The Animals of Farthing Wood (TV series)
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''The Animals of Farthing Wood'' is a British
animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...
commissioned by the
European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
between 1993 and 1995, and is based on the
series of books A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their pub ...
written by English author
Colin Dann Colin Dann (born 10 March 1943) is an English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of ...
. It was produced by Telemagination, based in London, and La Fabrique, based in
Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
in France, but also aired in other European countries. The first countries to air the series were Norway, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom, in January 1993. On 3 October 2016, Network Distributing released all three series of ''The Animals of Farthing Wood'' onto a DVD
box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...
. This was the first time that all episodes had been released in English as an official and complete set. As of 2021, it is now available for digital purchase in the UK on Amazon Prime Video.


Synopsis

The television series followed the basic plots of the series of books, although certain elements were changed. The first series followed the animals of Farthing Wood, who were forced to flee their homes after humans started destroying the wood to build
suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
tract houses. Led by Fox, and guided by Toad, the animals left Farthing Wood on a journey to White Deer Park, a
nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
where they would be protected. The second and third series followed the relationships between the Farthing Wood animals, the White Deer Park animals and outsiders, particularly a blue fox named Scarface, his mate Lady Blue and cub Ranger. The episodes were made in both the UK and France. Because of this, in Series 1 traffic is seen driving on the right hand carriageway of the motorway. However, they are briefly seen in Series 3 driving on the left hand side. Other than this, the location is generally kept ambiguous, apart from a brief moment in Series 2 when a gravestone is visible with French writing on it. When the series aired in the United States, two versions were shown, the UK version which was shown on select television stations, and a new version released on home video titled ''Journey Home: The Animals of Farthing Wood''. The home video version saw some of the voices changed, for example, the role of Fox was replaced by
Ralph Macchio Ralph George Macchio Jr. ( ; born November 4, 1961) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Daniel LaRusso in three ''Karate Kid'' films and in ''Cobra Kai'', a sequel television series. He also played Johnny Cade in '' The Outsiders' ...
, along with added songs as well.


Episodes


Cast

* Jeremy Barrett as Mr. Rabbit, Scarface, Mole, Bold, Friendly, Hollow, Mossy, Hurkel, Measley, Mr. Shrew, and others. *
Rupert Farley Rupert Charles Farley (born 4 August 1957) is an English actor and voice artist. He has had various roles in movies such as ''From Hell'', ''The Young Poisoner's Handbook'', ''Shakespeare in Love'' and ''Mrs Brown''. He is probably best known f ...
as Fox, Mr. Hare, Mr. Pheasant, Plucky, Trey, Fido, Brat and others. *
Jon Glover Jonathan Philip Glover (born 26 December 1952) is an English actor. He has appeared in various television programmes including '' Play School'', '' Survivors'', the Management consultant in '' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', '' Casual ...
as Scarface, Ranger, The Warden, and others. *
Sally Grace Sally Grace (born 10 September 1951) is an English actress who has worked extensively on radio and television and in animation. Life and career Grace was born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, and trained at the Guildhall School of Music ...
as Owl, Weasel, Charmer, and others. * Stacy Jefferson as Vixen, Adder, Kestrel, Mrs. Hare, Mrs. Rabbit, Shadow, and others. * Pamela Keevilkral as Dash, Cleo, Speedy, Whisper, Mrs. Squirrel, Mrs. Hedgehog, and others. *
Ron Moody Ron Moody (born Ronald Moodnick; 8 January 1924 – 11 June 2015) was an English actor, composer, singer and writer. He was best known for his portrayal of Fagin in ''Oliver!'' (1968) and its 1983 Broadway revival. Moody earned a Golden Globe ...
as Badger, Toad, Whistler, Bully, Spike, Rollo, Mr. Hedgehog, Mr. Vole, Mr. Mouse, The Great White Stag, and others. *
Maria Warburg Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, d ...
as Whisper (Audiobook only) *
Peter Woodthorpe Peter Woodthorpe (25 September 1931 – 13 August 2004) was an English actor who supplied the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of ''The Lord of the Rings'' and BBC's 1981 radio serial. He also provided the voice of Pigsy in the cul ...
as Whistler, Toad and The Great White Stag (Audiobook only) *
Timothy Bateson Timothy Dingwall Bateson (3 April 1926 – 15 September 2009) was an English actor. Life and career Born in London, the son of solicitor Dingwall Latham Bateson and the great-nephew of rugby player Harold Dingwall Bateson, he was educated at ...
as Measley, Fox, Trey and others (Audiobook only) *
Fiona Reid Fiona Reid, CM (born 24 July 1951) is an English-born Canadian television, film, and stage actress. She is best known for her roles as Cathy on the TV series ''King of Kensington'' and Harriet Miller in the film ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding''. E ...
as Weasel and Adder (US dub only) Fox, the leader of the Animals of Farthing Wood, was voiced by
Rupert Farley Rupert Charles Farley (born 4 August 1957) is an English actor and voice artist. He has had various roles in movies such as ''From Hell'', ''The Young Poisoner's Handbook'', ''Shakespeare in Love'' and ''Mrs Brown''. He is probably best known f ...
in the UK and Ireland version but in the US home video version he was played by
Ralph Macchio Ralph George Macchio Jr. ( ; born November 4, 1961) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Daniel LaRusso in three ''Karate Kid'' films and in ''Cobra Kai'', a sequel television series. He also played Johnny Cade in '' The Outsiders' ...
. In France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Sweden the cast included the following:


