The Animals of Farthing Wood (TV series)
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This article is about the Animals of Farthing Wood television series. For the series of books, see The Animals of Farthing Wood (book series).
| The Animals of Farthing Wood | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Format | Children |
| Created by | European Broadcasting Union |
| Starring | Jeremy Barrett Rupert Farley Jon Glover Sally Grace Stacy Jefferson Pamela Keevilkral and Ron Moody |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 39 (3 seasons with 13 episodes each) (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 20 minutes (per episode) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC |
| Original run | 1992 – 1995 |
The Animals of Farthing Wood is an animated series by the European Broadcasting Union between 1992 and 1995, based on the series of books written by Colin Dann.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The television series followed the basic plots of the series of books, although certain elements were changed. It followed the animals of Farthing Wood, who were forced to flee their homes after humans started destroying the wood in order to build houses. Led by Fox, and guided by Toad, the animals left Farthing Wood on a journey to White Deer Park, a nature reserve where they would be protected.
Unlike other children's series, The Animals of Farthing Wood did not feature much comedic content but rather relied on its strong storyline and plot, and multiple main characters are killed or die during the journey.
Series 1 chronicled the journey to White Deer Park, Series 2 took place in White Deer Park and chronicled the feud between the Farthing Wood animals and the hostile blue foxes, the third, and final, series chronicled the invasion of the rats into White Deer Park and the animals attempts to fight them off.
The episodes were made in both the UK and France. Because of this, in Series 1 the motorway's carriageways have traffic driving on the right hand carriageway of the motorway. However, they are briefly seen in Series 3 driving on the left hand side.
[edit] Seasons
Three seasons of the show were produced, each based on one or more of the Farthing Wood books.
- Series 1 (1992 - 1993)
- Series 2 (1994)
- In the Grip of Winter
- Fox's Feud
- The Fox Cub Bold
- Series 3 (1995)
- In the Path of the Storm
- Battle for the Park
The first two series were seen by fans as among the best animated shows on TV at the time due to its complex and intriguing plot, but the third series was seen as a disappointment. Fans claimed this because of its inferior story and script as opposed to the first two series', but the change in animation also did not help.[citation needed] In Series 3, the animals appear to take on more human movements, like folding their arms, or wings.
[edit] Episodes
See: List of Animals of Farthing Wood episodes
[edit] Characters
See: List of Animals of Farthing Wood characters
[edit] Cast
- Jeremy Barrett: Whistler, Mr Rabbit, Mole, Mr Shrew, Mossy and others.
- Rupert Farley: Fox, Mr Hare, Mr Pheasant, Friendly, Bold, Plucky, Trey and others.
- Jon Glover: Scarface, Ranger, The Warden and others.
- Sally Grace: Owl, Weasel and others.
- Stacy Jefferson: Vixen, Charmer, Mrs Rabbit and others.
- Pamela Keevilkral: Adder, Dash, Cleo, Speedy, Whisper, Mrs Squirrel, Mrs Hedgehog and others
- Ron Moody: Badger, Toad, Bully, Spike, Rollo, Mr Hedgehog, Mr Vole, Mr Fieldmouse, Great White Stag and others.
- Maria Warburg: Whisper (Audio Book Only)
Fox, the leader of the Animals of Farthing Wood, was voiced by Rupert Farley in the UK version but in the U.S. version he was played by Ralph Macchio.
[edit] Merchandise
Apart from books and videos, there was also a Farthing Wood CD and in the mid-1990s, a 130-part magazine for children entitled "Farthing Wood Friends" was also developed. Audio tapes recapping the first two seasons were released, with the story being told to young fox cubs by several of the cast who would also debate the events and mimic some of the other characters.
There are also three TV tie-in books available, one to accompany each of the TV series:
- The Animals of Farthing Wood links with Series 1.
- The Further Adventures of The Animals of Farthing Wood links with Series 2.
- The Animals of Farthing Wood - Spirit of Survival links with Series 3.
These follow the same storylines, but are presented in a comic-strip style.
Watered-down versions of episode storylines were also featured as a running story in 'Farthing Wood Friends', illustrated using photographic stills from the series. Between magazine coverages of second and third series episodes, abridgements of Colin Dann's original stories were used to fill the void, entitled 'Tales From Farthing Wood'. Another book adaptation of the running story employed for series one was released by Ted Smart Publishing, with illustrations by Stuart Trotter.
Episode stories were also abridged for Buzz Books, Reed Children's Books' range of storybooks based on popular children's characters, other character franchises including Thomas The Tank Engine, Biker Mice From Mars, Fireman Sam, Rupert, Tugs and Babar.
The Farthing Wood stories in this range started with five books to begin with, then steadily expanded to cover the remainder of series one and series two. Illustrations were produced by William Heinemann in favour of using stills from the series.
