Searching for Mother with Kaiyodo’s Marco Diorama

Kaiyodo Figure: Marco, Amedeo and Pablo from 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother

A Diorama of Three Companions by Kaiyodo

This painted figure from Japanese manufacturer Kaiyodo places Marco on the back of Amedeo the donkey, with a small white animal — most likely the monkey character identified as Pablo in the listing title — seated on Marco’s shoulder. The group rests on a sculpted base with plant and earth textures, while a dramatic flame- or wing-shaped element in purple, orange, and yellow rises behind them, an ornamental touch associated with Kaiyodo’s own sculptural design language rather than anything specific to the original anime.

Kaiyodo, founded in 1964 and headquartered in Moriguchi, Osaka, built its international reputation on the precision of small-scale painted figures. The studio has worked across food-toy collaborations, capsule vending machine releases, and standalone finished pieces. The exact product format this figure belongs to — whether a food toy, a prize figure, or an individual painted release — is not confirmed by the available information. Kaiyodo’s most detailed painted anime figures appeared primarily from the late 1990s onward, placing a likely production window somewhere in that era or the 2000s, though a precise release year has not been verified.

The Story That Sent Marco Across South America

“3000 Leagues in Search of Mother” aired on Fuji Television in 1976, running 52 episodes and produced by Nippon Animation. It adapts a chapter from Edmondo De Amicis’s 1886 Italian novel “Cuore” — specifically the section “From the Apennines to the Andes” — in which a boy named Marco Rossi travels alone from Genoa, Italy, to Argentina in search of his mother, who went to work there and lost contact with her family.

The series was part of the World Masterpiece Theater block, Fuji Television’s long-running literary anime anthology that also included “Heidi, Girl of the Alps” (1974), “A Dog of Flanders” (1975), and “Anne of Green Gables” (1979). Isao Takahata directed the series, with Hayao Miyazaki contributing extensively to storyboards, scene layouts, and key animation — making it a significant work in both directors’ careers before the founding of Studio Ghibli. Amedeo the donkey is an original creation of the anime adaptation rather than a character in De Amicis’s text. The small animal on Marco’s shoulder in this figure corresponds to a monkey character who travels with a troupe of performers in the series; the name “Pablo” appears in the listing title, though its precise source within the show’s original Japanese text has not been independently confirmed.

A Series With Roots in Three Continents

“3000 Leagues in Search of Mother” aired not only in Japan but across Italy, France, Spain, and Latin America, building audiences well beyond its country of origin — fitting for a story set on the road between Genoa and Argentina. For Japanese viewers who grew up during the Showa and early Heisei eras, the World Masterpiece Theater block carries the same cultural weight that certain foundational children’s programs hold for international audiences of the same generation. The series’ pre-Ghibli creative team gives it additional standing among anime historians and researchers focused on the early careers of Takahata and Miyazaki. Kaiyodo’s involvement adds another layer of interest: the studio’s name draws figure collectors who follow their output regardless of the IP. A figure at the intersection of World Masterpiece Theater nostalgia and Kaiyodo’s craft speaks to both communities at once.