Mrs. Pepperpot
Promotional poster for Spoon Oba-san
スプーンおばさん (Supūn Oba-san)
Genre	Fantasy[1]
Anime television series
Directed by	Keiji Hayakawa
Produced by	Matsue Jinbo Shouji Hara Tsuneyuki Morishima Yasuhiko Tan
Music by	Tachio Akano
Studio	Pierrot
Licensed by	NA: Discotek Media
Original network	NHK General TV
Original run	April 4, 1983 – March 30, 1984
Episodes	130

Mrs. Pepperpot,^[1] known in Japanese as Spoon Oba-san (スプーンおばさん, Supūn Oba-san, lit. "Aunt Spoon" or "Old lady Spoon"), is a Japanese anime television series, based on the children's books of Mrs. Pepperpot by the Norwegian author Alf Prøysen. The series was broadcast on NHK General TV from April 4, 1983, to March 30, 1984, spanning a total of 130 10-minute episodes.^[2]

Plot

Mrs. Spoon Pepperpot lives in a small little village with her husband Fork. She wears a small magical teaspoon around her neck which every now and then shrinks her to the size of her teaspoon which does not shrink as well, and she must drag it along with her on her back when she gets shrunk. She always changes back to her original size after a certain amount of time. This special condition had its advantages — she can communicate with animals and enjoy wonderful adventures in the woods. This way she wins new and interesting friends on a regular basis. She is a good friend of Lily, a mysterious little girl who lives in the forest alone, she is also friends with a mouse family. She can not reveal her secret or show herself in the shrunk condition, which sometimes gets quite difficult. Her husband eventually finds out his wife's secret later on in the series.

Characters

• Mrs. Spoon Pepperpot: the main character of the series. She possesses a magic spoon which changes her size unexpectedly.
• Mr. Fork Pepperpot: Mrs. Pepper Pot's husband. He is a professional painter. A stubborn and hotheaded character, he is initially unaware of his wife's secret.
• Fluffy: the Pepperpot family dog
• Cleo: the Pepperpot family cat
• Mr. and Mrs. Björn Halken: a mouse couple and their five mice children Dee, Dum, Fa, La, and Thump. They live in a wall of the Pepperpot's house.
• Lily: a mysterious girl who lives in the forest with her pet mink Lou. Initially, she is the only one who knows Mrs. Pepperpot's secret, which she helps her keep.
• Andy, Buck, and Cappa: three young boys who often play together
• Parsley and Chip: a young girl and her baby brother
• Carl and Sara: a lumberjack and his wife
• Clara, Nellie, Samantha, and Ms. Jolebiene: friends of Mrs. Pepperpot
• Dr. Prøysen: the town doctor. He enjoys giving shots.
• Jahn: the town mailman
• Mrs. Vienne and Aurélie: a well-to-do woman and her daughter
• Mint: a town store owner and Andy's father
• Mrs. Red Top, Chickie, and Chirpie: A mother hen and her two chicks
• Olina: a crow
• Michael: a fox
• King Jaw: a wolf
• Frogger: a frog
• Buzzy: a bee
• Black Jack: a one-eyed alley cat

Release

The series has been licensed in North America by Discotek Media who released it on Blu-ray in Japanese with English subtitles, and the English dub on April 26, 2022.^[3]