Conception in Italy (1979-1981)

The project originated in the late 1970s as part of a strategic initiative by RAI executive Luciano Scaffa. Scaffa's goal was for RAI to transition from being a passive importer of Japanese animation to an active co-production partner.[5]

The "original idea" for a Sherlock Holmes adaptation with canine characters is credited to Italian animators Marco and Gi Pagot, sons of the animator Nino Pagot (creator of Calimero).[1] In a 2025 interview, Marco Pagot stated that their initial concept was intended for a more adult audience and featured a "harder style".[5]

In 1979, Scaffa and Marco Pagot traveled to Japan to pitch the concept to Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS).[5] There, they presented the project to Hayao Miyazaki, who was "fascinated by the project".[5] Miyazaki adapted the concept, moving it away from the adult-oriented original and toward a family-friendly adventure format, emphasizing steampunk elements.[2]

Initial Production (1981–1982)

The series was formally established as a co-production between RAI and TMS.[1] RAI's involvement was managed through the private company Rever Cinematografica.[1] TMS assigned the animation production to its subsidiary, Telecom Animation Film, where Miyazaki was based.[12]

Hayao Miyazaki served as Chief Director for the initial production phase.[7] The staff he assembled included key figures who would later become central to Studio Ghibli:

• Yoshifumi Kondō: Credited as Character Designer for the first 13 episodes [1] and Animation Director on several of Miyazaki's episodes.[19] He was a key collaborator of Miyazaki and Isao Takahata.[14]
• Nizo Yamamoto: Credited as Art Director for Miyazaki's six episodes.[8] His detailed background work would later be seen in Ghibli films like Castle in the Sky.[24]
• Sunao Katabuchi: Served as scriptwriter and, in some cases, assistant director.[2]

The "Miyazaki" Episodes

Six episodes are definitively credited to Hayao Miyazaki's direction and storyboards.[4] Due to the production halt, they were later aired out of order, mixed in with the rest of the series. The six Miyazaki-directed episodes are:

• "The Little Client" (Aired as Episode 3) [15]
• "The Abduction of Mrs. Hudson" (Aired as Episode 4) [15]
• "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" (Aired as Episode 5) [15]
• "Treasure Under the Sea" (Aired as Episode 9) [15]
• "The White Cliffs of Dover" (Aired as Episode 10) [15]
• "Where Did the Sovereigns Go?" (Aired as Episode 11) [2]

Miyazaki's episodes featured significant deviations from the source material. The character of Mrs. Hudson was changed from an elderly landlady to a "19 year old widow".[15] She is revealed to be an "ex-aviatrix" and a "crack shot" [7], embodying traits of a "Miyazaki heroine".[15] Miyazaki also amplified the "Jules Verne-steampunk style technology" [2], staging elaborate car chases [15], and featuring numerous fantastical flying machines [7] and complex contraptions.[7]

These six episodes are noted for their high production value, described as "far exceeding television norms" [34] and a "portfolio piece" for TMS.[3] Animation analysis points to the use of "three or four layers of animation cels" and "richly detailed incidental animation" to create a depth and sense of a "lived-in" world, techniques usually reserved for feature films.[19] The episodes served as a "laboratory" for Miyazaki and his team to refine the aesthetic and techniques that would later define the Studio Ghibli style.[3]

Production Halt (1982–1984)

In 1982, after the completion of the initial episodes, production was halted.[12] The stoppage, which lasted two years, was caused by a combination of legal, financial, and contractual issues.

1. Legal Disputes

The most widely cited reason for the halt was a "copyright dispute with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's estate".[2] The Doyle estate... argued that while most of the Holmes canon was in the public domain, the final ten stories (published after 1923) were not.[36] The estate claimed that Holmes's "complex" and "emotional" character traits were only developed in these protected stories.[37] Miyazaki's radical re-imagining of the characters, particularly Mrs. Hudson, was the type of derivative work the estate's legal strategy targeted.[7]

2. Partnership Collapse

The legal dispute exposed foundational problems in the co-production partnership. Scriptwriter Sunao Katabuchi stated that there were "issues relating to funding from their Italian collaborators".[18] In a 2014 Q&A, Katabuchi clarified that the primary issue was contractual: "We started making it before the contract was closed... And so at one point, they completely shut us down... we renegotiated afterwards... and then we started working on it again".[46] Sources also indicate "disagreements between the Italian tv Rai... and Miyazaki itself" [9], likely stemming from the conflicting creative visions. The Italo-Japanese "collaboration was dissolved" [12], and the production remained dormant for two years.

Theatrical Release and Resumption

By 1984, Hayao Miyazaki was a prominent name in Japan due to the success of his manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and its forthcoming film adaptation.[3] TMS... partnered with Nausicaä's producer, Tokuma Shoten, for a strategic theatrical release.[15]

On March 11, 1984, Nausicaä premiered as a double-bill with a 46-minute Sherlock Hound compilation film, combining the Miyazaki-directed episodes "The Blue Carbuncle" and "Treasure under the Sea".[2]

This theatrical version was a "legal-workaround" to bypass the ongoing dispute... It featured:

• A completely different Japanese voice cast from the later TV series.[15]
• A disclaimer stating, "This film has nothing to do with Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes".[15]
• Altered character names: Mrs. Hudson was renamed "Mrs. Ellison" and Professor Moriarty became "Prof. Moroach".[15]

