Poor but happy, young Nello and his grandfather live alone, delivering milk as a livelihood, in the outskirts of Antwerp, a city in Flanders (the Flemish or Dutch-speaking part of modern-day Belgium). They discover a beaten dog (a Bouvier, a large sturdy dog native to Flanders) and adopt it and nurse it back to health, naming it Patrasche, the middle name of Nello's mother Mary, who died when Nello was very young. Nello's mother was a talented artist, and like his mother, he delights in drawing, and his friend Aloise is his model and greatest fan and supporter.
| Directing | Yoshio Kuroda | Director |
| Art | Kenichi Ishibashi | Production Design |
| Sound | Taro Iwashiro | Original Music Composer |
| Writing | Miho Maruo | Screenplay |
| Writing | Ouida | Novel |
| Visual Effects | Hirofumi Suzuki | Key Animation |
| Visual Effects | Yoshinori Kanada | Key Animation |
| Visual Effects | Akiko Yamaguchi | Key Animation |
| Visual Effects | Atsushi Irie | Key Animation |
| Visual Effects | Ayako Enomoto | Key Animation |
| Visual Effects | Masahiro Kase | Key Animation |
| Visual Effects | Tadashi Hiramatsu | Key Animation |
| Visual Effects | Toshiya Washida | Key Animation |