Night on the Galactic Railroad
Night on the Galactic Railroad (銀河鉄道の夜 Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru), sometimes translated as Milky Way Railroad, Night Train to the Stars, or Fantasy Railroad In The Stars, is a classic Japanese novel by Kenji Miyazawa written around 1927.
The novel was adapted as an 1985 anime film of the same title. The film was directed by Gisaburo Sugii under Minoru Betsuyaku's screenplay. The anime features Mayumi Tanaka as Giovanni and Chika Sakamoto as Campanella.
The most prominent but controversial alteration made in the anime is that the main two characters (and their classmates) are depicted as cats. Some other characters such as the children from the ship are humans.
The English dubbed version in 2001 starred Veronica Taylor as Giovanni and Crispin Freeman as Campanella.