| The Animals of Farthing Wood | |
|---|---|
| Format | Children |
| Created by | European Broadcasting Union |
| Starring | Jeremy Barrett Rupert Farley Jon Glover Sally Grace Stacy Jefferson Pamela Keevilkral and Ron Moody (English-language version) |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 39 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 20 minutes (per episode) |
The Animals of Farthing Wood is an animated series created by the European Broadcasting Union between 1992 and 1995 and based on the series of books written by Colin Dann.[1] It was produced by Telemagination, based in London, and La Fabrique, based in Montpellier in France, but also aired in other European countries. The first countries to air the series were Germany and the United Kingdom, in January 1993.
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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 and films, 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. The series contains mild gore in some episodes, which is one of its controversial points, like the 1978 film Watership Down.
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.
Three series of the show were produced, each based on one or more of the Farthing Wood books.
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, solid script and generally consistent animation, along with being likened for its darker and more dramatic themes for a children's show. However, the third series was seen as a disappointment. Fans claimed this was due its inferior story and script as opposed to the first two series', but the change in animation also did not help.. The change in animation style was also an attempt for the series to fit in with the 'cartoonish' appeal of other children's shows that were being aired at the time. In Series 3, the animals appear to take on more human movements, like folding their arms, or wings (though this occurred to a minor extent in the first series).
See: List of Animals of Farthing Wood episodes
See: List of Animals of Farthing Wood characters
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.
In France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Sweden the cast included the following:
| Character | German | Italian | French | Swedish | Norwegian |
| Fox | Stephan Schwartz | Michele Gammino | Bernard Tiphaine | Totte Wallin | Hallvard Lydvo |
| Vixen | Uschi Wolff | Pinella Dragani | |||
| Badger | Franz-Josef Steffens | Bruno Alessandro | Marc de Georgi | Svante Thuresson | Harald Mæle |
| Mole | Ulli Philipp | Fabrizio Vidale | Serge Lhorca | Michael B Tretow | Åsleik Engmark |
| Owl | Tilly Lauenstein | Alina Moradei | Maaïké Jansen | ||
| Weasel | Marion Martinzen | Laurence Badie | Meta Roos | ||
| Whistler | Donald Arthur | Fabrizio Manfredi | |||
| Toad | Manfred Lehmann | Raoul Delfosse | Bo Maniette | ||
| Adder | Karin Kernke | Évelyne Grandjean | Christel Körner | ||
| Kestrel | Andrea Wildner | Rossella Acerbo/Federica De Bortoli | Mireille Audibert | ||
| Mr. Hare | Horst Sachtleben | ||||
| Mr. Vole | Walter von Hauff | ||||
| Mr. Shrew | Walter von Hauff | ||||
| Mr. Fieldmouse | Walter von Hauff | ||||
| Mrs. Fieldmouse | Isa Di Marzio | ||||
| Mr. Hedgehog | Martin Semmelrogge | Vittorio Stagni | |||
| Mr. Rabbit | Michael Habeck | ||||
| Baby Rabbit | Sabine Bohlmann | ||||
| Mr. Pheasant | Thomas Reiner | ||||
| Mrs. Pheasant | Andrea Wildner | ||||
| Mr. Squirrel | Walter von Hauff | ||||
| Mrs. Squirrel | Monika John | ||||
| Mr. Newt | Oliver Stritzel | ||||
| Mrs. Newt | Karin Kernke | ||||
| Baby Newt | Sabine Bohlmann | ||||
| Scarface | Benno Hoffmann | ||||
| Lady Blue | Elisabeth Endriss | ||||
| Ranger | Oliver Stritzel | ||||
| Bounder | Oliver Stritzel | ||||
| Bully | Otto Sander | ||||
| Brat | Walter von Hauff | ||||
| Great White Stag | Roland Hemmo | ||||
| Bold | Udo Wachtveitl | ||||
| Charmer | Anja Jaenicke | Stella Musy | |||
| Friendly | Axel Malzacher | ||||
| Dreamer | Simone Weyrich | ||||
| Plucky | Pierre Peters Arnolds | ||||
| Speedy | Kathrin Ackermann | Georgia Lepore | |||
| Whisper | Karin Kernke | ||||
| Measly | Pierre Franckh | ||||
| Sinuous | Franz Rudnick | ||||
| Dash | Madeleine Stolze | ||||
| Mossy | Ulli Philipp | ||||
| Rek | Jan Gebauer | ||||
| Lustig | Peter Fricke | ||||
| Spike | Martin Semmelrogge | ||||
| Fido | Alexander Brem | ||||
| Cleo | Sabine Bohlmann | ||||
| Warden's Cat | Arne Elsholtz | ||||
| Rollo | Michael Gahr | ||||
| Donkey | Wichart von Roell | ||||
| Boar | Stefan Orlac | ||||
| Crow | Tommi Piper | ||||
| Shadow | Angelika Bender | ||||
| Hurkel | Helmut Ruge | ||||
| Bruno | Benno Hoffmann | ||||
| Large rat | Helmut Krauss | ||||
| Chief wild cat | Ingeborg Lapsien | ||||
| Tom, the cat | Arne Elsholtz | ||||
| Bats | Kathrin Ackermann | ||||
| Other crow | Tommi Piper | ||||
| Young crows | Tommi Piper | ||||
| Shrike | Benno Hoffmann | ||||
| Ferkelchen | Andrea L'Arronge |
These are based upon the Characters in the Television series. Some parts had happened differently.
