User reviews

Without any doubt, the best animation TV show in the history of television or cinema. A masterpiece created by the guineas Isao Takahata, whose great work has been influenced especially by Italian neorealism and by the French New Wave films.That's why Takahata's work is so different and more touching from most animation, which focus on fantasy. It's one of those shows and movies that make a very strong impression on the viewers. Some people can call this show "a soap opera animation series" but it's a lot more than that. It has a lot of cinema influences, a lot of interesting beautiful frames, and a lot of interesting and profound characters as well as moving scenes. It's so realistic (animals don't talk as opposed to most animation) that you think you're watching a Ken Loach or Roberto Rossellini film. The show has been influenced by Vittorio De Sica's "The Bicycle Thief". The music is also perfect, especially Mr. Peppino carriage melody. If you haven't seen it yet you don't know what you're missing. For all ages!!!

This classic was released in 1976 in Spain after the great success of "Heidi" and was a great social phenomenon.My mother and all my family cried with the life of this italian child that searched his mother in Argentina.Based on a popular novel,"Marco"has been re-released several times in Spain with a great success.The animation is good and the characters (like the monkey of the child or the italian people)are well described.Is a good example of good japan anime.

this show is so good that it easily beasted shows like dbz and pokemon. this show doesn't have overpowered childish soperpowers or over the top fanservice or everything els we consider anime to be.yet this show with its simple minded dialuges has such a touching story to it.every kid is connected to hes mother and seeing this little kid going miles just to be with hes mother made us the viewers toss aside our dbz figures and pokemon cards and go deep inside this little kids world and share hes struggles and feel hes pain and learn about life the way it really is. this show targeted children and not only it managed to attract them by the thousands but it also attracted adults and teenagers to it the way no cartoon ever managed to do.years later its still aired on TV here in israel .this show truly is timeless and its so sad to know it will never get the fame it deserved worldwide.

In Portugal, Marco came right after Heidi's huge success. But while the characters looked a bit like they could be brother and sister, and their stories bore some similarities, the series as a whole couldn't have been more different. Heidi was unbridled optimism, while Marco was dourly resigned to stoic perseverance far beyond his age.

Even with its dose of realism probably better suited to a more adult audience, I'd much rather show this to a child than most contemporary cartoons.

"Marco", as we call it, was the pinacle of of animated stories back in its day, and still holds up today as an incredibly emotional, resonant and sincere stories told through through animation. With a perfect premise to make anyone in the world invested, it's really no wonder this show had so much reach all around the world, even while airing alongside Looney Tunes, Transformers and the many "juvenile" cartoons of the time. This show is primarily aimed towards children, the sheer pull it has towards a younger demographic is nothing short of incredible, put a child on this show and they will eagerly return to each episode to see if Marco got any closer in his journey. Even in episodes where not much happens to progress the plot, the emotional resonance and the sheer weight of the adventure to eventually reach mother will keep anyone coming back. This is beacuse, this story is universal, it'll turn boys in men, and men back into boys for 24 minutes at a time.

Marco goes through a lot on his journey, he meets bad people, tries to help good people, and always offers people just a little of the bread he has, because mother said you should share your food with someone who needs it. What this show is meant to teach, is that although life is filled with pain, hardship and sadness, we have to hold on to the thing that makes us all human-- Love.