A Dog Of Flanders
It is widely read in Japan, and has been adapted into several films and anime.
The story is little known in Belgium, and then primarily because of the tourists it attracts to Antwerp. There is a small statue of Nello and Patrache at the Kapelstraat (Chapel Street) in the Antwerp suburb of Hoboken, and a commemorative plaque in front of the Antwerp Cathedral donated by Toyota.
This novel was very popular in the Philippines and it was dubbed and localized by ABS-CBN.
Plot summary
In the 19th century, a boy named Nello becomes an orphan at the age of two when his mother dies in the Ardennes. His grandfather, Jehan Daas, who lives in a small village, Hoboken, near the city of Antwerp, takes him in.
One day, Nello finds a dog who was almost beaten to death and names him Patrasche.
Due to the good care of Jehan, the dog recovers, and from then on, Nello and Patrasche are inseparable. Patrasche helps him pull the milk cart that Nello uses to sell milk in the town.
Nello has a friend, Aloise, the daughter of a well-off man in the village.
He enters a junior drawing contest in Antwerp, hoping to win the first prize, 200 francs per year. Having no place to stay, Nello goes to the cathedral of Antwerp to see Rubens' The Elevation of the Cross, but he doesn't have enough money to enter.
On the night of Christmas Eve, he and Patrasche go to Antwerp and, by chance, find the door to the church open. The next morning, the boy and his dog are found frozen to death in front of the triptych.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The novel has been adapted for cinema and television in live-action and animation:
A Dog of Flanders (1914), directed by Howell Hansel.
A Boy of Flanders (1924), directed by Victor Schertzinger.
A Dog of Flanders (1935), directed by Edward Sloman.
A Dog of Flanders (1960), directed by James B.
Clark.
Dog of Flanders (1975 TV series) (Japan), a Japanese animation TV series produced by Nippon Animation.
Dog of Flanders (1992 TV series) (Japan), a Japanese animation TV series produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha.
Gekijôban Furandaasu no inu (Japan, 1997), directed by Yoshio Kuroda.
A Dog of Flanders (1999), directed by Kevin Brodie.
For its authentic 19th century buildings, the Open Air Museum of Bokrijk, (Flanders) was used as scenery for the 1975 and 1992 anime and the 1999 film.
Documentary film
Patrasche, a Dog of Flanders - Made in Japan (Belgium, 2007), a documentary film directed by Didier Volckaert and An van Dienderen.
Trivia
This was referencened in the anime Lucky Star segment Lucky Channel, In episode 6 they were talking about otakus. Minoru says they cry at the end of A Dog of Flanders (the movie version), Akira then asks how old his view of Otaku is, in an annoyed fashion, presumably because the movie was made in the 1990's.
In "Kimi Kiss - Pure Rouge" anime series the book "A Dog of Flanders" plays an essential role as a symbol of long-lasting relationship between the two main protagonists.
Comic book Het Dreigende Dinges in the Suske and Wiske series by Willie Vandersteen tells the story of a dog of Flanders.
He is having an inner quarrel, and thinks of Nello and decides to 'avenge his death' by kidnapping the female lead, Nagi Sanzenin.
In Dragon Ball, Mr.