Sonnawood (1992 anime)

Inner Creatures (Japanese: 魔法の森ソナウッド, Hepburn: Mahō no Mori Sonawood lit. "Magic Forest Sonawood") is a 1992 fantasy adventure anime series created by Toshihiro Chiba and produced by Studio Axel.

The series originally aired in Japan on NHK from October 3, 1992 to March 27, 1993 for an initial run of 26 episodes. Due to interest from international buyers, a second and final season consisting of 20 episodes was commissioned and broadcast later from 1993 to 1994.

An English dub was broadcast in US syndication starting July 1994 and on the Family Channel in Canada the following October, with the series title being changed and the character's names changed to suit the English-language market and be more alliterative with the character's animal forms.

Premise
Keith (Forrester in the English dub), a young adult whose mother had gone missing many years before, lives with his father into a home with a new step-family, particularly their younger son Olivet. Life becomes hard as both heads of the family constantly treat both boys with no respect, particularly the matriarch Kurohime (Sally in the US dub). Fed up with misery in the household, Oliver finds out about Keithi's book (a possession given to him by his mother before she vanished) containing a map of the hidden forest community Sonawood and convinces him to look for it, hoping to find happiness in a new life there, despite Itsuki's insistence that such a place doesn't exist.

The two sneak out one night to look for the forest community to discover a large stone barrier with a doorway entrance that seems to have nothing inside. Upon entering through the doorway, Keith and Oliver are transformed into an anthropomorphic fox and ocelot respectively and it turns out to be a forest occupied by other anthropomorphic animals, whose form is an extension of their personality when inside the community. Under the guidance of the wolf Ophelia (Wisteria in the Canadian dub), who turns out to be Keith's biological mother, the two join various other animal-folk in situations wherein the two learn from social conflicts.

Characters
See List of Inner Creatures characters

Japanese

 * Kappei Yamaguchi as Keith/Forrester
 * Akiko Yajima as Oliver
 * Mika Doi as Ophelia/Wisteria
 * Ryūsei Nakao as Alfred/Roddy
 * Miina Tominaga as Maybelline/Vivian
 * Ai Orikasa as Kara/Olga
 * Kikuko Inoue as Silvia/Darby
 * Kazuhiko Inoue as Osmond/Waylen
 * Masami Kikuchi as Pierre/Caleb
 * Keiko Toda as Harvey/Baldwin
 * Mika Kanai as Yasmine/Lucy
 * Akira Kamiya as Jared/Julian
 * Noriko Hidaka as Hetta/Sally
 * Kenichi Ogata as Franky/Osbourne

Production
(TBA)

International broadcast

 * Argentina - Magic Kids
 * Australia - ABC
 * Brazil - SBT, Nickelodeon, Cultura, HBO Family, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TV Brasil
 * Canada - Global, ASN, Access, Family, Canal Famille, Treehouse, TVO, Knowledge Network
 * El Kadsre - BTV, BTV Me
 * France - France 3, Canal J
 * Germany - kabel eins, KiKA
 * Ireland - RTÉ
 * Israel - Arutz HaYeladim
 * Italy - Rai, Junior TV
 * Japan - NHK
 * Kuboia - Nickelodeon Kuboia (later as part of Nicktoons Network)
 * Malaysia - Cartoon Network, Astro Ceria
 * Mexico - ZAZ, Nickelodeon, HBO Family, Canal Once, Cartoon Network, Boomerang,
 * Netherlands - RTL 4, Kindernet
 * Philippines - ABS-CBN
 * Poland - TVP1
 * Portugal - RTP1, Canal Panda
 * Singapore - Cartoon Network, Kids Central
 * South Africa: M-Net
 * South Korea - KBS, Daekyo Children's TV, Tooniverse
 * Spain - Antena 3, TVG, TV3, Canal 9, Telemadrid, ETB1, K3
 * United Kingdom - TCC, Pop
 * United States - Syndication, HBO, HBO Family, KidsClick, Tubi TV