The series is directed by Kazuya Miyazaki (a veteran Toei director whose credits included Cutie Honey and UFO Robo Grendizer among others) and produced by Toei Animation for the Kokusai Eiga-sha (Movie International) company.

The series was produced as a follow-up to a TV special based on Alcott's novel the previous year by the same animation studio.

The TV series character designs differ slightly of those of the TV special; Jo, for example, while she is blonde in both versions, has curled hair rather than straight hair in the TV series.

This TV series aired on Tokyo Channel 12 from April 7 to September 29, 1981, totaling 26 episodes.

While this series has been released on VHS, it has not been released on DVD in Japan due to the original film negatives being damaged.