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As mentioned above, the character of Fräulein Rottenmeier in Takahata’s version essentially replicates her literary predecessor in her attitudes and utterances, particularly in the first half of the series. As in the novel, the series makes use of visual aids to convey the same traits to the character. Dete and Heidi need to climb a flight of stairs on their arrival at the Sesemann’s house to present themselves to Rottenmeier (Nakajima, Takahata, 1974: episode 20, 02:33), she occupies the head position at the table (Nakajima, Takahata, 1974: episode 20, 05:14) as symbol of her authority in the domestic realm, and her neurosis and sternness are also an engrained part of her character. However, in episode 32, Clara starts re-defining both the character of her governess and her own personality by blaming Rottenmeier directly for Heidi’s sickness and labeling her as “inhuman” (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 34, 21:39) because she tries to suppress Heidi’s emotions, for instance by not letting the child remember the mountains or speak about them (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 34, 12:58). In spite of everything, particularly despite Clara’s refusal, Rottenmeier is the one to travel with the child to the Alps to visit her friend, once Heidi is advised to leave Germany and return to her grandfather. Once up in the mountains, the governess is unable to adapt to rural life; more than that, she aims to reproduce her timetable and behaviors from Frankfurt in Switzerland and tries to enforce her habits in the world of Grandfather’s cabin – and obviously fails to do so.

Nonetheless, her rigidity wanes slightly when it comes to protecting Clara from what she believes could threaten her and she dares to go out in the middle of a storm together with Heidi’s grandfather to find the children, who are out on an excursion (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 46). In order to do so, she puts on a pair of trousers, transgressing in doing so all her self-imposed norms and causing Clara to admit to her grandmother, who has come to visit her granddaughter in Switzerland, that Rottenmeier has changed a good deal (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 47, 09:45). However, seeing that the governess finds it very difficult to cope with life in the Alps, Frau Sesemann orders her to travel back to Frankfurt. This forced distancing from her beloved Clara clearly upsets her and, in tears, she confesses to Frau Sesemann that she will miss the child (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 48, 04:34). These are, however, minor transformations that do not alter the perception of the character as a whole: Rottenmeier is still stern and harsh, most particularly in contrast with the other characters, and the narrative of the series also contributes to portraying her in a negative light, for only after Rottenmeier’s return to Frankfurt is Clara able to walk again. As in the novel, this first series makes Rottenmeier disappear in the last episodes, those in which Clara thrives in nature and the friendship and purity of the mountains make her succeed in walking again. Although Rottenmeier does reappear in the final episode, instead of showing joy at Clara’s overcoming her disability, she is depicted as forcing her to make more of an effort and is once again portrayed as being strict and not very empathetic.

In contrast, the 3D series offers, on the whole, a more lovable portrait of the character and attempts to find an explanation for Rottenmeier’s somewhat irrational and extreme behaviors. It is obvious that the character of the stern governess cannot be drastically mellowed and, in the chapters after her first appearance, Rottenmeier is still severe, little empathetic and her body language reminds viewers of the previous depictions, with her mouth tightening and her fists clenching time and again. However, her uptightness and arrogance gradually decline.

She is introduced in episode 14, as Aunt Dete and Heidi arrive in Frankfurt. When they get to the Sesemann’s big house, Dete grabs the lion-shaped knocker on the door. The knocker then visually merges into Rottenmeier’s face, but this first close-up, despite the animalistic comparison, reveals clear differences with her anime predecessor: Rottenmeier’s face is rounder, her eyes are blue instead of grey and her nose and cheeks are speckled with freckles, which provide her with a more youthful and happier appearance. She also has hints of ornamentation on her outfit and her gown is of a light tone of purplish blue in contrast to that of her forerunner, who wore black or dark blue. Her whole figure is plumper, and more matronly in comparison to her gaunt and more stiff anime model. All these new traits contribute to the rounding of the edges of this character, both literally and figuratively.

After their first encounter, Rottenmeier does not seem to be keen on Heidi; however, she is generous enough to give her an opportunity and let her stay, whereas in both the anime and the novel, she is forced to keep the child in the house, because Dete leaves her behind to return to her job. As mentioned before, Rottenmeier’s positioning in the domestic space is very relevant to the analysis, since it underlines her domineering and authoritarian attitude. However, in the 3D series, Dete and Heidi do not need to climb any stairs to meet the governess, and in the dining room Rottenmeier does not sit at the head of the table anymore, but occupies a seat on one of the sides and in front of the children, as if they were all equal to one another (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 15, 13:28). She is also more compassionate and understanding towards Heidi; soon enough, she realizes that Clara’s mood has improved since the arrival of the Swiss girl (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 16, 11:59). She half regrets having to be hard on Heidi (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 16, 07:03), is able to congratulate her warmly when she starts reading (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 20, 03:59) and rejoices at the friendship between the two girls, instead of trying to keep them apart.