Buzz Books

These are based upon the characters in the television series. Some parts had happened differently. * "Farewell to the Wood" (based upon ''The Wood in Danger'') * "The Adventure Begins" (based upon ''The Journey Begins'') * "Fire" (based upon ''Through the Fire and Water'') * "A New Friend" (based upon ''Friend in Need'') * "Heroes" (based upon ''Whistler's Quarry'') * "The Silent Field" (based upon ''A Deathly Calm'') * "The Storm Shelter" (based upon ''Pandemonium'') * "Journey's End" (based upon ''So Near and Yet So Far'') * "A New Home" (based upon ''A Hero's Welcome'', ''Winter'', and ''Survival'') * "Badger in Danger" (based upon ''Winter'', and ''Survival'') * "Unwelcome Visitors" (based upon ''New Enemies'') * "Spring Awakening" (based upon ''Home is Where the Heart Is'') * "Bold" (based upon ''The Feud Begins'') * "Trouble in the Park" (based upon ''Like Father, Like Son'', ''Narrow Escapes'', and ''Shadows'') * "Showdown" (based upon ''Blood is Thicker Than Water'') * "Peace" (based upon ''Reconciliation'') * "Strangers in the Park" (based upon ''Comings and Goings'') * "The Weasels' Adventure" (based upon ''The Missing Fox's Friend'', ''Tiffs and Tempers'', and ''The Long Tailed Visitor'') * "To the Rescue" (based upon ''The Missing Fox's Friend'', ''Adventure for the Birds'', and ''Scared Silly by Snakes'') * "The Rat Spy" (based upon ''The Long Tailed Visitor'' and ''The Mole Game'')


Adventures of Fox

Appears last on the Greatest BBC Children's Video ever along with
Fireman Sam ''Fireman Sam'' ( Welsh: ') is a Welsh animated children's television series about a fireman named Sam, his fellow firefighters, and other residents in the fictional Welsh rural village of Pontypandy (a portmanteau of two real towns, Pontypridd ...
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Spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
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William's Wish Wellingtons ''William's Wish Wellingtons'' is an animated BBC children's television series produced by Hibbert Ralph Entertainment (who had previously created '' Spider!''), which was originally aired on BBC One from 25 October to 30 December 1994 ...
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Clangers ''Clangers'' (usually referred to as ''The Clangers'') is a British stop motion, stop-motion children's television series, consisting of short films about a family of mouse, mouse-like creatures who live on, and inside, a small moon-like planet ...
, Nursery Rhyme Time,
Noddy's Toyland Adventures ''Noddy's Toyland Adventures'' is a British children's television programme that was broadcast from September 1992 until April 1994 and December 1994, and again in 2000 on the BBC. It was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films in stop-motion animation. ...
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Funnybones ''Funnybones'' (''Sgerbyde'' in welsh) )is a British children's television comedy series, which originally aired on S4C in Wales, and on BBC One with BBC Two showing repeats elsewhere in the United Kingdom from 29 September to 15 December 1992. ...
, Hairy Jeremy and
The Little Polar Bear ''The Little Polar Bear'' (in nl, Lars de kleine ijsbeer) is a franchise about a polar bear cub named Lars who first starred in a number of books written by Dutch author, Hans de Beer. The first of several animated adaptations of the books is a ...
. It has clips from the following episodes: * Beginning and end of The Wood in Danger (Loggers attack the Wood, Owl informed about the pond filled in, Assembly) * Beginning of The Journey Begins (Leaving the Wood) * End of Snare for the Unwary (Kestrel spots river, Animals cross River, Fox and Badger hit by driftwood) * Beginning of Who Shall Wear the Crown? (Badger found in reeds, Kestrel loses Fox, Animals move on) * Some beginning and Middle of New Friends, Old Enemies (Fox arrives at Town, Fox put onto truck, Fox meets Vixen) * Some parts of Friend in Need (parts with Hunting, Meeting Big Owl, Searching, Fox Hunt and the ending)