In France the programme is known as Les Animaux du Bois de Quat'sous ("The Animals of the Wood of Quat'sous"). It first aired on France 2 in 1994, and in Switzerland at the same time on TSR 2. It also aired in the following countries:
It also aired in Brazil (TV Cultura, Os animais do bosque dos viténs), featuring Élcio Sodré (Fox), Vanessa Alves (Vixen), Maximira Figueiredo (Owl), Francisco Bretas (Toad), Neuza Azevedo (Mole and Adder), Eudes Carvalho (Badger), Zaíra Zordan (Lady Blue) and Fábio Tomazine (Scarface). The series was broadcast by the ABC in Australia where it also became popular. 26 episodes were also broadcasted in Japan by Shizuoka Asahi Television.
Comes last on the Greatest BBC Children's Video ever along with Fireman Sam, Pingu, Spider, William's Wish Wellingtons, Clangers, Nursery Rhyme Time, Noddy's Toyland Adventures, Funnybones, Hairy Jeremy and The Little Polar Bear. It has clips from the following episodes:
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:
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. 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 or 'presentation packs'. 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, Speedy, Hollow, Hurkel, Dash & Sinuous
The characters were also released in twin packs and later in the run, Hornby produced compatible play-scenes. Early in the run, almost simultaneous with the first series being shown in the UK, they released 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.
Despite the show being very popular, the series did not see any form of DVD release until 2009, with the episodes on VHS hard to find up to then (in particular the last two collections). However, there had been an increase in unofficial DVDs available on eBay.
Series 1 came out in France in February 2009 [1].
Series 1 was released in Germany on September 25, 2009 [2], Series 2 was released in Germany on May 27, 2011 [3], and Series 3 will be released in Germany on February 24, 2012 [4]. The German DVD releases offer both English and German audio options.
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. There are females that are Males now. They are Sinuous, The Big Owl and Hollow. The Fieldmice are now known as the Mice. Holly is now known as Hollow.
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. In contrast to Badger's death, Toad and Mossy survive the television series, the former befriending the rat who killed him in the books. The cause of Sinuous death was also changed. Of the rats, Brat originally returned to the sewers instead of being killed by Sinuous, while Bully had his tail bitten off by Cleo rather than being killed by Vixen.
Scarface and his tribe were rival red foxes in the books. His mate was not also named in the books and her personality is not so developed. Too many red foxes would have been confusing for viewers, so the animators made Scarface and his family distinguishable by making them "blue foxes" (actually "silver foxes", a species with a greyish coat which is normally found only in fur farmings). Speedy was also unnamed. There are also one episode characters that didn't appear in the books such as The Red Squirrels, Stoat and Scragg the Rat who is killed on his one time appearance.
The only main plotline that is left out of the series is the plot of The Siege of White Deer Park, in which the character known as 'The Beast' (a big wild cat) attacks the park causing further trouble for the animals' survival. The storyline of this book is presumbly removed because of too much horror and peril themes and the sub-plots that occur in the book (such as Badger mistaking Mossy for Mole) are broken down into small plot changes in the other book storylines for the series.
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