Kure Kure Takora
Still from the opening titles
Kure Kure Takora with love interest Monro, a sort of pink walrus dinosaur
Kure Kure Takora (クレクレタコラ) is a children’s TV show that originally aired in the 1970s in Japan. Produced by Toho Company Ltd, the unofficial translation is Gimme Gimme Octopus and the main character is a bright red octopus who lives in a tree. His best friend is a squash called Chonbo and they go on many adventures in a wonderful landscape of cut out paper trees and mountains. The costumes are very colourful and strange and the sound effects and music are a lot of fun.
As far as we are aware there is no English dubbed or subtitled version so you have to use your imagination when trying to understand what is going on! There is a lot of slapstick and magical happenings as Kure Kure Takora runs in to trouble and tries to woo his pink walrus/dinosaur love interest.
Here’s an 80 video strong youtube playlist to sink your teeth into.