Rottenmeier’s attitude towards education is also overtly more modern than in her previous depictions. In this respect, the figure of the male preceptor, who is responsible for Clara’s education at home, also plays a very significant role. Whereas in the novel and the first animated series, he appears to be a well-balanced man, who is able to see the merits and virtues in Heidi (Spyri, 1978: 78 and Nakajima, Takahata, 1974: episode 25, 21:39), the 3D series depicts him in a far less flattering manner. He is slimy, extremely severe and implements draconian methods in his teaching, such as having Heidi kneel down and hold heavy books in her hands until she reads a sentence correctly (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 19, 18:44). The scene in which the preceptor is dismissed on account of his cruel approach to teaching is also relevant for the analysis: when the three adult female characters – Clara’s grandmother, Fräulein Rottenmeier and Dete – witness his brutality towards Heidi behind a closed door, they do not have a single qualm about confronting the ‘knowledgeable man’ to protect Heidi. The series clearly mocks and demonizes this character and, as a result, places Rottenmeier in a more positive light.

Little by little, the second animated series aims to unstiffen Rottenmeier’s personality and attempts to explain the motivations behind her actions. For instance, while in the novel and in the anime she loathes cats for no apparent reason and behaves with extreme violence towards them when Heidi brings some kittens from the street, the 3D series reveals that she suffers from an allergy to all furry creatures (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 16, 05:31). Most importantly, as will be shown subsequently, the series attempts to clarify the origin of her bitter personality.

Episode 22 establishes a turning point in the evolution of Fräulein Rottenmeier. First of all, the viewer learns that she has a sister (in the previous depictions of the character nothing was known about her private life or her life prior to her working for the Sesemanns); a sister who has fallen ill and who is in need of care. Rottenmeier travels to look after her and, on her return, announces that she will leave the Sesemann’s household and accept a new position where her sister works, since Clara has found a new companion in Heidi. This causes quite an upheaval for both Heidi and Clara, who is terribly upset. When Heidi decides to leave the house to grant Rottenmeier the space she had next to Clara, Rottenmeier realizes how much she is needed. The affection she receives from the children has an effect on her: she is able to position herself both physically (she kneels down) and emotionally (hugs them) at the children’s level (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 22, 21:30).

Nonetheless, the main transformation of the character takes place – as expected – in the mountains. Rottenmeier accompanies Clara on her trip to the Alps to visit Heidi, once the young child leaves Frankfurt after falling ill with homesickness. Even if the governess finds it difficult to come to terms with the sparseness of the cabin and the roughness of mountain life, she is able to overcome all sorts of “complications” and even shows herself willing to adapt to this new environment and to incorporate new manners and habits. She, as a city dweller, is nonetheless able to predict the arrival of a storm, even before the grandfather does (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 34, 04:30). It is precisely the storm episode that portrays Fräulein Rottenmeier in a new light, since she shows her courage when she goes up to the mountain on her own to find the children and the grandfather, who, she believes, are in danger, and she is even able to impress both Heidi and her grandfather with her ability to relate to the wild surroundings, finding a refuge and lighting a fire on her own (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 34, 19:54).

As suggested above, Rottenmeier’s past is also retrieved in the series through the appearance of an old friend of hers, Friedrich, who shows up at the mountain cabin looking for work. Although he is able to recognize her, she initially refuses to acknowledge her past or their friendship and threatens to leave the cabin and return to Frankfurt with Clara. Later, we learn that as a young woman Vera Rottenmeier, whose first name is mentioned here for the first time, had left her village, as she wanted to lead a better, more sophisticated life in the city. But, as she herself admits, she had left her heart in that small town. The mention of “heart” here could allude to a loving relationship with this “dear friend”, Friedrich, but also shed light on Rottenmeier’s bitterness and uptightness. In this respect, it is also remarkable that, as the two children try to escape and Clara hurts herself when Rottenmeier decides to leave for Frankfurt, she kneels down once again at the child’s level and exclaims: “It is all my fault” (Gonnard, Mouscadet, 2015: episode 36, 19:03).

One is left wondering if this “fault” and the regret linked to it refers to the whole course of her life and the void left by the denial of her feelings in favor of her goals. This reading would somehow challenge the more feministic approach of the series with relation to, for instance, the transformations in the characters of Clara’s grandmother or Dete, but would, however, fit into the (still) dominant perception of women as individuals subjected to the sphere of emotions, who unnaturally enter the realm of ambition, on the one hand, and authority, on the other hand, traditionally associated with masculinity. This gendered approach still defines contemporary television for children nowadays (see, among other studies, Martin, 2017) and, in spite of the attempts mentioned above, Heidi 3D is not an exception.

Besides this consideration of gendered categories, the evolution of Fräulein Rottenmeier through the centuries also reflects certain developments within the field of pedagogy and education, which have witnessed the displacement of more authoritarian methodologies in favor of approaches that place the child in the center of the learning process, question the use of punishment and obligation and grant children more scope for their own development. Parallel to the evolution of teaching practices, interactions between children and adults also changed drastically throughout the twentieth century, and nowadays attitudes and manners towards children, such as the ones shown by the original Rottenmeier would be frowned upon and condemned by society.

The evolution of this character is thus the result of both historical changes in the realm of education and also of a subtle form of censorship which has shaped audiovisual products for young children in recent years. In accordance with a tacit understanding between society and media, young viewers are meant to believe that the world is an idyllic place in which adults – above all, parents or guardians – would never be unkind to them. In this respect, unlike its hypotext(s), which showed the existence of threatening characters in the private realm, Heidi 3D is yet another example of a process of sugar-coating adult-child relationships in media for children and grants healthy interpersonal relationships the healing power that Spyri had attributed to nature in the 1880s.