The Animals of Farthing Wood

Product Information

A gripping, exciting and emotional story where the Animals of Farthing Wood must leave their home because of humans destroying the land to build houses. Toad reveals he knows a nature reserve where they can all go and live safely from human intervention and so the animals make an oath to protect one another on the dangerous journey to the nature reserve White Deer Park. A show like Farthing Wood understood that if children can be taught about death sensitively from an early age, it would help them as they grow up, and encounter its effects first hand. Man-made threats The wonderful voice work of actors such as Ron Moody brought to life a colourful array of characters named for their species: Fox, Badger, Owl, Weasel and so on. 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. Production: A Martin Gates Production in association with Telemagination (London), Praxinos (Montpeller) for the BBC Enterprises

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. The Animals of Farthing Wood is a series of books about a group of woodland animals. [1] It originated with the 1979 book, The Animals of Farthing Wood, by Colin Dann, and was followed by six sequels and a prequel by Dann. An animated Animals of Farthing Wood television series based on the books aired in the 1990s, created by the European Broadcasting Union. [2]Ron Moody as Badger, Toad, Whistler, Bully, Spike, Rollo, Mr. Hedgehog, Mr. Vole, Mr. Fieldmouse, The Great White Stag, and others. I was obsessed with the animated series which led me to the books, it’s probably the reason why I like to read and compare my favourite film and tv shows now. Adventures of Fox’ appears 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: It is certainly true that the programme was unusually stark and brutal at times. Just look at the ‘Butcher Bird’. The animals arrive at a quarry and Mole digs under the fence so they can all get in to drink. Here they meet a heron called Whistler, who catches some fish for them to eat. Toad goes swimming and is caught by a carp, but Whistler catches the fish which soon releases Toad from its mouth. Toad asks Whistler to set the fish free and the heron obliges. After this Whistler decides to join the animals on their journey and they all have a celebration before setting off again.

Written by: Alan Case, Steve Walker, Sue Butterworth, Jenny McDade, Gordon Harrison, Elphin Lloyd-Jones, Valerie Georgeson Colin Dann was born in Richmond, London, in 1943. After leaving the local grammar school he worked first for a large textile company before his real love – the world of books – brought him a job in publishing. He worked for William Collins, Sons & Co. for 13 years. During this time, in odd hours at home, Colin wrote his first book, The Animals of Farthing Wood, which was published finally in 1979 after years of trying. It was an immediate success, winning awards is now translated into sixteen languages. The book has never been out of print since its first publication 25 years ago. Six sequels and one prequel have followed and enjoyed similar success. The books tell the story of a group of woodland animals whose home has been paved over by developers. They learn of a nature reserve, White Deer Park, where they will be safe, and undertake to make the journey together. They form an Oath, promising to protect one another and overcome their natural instincts until they reach their destination. The endearing, witty and heartfelt personalities, and the interplay between them, ensured young viewers grew greatly attached to the characters.

Hobbies

The passing of the elderly Badger, leaving his long-time companions sobbing with grief, was a powerful and resonant sequence. The kind a child might relate to the death of their own grandparent. A confused but kindly old person, slipping peacefully away into a wakeless sleep. The animals reach a motorway and are able to cross one side without any problems, but the other side is much busier and would be much more difficult to cross. Whistler carries the smaller and lighter animals across the road and most of the other animals cross safely, but two of the older hedgehogs are too slow and perish under the wheels of a lorry. The rest of the group walks through some poisoned farm fields and come across a naturalist as they rest in an orchard. Next they travel through a town and rest in a church to escape a heavy storm, but the hole through which they entered is filled in and a wedding party arrives, causing pandemonium as the animals rush to escape. They all escape the church, but some of the slower animals are left behind and have to be fetched by Whistler. The Weasels' Adventure" (based upon The Missing Fox's Friend, Tiffs and Tempers, and The Long Tailed Visitor) Prejudice and discrimination was also a common theme. Having lost their home, and been forced to journey across country, the animals were often treated with hostility and contempt when they attempted to settle elsewhere.

I also loved how Fox saw something positive emerge from a negative event. This showed his maturity and his spiritual eye was open; noticing how, 'All works for good...' The story follows a group of animals, led by Fox, as they make the decision to leave their home behind. People are bulldozing Farthing Wood to make room for new houses and Toad has just returned with news of a nature reserve where the group can live without fear. You got to know about each animal in Farthing Wood because their name was their species and for all females, mate. Vixen, the fox's mate, showed up late to the party but was the only female given any thought. Pheasant's hen gave him a scathing look on occasion, but never chimed in an opinion. There’s such a nice array of characters including the loyal Fox and pompous Owl plus the fatherly Badger and the greedy Mole who’s appetite can lead him into trouble, the group are lead by tour guide Toad. I loved how each character had his own unique character. Badger was kind, Fox intelligent and courageous, Mole humble (and greedy! A vice that had its own price to pay), Kestrel focused and determined, Toad strong and perservering, Pheasant vain, Adder painfully honest, Rabbit grounded.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 tract 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. 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 moral of this story is that humans are taking up all of the land and leaving nothing for our wildlife. The message was well intended, but too much made about human fellows and less about the animals. Fox, the leader of the Animals of Farthing Wood, was voiced by Rupert Farley in the UK and Ireland version but in the US home video version he was played by Ralph Macchio. 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.