Hornby, known mainly for its model railways, produced collectable figurines of the series ensemble, released in batches. They were as follows:
1st Series -Fox -Badger -Mole -Weasel -Toad -Owl
2nd Series -White Stag -Scarface -Kestrel -Adder -Whistler -Rabbit
3rd Series -Bully -Vixen -Plucky -Fido -Cleo -Rollo -Measly -Hollow -Hurkel -Dash -Sinuous
The characters were also released in twin packs and later in the run, Hornby produced compatible play-scenes. They also produced plush toys of Badger, Fox and Mole. Although these were rare finds in toyshops, they were the subject of a running promotion in 'Farthing Wood Friends' enabling readers to win them.
[edit] Differences between the books and the series
There are a number of differences between the books and the television series, most notably the changing of a number of characters from male to female. This included Adder, Weasel, Owl and Kestrel, who retained the markings of a male kestrel. Owl had also been known as Tawny Owl in the books. In addition to this, the books featured a family of lizards who became the newts of the television series. New characters like the Shrews, Hurkel and Measley were introduced. Plucky is also changed from being Bold's grandson to his son.
Minor plot changes also exist, such as the order of the pheasant's deaths, the deaths of Badger and Moley, and the motives of certain characters. Scarface has a different reason for attacking the Farthing Animals and Bold leaves the Park after an argument with his father, rather than to find a mate as he does in the books. Opposite to Badger's death, Toad survives the television series, befriending the rat who killed him in the books.
Scarface and his tribe were not blue in the books. Scarface was just a rival red fox. His mate was not also named in the books and her personality is not so developed. Speedy was also unnamed.
[edit] Credits
- Based on the Books by: Colin Dann
- Written by: Alan Case, Steve Walker, Sue Butterworth, Jenny McDade, Gordon Harrison, Elphin Lloyd-Jones, Valerie Georgeson
- Adapted by: Steve Walker
- Music Composed by: Detlev Kuhne
- Theme Music Composed and Arranged by: Dennis Scott
- Recorded by: WDR Orchestra, KRO Cologne
- Directors: Elphin Lloyd-Jones, Philippe LeClerc
- Assistant Director: Emile Bourget
- Animation Director: Alan Simpson
- Character Designs: Elphin Lloyd-Jones, Philippe LeClerc, Patrick Michel
- Storyboard: Gordon Harrison, Jean Francois Laguionie, Claude Aufrere
- Backgrounds: Ian Henderson, Richard Mithonard, Valerie Carmona
- Layouts: Sue Butterworth, Gordon Harrison, Ted Pettengell, Trevor Ricketts, Patrick Michel, Gerard Kiszel, Christian Ragoust
- Animation: Thomas Barker, Monica Brutton, Alison De Vere, Andy Eraclerus, Christopher Evans, Joan Freestone, Tony Guy, Peter Hale, Arthur Humberstone, Simon Loxton, Fraser MacLean, Charlie MacRae, Janet Nunn, John Perkins, Mike Pocock, Paul Stone, Rosemary Welch, Jose Xavier
- Key Animators: Chris Clarke, Gary Hender, Nathalie Biston, Marian Brooks, Valerie Pouyanne, Jean Francois Galataud, Monica Moinar, Lea Movement
- Assistant Animators: Philippe Archer, Jean-Yves Regnault, Laurence Commeyras, Isabelle Pouyanne, Didier Chenu, Catherine Halvic, Muriel Chevallier, Sega Favre, Sylvia Bottiau, Sim Lignon
- Trace & Paint: Audrey Hammond, Pat Arthy, Pete Arthy, Lynda Marmont, Chris Jones, Ross Marks, Sharon Martin, Becky New, Vivienne Redmond, Jenni Steers, Dominique Lenoble, Clarie Dame, Nancy Rey, Frederic Jaubert, Suzy Kopp, Sophie Beltran, Brigitte Boursereau, Rodney Crofton, Carole Dorange, Nathalie Finiels, Cathy Gentric, Isabelle Landmann, Claire Larnelle, Cathy Rigall, Maria Stockman, Mireille Valentin
- Checking: Ann Kotch, Janine Arthy, Isabelle Perrichon
- Rostrum Camera: Chris Williams, Anthony Hagen, Jacques Armand, Yves Francon, Jean Paul Rossard
- Software: Animo Cambridge Animation Systems
- Production Supervisor: Jean-Paul Gaspari
- Production Coordinator: Dominique Edmond-Marlette
- Production Accountants: Helmut Breuer, Philippe Marteaux
- Editing: Theresa Plummer-Andrews, John Daniel, Ken Morgan, Tom Oliver
- Special Effects: Stephan Hartl, Malcolm Beattie
- Picture Editor: Fiona Keene
- Videotape Services: Video Time
- Line Test Camera: Plaza Synchron
- Dialogue Editor: Hans-Peter Kaufman
- Track Readers: Otto Sander, Ulli Philipp, Tilly Lauenstein, Martin Semmelrogge, Helmut Ruge, Wichart V. Roell, Karin Kerke, Stephan Schwartz, Marion Martlenzen, Manfred Lehmann, Peter Fricke
- Associate Producer: Wolfgang Wegmann
- Producer: John M. Mills
- Production: Telemagination (London), Praxinos (Montpeller)
- EBU Coordinator: Marie-Claire Vionnet
- Executive Producers: Siegmund Grewenig, Theresa Plummer-Andrews
- Film Laboratories: European Cineman, Television Year
