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Hayao Miyazaki directed the first six episodes of Meitantei Holmes (literally "Famous Detective Holmes," 1981) and wrote the scripts for some of them. Copyright disputes held up the Japanese-Italian coproduction until 1984, when it was continued with different artists. The rumpled designs for the canine versions of Holmes and Dr. Watson bear Miyazaki's distinctive stamp, as does the look of many of the vehicles, including Holmes's steam-powered automobile and blimp, the various biplanes, and an outsized gunship from the British Navy. Holmes repeatedly outwits the vulpine Moriarty, despite the bumbling interference of Inspector LeStrade, but the later stories grow increasingly silly. In "The White Cliffs of Dover," it's Mrs. Hudson who stops Moriarty's plot to sabotage the first London-Paris airmail service. The English dub is dismayingly flat, and the subtitled Japanese version makes more entertaining viewing. Suggested for ages 7 and up: Minor cartoon violence, tobacco use. --Charles Solomon
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