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Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom | |
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Genre | Fantasy |
Created by | Mark Baker Neville Astley |
Written by | Neville Astley Mark Baker Sam Morrison Gary Parker Phil Hall |
Directed by | Mark Baker Neville Astley Philip Hall Joris van Hulzen Andrea Tran |
Voices of | Preston Nyman Sian Taylor Ian Puleston-Davies Sara Crowe Sarah Ann Kennedy John Sparkes Judy Flynn David Graham |
Music by | Julian Nott |
Opening theme | Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom opening theme "Dwarf" composed by (James Butler Christian Chessell (for Christian Chessel) Gideon Rigal Will Rose Tomas Gisby |
Composer | Julian Nott |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 100 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Debbie Macdonald (2009–2011) Joan Lofts (2009–2011) Laura Clunie (2009–2013) Layla Lewis (2009–2011) Olivier Dumont (2012–2013) |
Producer | Phil Davies |
Animators | Simon Bancroft Rachel Feasey (for Rachel Bancroft) Aurélie Charbonnier Inna Phillmore Boris de Leeuwe Nick Wade Richard James Richard Jones |
Editors | Taig McNab Zoe Luff Tomas Gisby Eddie Green |
Running time | 11 minutes
|
Production companies | Astley Baker Davies The Elf Factory Rubber Duck Entertainment (2009) E1 Kids/Entertainment One Family |
Original release | |
Network | Channel 5 Nick Jr. |
Release | 6 April 2009[1] – 24 December 2013 |
Related | |
Peppa Pig |
Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom is a British preschool animated television series. [2] The show was created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, and produced by Astley Baker Davies and by Entertainment One (the original companies responsible for Peppa Pig ). [3] Many of the voice actors who worked on Peppa Pig have lent their voices to the show; these include John Sparkes, Sarah Ann Kennedy, David Rintoul and David Graham. The music is composed, conducted, and produced by Julian Nott, who is noted for his Wallace and Gromit , Bing and Peppa Pig scores. [4] Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom is the third show to be produced by Astley Baker Davies.
The show is set in the Little Kingdom, which is a miniature kingdom hidden among bushes. It is ruled by fairies King and Queen Thistle. They live in the Little Castle with their three daughters; 9-year-old Princess Holly and her naughty younger twins Daisy and Poppy. Nanny Plum is the fairies' nanny and housekeeper, known for her sarcastic comments and overall uninterested mood. Elves, including 9-year-old Ben Elf, live at the Great Elf Tree, which acts as a school, library, apartment complex and factory all in one. Elves are more traditional and live like humans, not using magic, while fairies are modern and magic-oriented. Despite this, the Elf Factory is run on magic.
The Wise Old Elf is the head elf. He operates the Elf Rescue, Elf Farm and Elf Windmill, among many others. Elves have their catchphrase, "...and I'm an elf" (occasionally "we're elves"), tooting their horn afterwards, however, they sometimes just blow a raspberry, such as in "The Elf Factory" when an Elf Worker forgets her horn. Fairies have a matching catchphrase, "I'm a fairy" (occasionally "we're fairies"), followed by a wave and sparkle of their wands. Ben and Holly also have a coccinellid ladybird pet named Gaston, who acts like a dog and is their best friend.
Character | Voice Actor |
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Ben Elf | Preston Nyman |
Holly Thistle | Sian Taylor |
Lucy | Abigail Daniels |
King Thistle | Ian Puleston-Davies |
Queen Thistle | Sara Crowe |
Daisy and Poppy | Zoë Baker |
Nanny Plum | Sarah Ann Kennedy |
Wise Old Elf | David Graham |
Gaston the Ladybird | Taig McNab |
Miss Jolly | Kate Robbins |
Redbeard the Elf Pirate | David Rintoul |
Nathan | Alexander Armstrong |
Sally | Sara Crowe |
Mrs. Fig | Morwenna Banks |
Mrs. Fotheringill | Morwenna Banks |
Mr. Elf | John Sparkes |
Mrs. Elf | Judy Flynn |
Mr. Gnome | David Graham |
Gloria Gnome | Judy Flynn |
King Marigold | John Sparkes |
Queen Marigold | Morwenna Banks |
Granny Thistle | Morwenna Banks |
Granpapa Thistle | Alexander Armstrong |
Mrs. Witch | Sara Crowe |
Strawberry | Zara Siddiqi |
Fairy Mayor | Alexander Armstrong |
Fleur | Alice May |
Zyros | Bram Karek |
Captain Squid | Andy Hamilton |
Barnaby Elf | Stanley Nickless |
Jake Elf | Jonny Butler |
Rosie Fairy | Chaniya Mahon |
Violet | Lucy Moss |
Lizzy Elf | Cecily Bloom |
Yasmin | Yasmin Shaboo |
Katy | Zoë Baker |
Joe | Jamie Oram |
Tarquin | Jonny Butler |
Miss Cookie | Naomi Wilkinson |
Mrs. Customer | Morwenna Banks |
Big Bad Barry Father Christmas | Richard Ridings |
Dave the Dragon | Eddie Green |
Dwarf Boss | Richard Ridings |
The Great Leader | Stanley Eville |
Dwarf Mine Door | Richard Ridings |
Magic Mirror | Morwenna Banks |
Genie | Richard Ridings |
Strawberry's Mum | Naomi Wilkinson |
Mrs Peach | Hannah Williams Jen Pringle |
In the United Kingdom and Ireland the show was broadcast on Channel 5 children’s programming block, Milkshake!. It was also broadcast on Nick Jr. UK and Ireland. In Canada, the show was broadcast on Treehouse TV. In the United States, the show was broadcast on the Nick Jr. Channel. The series also airs on Baraem in Qatar. On 1 June 2021, the entire show became available on Tubi. It was broadcast across Nickelodeon's channels throughout Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America.
Common Sense Media gave the show a 4 out of 5, calling it "charming" and saying it promoted friendship and perseverance. [6] The Toy Insider also gave the show a positive review, saying it was entertaining and also taught positive values. [7]
An elf is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda.
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John Sparkes is a Welsh actor and comedian. He portrayed Barry Welsh, presenter of the HTV Wales series Barry Welsh Is Coming. He has also had major roles in Naked Video, Absolutely, Fireman Sam, Shaun the Sheep, and Jeff Global's Global Probe, and is the narrator of the children's television show Peppa Pig.
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