Merchandise

Apart from books and videos, there was also a Farthing Wood CD-ROM game that was released in October 1996, 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. 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 Hornby may refer to: Places In England * Hornby, Lancashire * Hornby, Hambleton, village in North Yorkshire * Hornby, Richmondshire, village in North Yorkshire Elsewhere * Hornby, Ontario, community in the town of Halton Hills, Ontario, Canad ...
, 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. Series 1 was released in Germany on 25 September 2009, Series 2 was released in Germany on 27 May 2011, and Series 3 was released in Germany on 24 February 2012. The German DVD releases offer both English and German audio options. On 3 October 2016, Network released all three series of The Animals of Farthing Wood onto a DVD Box Set. This is the first time all episodes have been released in English as an official & complete set. (http://networkonair.com/shop/2553-animals-of-farthing-wood-the-the-complete-series.html) Brownee Bear Productions also own the licence for this shows. The licence was done thru agreements of the creators.


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. 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 Spike, the rat who killed Mossy and was killed himself by Adder 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. Also in the end of the book Season 3 was based on, Battle for the Park, Dash is the one who tells the others that White Deer Park has merged with another reserve giving more space for the animals to live, in Season 3, it's instead Trey who tells them this. 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" (more commonly referred to as "silver foxes", a melanistic color morph of the red fox.). 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 in 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 presumably 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.


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 & arranged by: Detlev Kühne *Theme Music composed and arranged by: Detlev Kühne *Recorded by: Kölner Rundfunkorchester *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 Alison de Vere (16 September 1927 – 2 January 2001), while married also known as Alison Weschke, was a British animator, known for her animated short films ''The Black Dog'' and ''Psyche and Eros''. Career Born in Peshawar into a British milit ...
, 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, José 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 Martins, 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, Andrew Ryder *Rostrum Camera: Chris Williams, Anthony Hagen, Jacques Armand, Yves Francon, Jean Paul Rossard *Software: Animo
Cambridge Animation Systems Cambridge Animation Systems was a British software company that developed a traditional animation software package called ''Animo'', and is now part of Canadian company Toon Boom Technologies. It was based in Cambridge, England, hence the name. ...
*Production Supervisor: Jean-Paul Gaspari *Production Coordinator: Dominique Edmond-Marlette *Production Accountants: Helmut Breuer, Philippe Marteaux *Editing: Theresa Plummer-Andrews, John Daniels, 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: John Daniels, Hilary Daniels, Hans-Peter Kaufman *Track Readers: Otto Sander, Ulli Philipp, Tilly Lauenstein, Martin Semmelrogge, Helmut Ruge, Wichart V. Roell, Karin Kernke, Franz-Josef Steffens, Stephan Schwartz, Marion Martinzen, Manfred Lehmann, Peter Fricke, Benno Hoffmann, Thomas Reiner, Horst Sachtleben, Michael Habeck, Tommy Piper, Arne Elsholtz, Ingeborg Lapsien, Stefan Orlac *Associate Producer: Wolfgang Wegmann *Producer: John M. Mills *Production: A Martin Gates Production in association with Telemagination (London), Praxinos (Montpeller) for the BBC Enterprises *EBU Coordinator: Marie-Claire Vionnet *Executive Producers: Siegmund Grewenig, Theresa Plummer-Andrews *Film Laboratories: European Cineman, Television Year *Copyrighted in 1992, 1993 and 1995 by the European Broadcasting Union (of
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)


References


External links

*
The Animals of Farthing Wood
at Toonhound
The Animals of Farthing Wood
at the
European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

The Animals of Farthing Wood FanlistingTelemagination
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