Storm Boy (novel)

Last updated

Storm Boy
StormBoy.jpg
First edition
Author Colin Thiele
IllustratorJohn Bailey
LanguageEnglish
Genre Children's
Set in Coorong region, South Australia
PublisherRigby
Publication date
1964
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint
Pages50
OCLC 12577321

Storm Boy is a 1964 Australian children's novel written by Colin Thiele, about a boy and his pelican. [1] The story, set in the Coorong region of South Australia, [2] focuses on the relationships the boy has with his father Hide-Away Tom, the pelican, and an outcast Australian Aboriginal man called Fingerbone.

Contents

The story has been dramatised several times. The 1976 film adaptation Storm Boy won the Jury and Best Film prizes at the 1977 AFI Awards. [2]

Plot summary

Storm Boy likes to wander alone along the fierce deserted coast among the dunes that face out into the Southern Ocean. After a pelican mother is shot, Storm Boy rescues the three baby pelicans and nurses them back to health. He names them Mr Proud, Mr Ponder and Mr Percival. After he releases them, his favourite, Mr Percival, returns. The story then concentrates on the conflict between his lifestyle, the externally imposed requirement for him to attend a school, the fate of the pelican, and the relationship of the boy, and later his father, with Fingerbone.

Adaptations

The 1976 film adaptation Storm Boy won both the Jury Prize and Best Film at the 1977 Australian Film Institute Awards. [3] The film starred David Gulpilil in the role of Finger Bone and Greg Rowe in the title role. The film was advertised with the tagline "Every year has its special film, this year it's...Storm Boy". [4]

An audio dramatisation was made in 1994. The Bell Shakespeare Company toured Australia with the play Storm Boy in 1996, with Trent Atkinson in the title role. [5]

The Sydney Theatre Company performed Tom Holloway's stage adaptation in 2013 and 2015 in collaboration with Perth's Barking Gecko Theatre Company, [6] Trevor Jamieson played Fingerbone Bill in the 2013 production, [7] while Jimi Bani played the character in 2015 (apart from three performances, where Shaka Cook stood in owing to an unforeseen family commitment). [6]

A children's video game by the name of Storm Boy: The Game, following the story and including a few mini-games based on its events, was released in late 2018 on several platforms. [8]

A second movie adaptation, starring Geoffrey Rush, Jai Courtney, with Trevor Jamieson reprising his role as Fingerbone Bill, was released in January 2019. [7] [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Rush</span> Australian actor (born 1951)

Geoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor. Known for often playing eccentric roles on both stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award, making him the only Australian to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, in addition to three BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Rush is the founding president of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts and was named the 2012 Australian of the Year.

John Anthony Bell FRSN is an Australian actor, theatre director and theatre manager. He has been a major influence on the development of Australian theatre in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Cox (actor)</span> Scottish actor (born 1946)

Brian Denis Cox is a Scottish actor. A classically trained Shakespearean actor, he is known for his work on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include two Laurence Olivier Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award as well as a nomination for a British Academy Television Award. In 2003, he was appointed to the Order of the British Empire at the rank of Commander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toby Stephens</span> British actor (born 1969)

Toby Stephens is a British actor who has appeared in films in the UK, US and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day, for which he was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, William Gordon in the 2005 Mangal Pandey: The Rising film and Edward Fairfax Rochester in the 2006 BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre. From 2014 to 2017, he starred as Captain Flint in the Starz television series Black Sails, followed by one of the lead roles in the Netflix science fiction series Lost in Space from 2018 to 2021. He currently stars as the Greek God Poseidon in Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Esther "Essie" Davis is an Australian actress and singer, best known for her roles as Phryne Fisher in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and its film adaptation, Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears, and as Amelia Vanek in The Babadook. Other major works include a recurring role as Lady Crane in season six of the television series Game of Thrones, Sister Iphigenia in Lambs of God, and the role of Ellen Kelly in Justin Kurzel's True History of the Kelly Gang.

Clive Merrison is a Welsh actor of film, television, stage and radio. He trained at Rose Bruford College. He is best known for his long running BBC Radio portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, having played the part in all 64 episodes of the 1989–1998 series of Sherlock Holmes dramatisations, and all 16 episodes of The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (2002–2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bille Brown</span> Australian actor

William Gerald BrownAM professionally known as Bille Brown was an Australian stage, film and television actor and acclaimed playwright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine McClements</span> Australian actress

Catherine McClements is an Australian stage, film and television actress and television presenter. She is known for her TV roles in Water Rats and Tangle, for which she won Logie Awards, and has performed in stage productions for theatre companies such as Belvoir St Theatre, the Melbourne Theatre Company, the Sydney Theatre Company and the State Theatre Company of South Australia.

David John Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director. He is best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show. In April 2014, he portrayed comedian Tommy Cooper in a television film entitled Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This. In 2014, he starred alongside Jude Law in the thriller Black Sea. In 2022, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance in the Martin McDonagh play Hangmen.

Storm Boy is a 1976 Australian drama film based on the 1964 book of the same name by Colin Thiele, about a lonely boy and his pet pelicans living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. It was the third feature film made by the South Australian Film Corporation, and is a highlight of the New Wave of Australian Cinema from the 1970s. The film was financed by SAFC, Seven Network and the Australian Film Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre of Australia</span> Overview of theatre in Australia

Theatre of Australia refers to the history of the live performing arts in Australia: performed, written or produced by Australians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Burke</span> Australian actor

Simon Gareth Burke is an Australian actor, active in films, television and theatre.

Justin Smith is an Australian actor, best known for his AFI nominated performance as barrister 'Josh Bornstein' in the ABC mini-series Bastard Boys. He is also known in Australia for his TV, film, theatre and television commercial work.

Kip Williams is an Australian theatre and opera director. Williams is the current Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company. His appointment at age 30 made him the youngest artistic director in the company's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George W. Anson</span> British actor (1847–1920)

George W. Anson was a British actor. He specialised in comedy roles, and appeared in New York and Sydney, Australia. He appeared in plays of Shakespeare, particularly in productions by Herbert Beerbohm Tree.

John Sheedy is an Australian theatre director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trevor Jamieson</span> Australian actor, singer, dancer and playwright

Trevor Jamieson is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actor, playwright, dancer, singer and didgeridoo player.

<i>Storm Boy</i> (2019 film) 2019 film by Shawn Seet

Storm Boy is a 2019 Australian drama family film based on the 1964 novella by Colin Thiele of the same name. The adaptation was directed by Shawn Seet and stars Geoffrey Rush and Jai Courtney. Thiele's novel was previously adapted in 1976.

References

  1. Storm Boy at Fantastic Fiction
  2. 1 2 "Storm Boy remake planned 40 years after original award-winning film". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  3. AFI. Archived 2010-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Storm Boy at IMDb
  5. Bell Shakespeare Company past productions
  6. 1 2 "Storm Boy". Sydney Theatre Company . 17 May 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Trevor Jamieson's film dream comes true as Fingerbone Bill in Storm Boy". Perth Now . Community News. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  8. Stevens, Nathan (6 August 2018). "Storm Boy: The Game". gamingcypher.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  9. Storm Boy at IMDb