
Taking place two years after the first series, where Superbook falls onto a computer, giving anybody the ability to see into the past from Christopher's home via the monitor. Ruffles, his poodle, has managed to get lost in time, prompting Gizmo and Christopher's little brother (rewritten as his cousin in the English dub), Uriah "Uri" Peeper, to search for Ruffles. While Chris and Joy keep watch and control of the computer from the present, Gizmo and Uri experience the stories from the Old Testament solely.

Characters
Main article: Characters

Episodes
Main article: List of episodes

History
In 1981, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and Tatsunoko Productions created a children's animated Bible series as part of an outreach to Japan. The series was known as Animated Parent and Child Theater (Anime Oyako Gekijo), produced by Tatsunoko Productions in Japan in conjunction with CBN in the United States. The English name for this series was "Superbook."

Research performed during and after the outreach showed that this series was an unprecedented success. Over 8 million people a night watched Superbook on Japanese primetime television, and the Bible became the nation's best-selling book. (citation needed)

By 1989, in the midst of economic and political turmoil, Superbook began broadcasting in the Soviet Union with astounding results. When Superbook aired during primetime on the Soviet National Channel, CBN received over 6 million fan letters from children.

From Japan and Russia, the original Superbook series went on to air around the world. More than 500 million people watched the series, 52 episodes were translated in 43 languages and broadcast in 106 countries. The series aired for 2 seasons with 26 episodes each, with a total of 52 episodes.

In the present day, CBN and a team of Emmy-winning artists and storytellers are collaborating to completely reimagine the classic series using the latest 3D CGI technology. The company's goal is that the new Superbook will honor the life-changing legacy of the classic series and re-introduce it to a new generation.