The screening was "well received" by the Japanese audience.[15] This "favorable" reaction [16] demonstrated the series' commercial viability and "helped spur a resolution to the copyright dispute".[16] TMS and Tokuma Shoten repeated this strategy in 1986, pairing a second Hound compilation ("Mrs. Hudson The Hostage" and "The White Cliffs of Dover") with Miyazaki's next film, Castle in the Sky.[2]

Resumption of TV Series (1984–1985)

When TV production on Sherlock Hound resumed in 1984, the original creative team had "moved on".[7] Miyazaki was occupied with Nausicaä and the subsequent founding of Studio Ghibli.[3]

The role of Chief Director for the remaining 20 episodes was given to Kyōsuke Mikuriya.[2] ... The animation production also shifted... TMS "outsourced the animation for the remaining 20 episodes to the fledgling studio Gallop".[12]

Stylistic and Staffing Differences

The two-year halt... effectively split Sherlock Hound into two stylistically distinct series.[52] The Miyazaki-directed episodes are noted for their "fine animation" [7] ... while the Mikuriya-directed episodes are described as more "formulaic".[58]

Staff Changes

• Character Design: Yoshifumi Kondō is credited for episodes 1-13 [8], while Tsukasa Tannai is credited for episodes 14-26.[1]
• Art Direction: Nizo Yamamoto is credited as Art Director only for Miyazaki's six episodes (3-5, 9-11).[8] Jin Kageyama served as Art Director for the other 20 episodes.[8]

Thematic Changes

The most significant thematic shift was in the character of Mrs. Hudson. In the Miyazaki era, she is "noticeably more prominent" [7] as a 19-year-old "ex-aviatrix" and "crack shot".[7] In the 20 Mikuriya episodes, her role is reduced to that of a conventional landlady, and the series settles into a "caper of the week" formula, similar in tone to Lupin III.[3]

Comparison of Production Eras

Metric	"Miyazaki Era" (1981–82 Production)	"Mikuriya Era" (1984–85 Production)
Chief Director	Hayao Miyazaki [7]	Kyōsuke Mikuriya [2, 7]
Key Episodes	3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11 [15, 58]	1, 2, 6-8, 12-26 [7, 8]
Character Design	Yoshifumi Kondō (eps 1-13) [8]	Tsukasa Tannai (eps 14-26) [8]
Art Direction	Nizo Yamamoto (Miyazaki's 6 eps) [8]	Jin Kageyama (20 eps) [8]
Animation Studio	Telecom Animation Film [12]	Studio Gallop (outsourced) [12]
Core Aesthetic	"Film-tier," multi-layered, fluid, "generous" animation [3, 19, 34]	"Formulaic," "by the books," standard 1980s TV anime [58]
Mrs. Hudson	Prominent 19-y.o. "Miyazaki heroine"; ex-aviatrix, crack shot [7]	Demoted to conventional landlady role [7]

Episode List

Use the filters below to highlight the 26 episodes by their director, based on the final broadcast order.

1. The Four Signatures
2. The Crown of Mazalin
3. A Small Client
4. Mrs. Hudson is Kidnapped (The Blue Carbuncle)
5. The Green Balloon
6. The Speckled Band
7. A Scandal in Bohemia
8. The Gloria Scott
9. Treasure Under the Sea
10. The White Cliffs of Dover
11. The Sovereign's Gavel
12. The Missing M-10
13. The Runaway Freight Car
14. The Coral Lobsters
15. The Golden Statue
16. The Secret of the Sacred
17. The River Thames Monster
18. The Three Students
19. The Rosetta Stone
20. The White Silver Getaway
21. The Flying Man
22. The Air Battle
23. The Magic Flute
24. The Mechanical Doll
25. The Blarney Stone
26. The Last Bow

Broadcast and Reception

The complete 26-episode series aired on TV Asahi in Japan (November 1984–May 1985), Rai 1 in Italy, and was later broadcast on HBO in the United States and BBC One in the UK.[1]

Reception in Italy

In Italy, the series premiered on Rai 1 in November 1984 [2] but "struggled to find its audience".[63] This was attributed in part to RAI's "unusual format" for its broadcast: ... "every episode was subdivided into four brief segments of about five minutes".[6] ... Despite the broadcast format, the Italian dub (Il fiuto di Sherlock Holmes) became beloved...[66] The dub director... notably gave Professor Moriarty a "mistakable Turin accent".[66] Co-creator Marco Pagot confirmed this was a deliberate choice "to make him less banal, less the usual villain".[5]

Legacy

Sherlock Hound is regarded as a cult classic and a significant "pre-Ghibli" work.[3] Its 40th anniversary was celebrated with digitally remastered theatrical screenings in Japan in 2024.[24] In 2025, Rai Teche announced a high-definition restoration of the Italian version.[63]

Tribute in Porco Rosso

Hayao Miyazaki's 1992 film Porco Rosso contains a direct tribute to his Italian collaborators on Sherlock Hound. The film's protagonist, a former Italian fighter ace, is named Marco Pagot.[78] This was an explicit homage to the Hound co-creator.[83]

Meitantei Holmes Sourcebook

In 2025, Japanese publishers Style and Media Pal announced the Meitantei Holmes Sourcebook... a 328-page archive of production materials.[90] The book collects for the first time image boards [31], early character designs [31], and most notably, "the episode outline proposals for all 26 episodes, written by Hayao Miyazaki".[90] This material provides a look into Miyazaki's original vision for the entire series, including the 20 episodes he did not direct.[90]