Button Nose

Button Nose (夢の星のボタンノーズ, Yume no Hoshi no Botan Nōzu; also known as Dream-Star Button Nose) is a 26-episode Japanese animated TV series that aired from 19 October 1985 to 26 April 1986. The series takes place in a fairy tale and science fiction setting and follows the protagonist Button Nose as she finds out she is descended from royalty.¹ It was the first TV series produced by Sanrio.¹²

The Button Nose character was originally designed by Masayo Hirose (広瀬昌代) for Sanrio, and introduced in 1978.¹³⁴ Sanrio's character profiles portray Button Nose as a sweet and lively girl, who makes strawberry jam and likes cookies. She is called Button Nose because her nose is small and round.⁵⁶

In 1983, Sanrio built a strawberry shaped store based on the fictional home of Button Nose.⁷ Located in Tokyo, the store was originally planned to be in place for a limited time, but due to positive customer response it remained in operation until 2011.⁸

Button Nose was animated by Topcraft and was the first TV series produced by Sanrio.¹²

Music for the series was composed by Kohei Tanaka and was his first anime music score of many.⁹ Shirō Sasaki participated as Tanaka's assistant.¹⁰

The animation production of the series was completed in 1983, but the actual broadcast date was two years later.¹

An English dub was produced by Saban Entertainment in 1994.

Button Nose

The main protagonist. A young schoolgirl who usually wears red overalls, striped yellow and blue long-sleeved shirt and leggings, red shoes, and two strawberry hairclips on either side of her head. She appears in official art as blonde with a purple dress and one hairclip, but in the show she has two, bright orange hair, black beady eyes, and a small button nose where she gets her nickname from. She is very curious, extroverted, and excited easily. She is rarely ever sad or startled for long and gets cheered up quickly when she is. She enjoys making friends and helping her parents at their strawberry observatory on Earth, where she's from originally. She was supposed to give an order of strawberry seedlings to Ticktackbon, who was sent by Duke Fastener from the planet Calint, but got too excited by the idea of space and got on the return spaceship with Ticktackbon. She quickly becomes friends with Scooter after he saves her from crash-landing the ship, and Prince Flower after arriving at the castle. She finds out she's the niece of Duke Fastener after getting in trouble for crashing the ship. She is crowned queen of Hookland temporarily after Fastener goes on a trip to explore space.

Franklin

An aardvark and a pet of Button Nose. He is loyal to Button Nose and often seen with her. He has a personality of his own and accompanies the group on their adventures. He has a girlfriend, which is a fluffy white cat that wears a red bow around her neck, whom he asked out by giving her a glass slipper. He is known as Howie the house-mouse in the English dub.

Ticktackbon

A servant robot made by Fastener. He manages the human time of the castle and can be annoying because he is noisy, but without him the castle will not have function. He is known as Rudy in the English dub.

Duke Fastener

Although his title is Duke, he is actually the king of Hookland and the uncle of Button Nose. He has been interested in space for a long time and asks Button Nose to act for the Queen and goes on a space trip. He is known as King Crumpet in the English dub.

Prince Flower

The only son of Fastener. He enjoys to making bread. However, making bread makes very often fails. He is timid but smart because he is a reader, and his knowledge often helps Button Nose. He is known as Prince Percy in the English dub.

Chamberlain

Duke Fastener's royal butler, helper, and childhood friend. He has white hair tied into two horn-shaped pigtails on the top of his head, along with thick sideburns that lead to his mustache. He has a large bulbous nose and simple black eyes. He often wears a black suit with a red tie and white undershirt. He is responsible for caring for Button Nose and Prince Flower while Fastener is away, though he is hesitant to accompany them on their adventures as he is easily scared and does not want to be involved with anything dangerous, so he often sends Scooter to go with them in his place. He is protective over Fastener and his kingdom, always making sure Fastener is well and the kingdom stays out of danger. He is known as Malcolm in the English dub.

Clip

A bad boy who works at a downtown dry-cleaning shop alongside an unnamed character and his mother. He is friends with Prince Flower and Button Nose, though he is often annoyed by their tendency to cause trouble. He rides a red motorcycle, which he is highly skilled at operating. He frequently helps get Button Nose and Prince Flower out of dangerous situations and accompanies them on their adventures. He is known as Scooter in the English dub.

Mrs. Bracelet

Countess of Hookland. She intends to kick out Button Nose and marry Pierce to Flower to take over the country, but she's just failing. She is known as Countess Upstuck in the English dub.

Pierce

Daughter of Mrs. Bracelet. Like her mother, she has a twisted personality, is hostile to Button Nose, and does a lot of bad things. She has a cat called Soil. Even if Button Nose once helps her, she will give back her favor, which is a lump and she takes an unexpected behavior in the final episode. She is known as Alicia in the English dub.

Vongole Bianco

The older brother of the "Vongole Brothers" who lives in the city. The pattern on his hat is white. They hangs with Mrs. Bracelet and her child and does bad things, but sometimes they tries to outsmart each other.

Vongole Rosso

The younger brother of the "Vongole Brothers". The pattern on his hat is red. He is weak and at the mercy of Bianco.

¹¹

Planning and Concept: Atsushi Tomioka (Sanrio)
Producers: Shinji Nabeshima (Asahi Broadcasting Corporation), Tsunemasa Hatano (Sanrio)
Chief Director: Masami Hata
Original Character Design: Masayo Hirose
Character Design and Animation Supervision: Shigeru Yamamoto
Key Animators: Miwako Hattori, Etsuko Hamada, Kaoru Nakajima, Haruko Onishi, Nobuaki Wakabayashi, Masato Kimura, Masahiro Yoshida, Takashi Watanabe, Mitsuhiro Yamada, Gaku Miyao, Yukiya Senda, Tomihiko Okubo, Mitsuru Hosoya
In between Animation: Sachiko Yoneyama, Ikuichi Ito, Yukie Takahashi, Kiyoko Saito, Takayo Mizutani, Junko Amano, Masako Sakano, Hiroko Masutani
Artboards: Yukio Abe
Art Director: Kazutoshi Shimizu
Camera: Teruo Abe, Kenji Noda, Koichi Okuda, Hiroyasu Omoto
Editor: Tomoko Kida
Music: Kohei Tanaka
Sound Director: Etsuji Yamada
Sound Effects: Mitsuru Kashiwabara
Recording Engineer: Tsugio Nakatogawa
Sound Producer: Yasuo Urakami
Sound Production: Audio Planning U
Film Development: IMAGICA
Production Manager: Seiichiro Narukawa
Production Assistants: Shoji Muronaga, Naofumi Yamauchi, Yoshitaka Fujimoto, Naoyuki Oshikiri
Production Cooperation: Topcraft
Production: Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, Sanrio
Copyright: Sanrio Co., Ltd.