The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends | |
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Genre | Animation |
Written by |
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Directed by |
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Narrated by | Niamh Cusack |
Ending theme | "Perfect Day" by Miriam Stockley |
Composer | Colin Towns |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 9 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Jonathan Peel |
Producers |
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Editors |
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Running time | 24 minutes |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | BBC1 (1992–96) BBC Two (1998) |
Release | 20 December 1992 – 25 December 1998 |
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends is a British animated anthology television series based on the works of Beatrix Potter, featuring Peter Rabbit and other anthropomorphic animal characters created by Potter. [1] 14 of Potter's stories were adapted into 9 films, and the series was originally shown in the U.K. on the BBC between 20 December 1992 and 25 December 1998. It was subsequently broadcast in the U.S. on Family Channel between 23 October 1992 and 23 October 1995. For the initial VHS releases, some of the characters' voices were dubbed-over by actors with more American-like accents. [2]
TVC London, in association with the BBC and the Japanese companies Pony Canyon Inc and Fuji Television Network Inc., produced the show for the publishing company Frederick Warne & Co. The first six episodes cost approximately £5 million to produce. Dianne Jackson, director of the 1982 Christmas special The Snowman , was involved in the planning of the series and received series director and writer credit on the first six episodes, but she died of cancer on New Year's Eve 1992. The animation style of The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends keeps very close to Potter's artwork in the original books. The main title song for the show is Perfect Day sung by Miriam Stockley. The live-action scenes in Potter's cottage and grounds were filmed on location at her actual cottage, 'Hill Top', in Cumbria, which is maintained unchanged as a museum by the National Trust.
Each episode opens up with a live-action Beatrix Potter, portrayed by actress Niamh Cusack, coming to her farmhouse out of the rain, either after finishing a watercolour painting and running home with her pet dog, Kep, or after doing the shopping in town and hitching a ride home on a horse-drawn vehicle, sitting down to some tea with her pet rabbit, Peter, and then setting up the featured story. Once Potter finishes the story, she either posts the picture letter herself or asks a boy to do it. An exception to this is The Tailor of Gloucester episode, which takes place at Christmas time. The Tailor of Gloucester, unlike the other episodes, begins with Potter's maid, Daisy, serving out mince pies to some carol singers who sing the Sussex Carol while Potter and her pet cat, Simpkin, listen to them, and it ends with pictures taken from the main story. Some of the episodes include storylines from two separate books, either told one after the other or intermingled.
No. | Title | Directed by | Original air date | |
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1 | "The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny" | Geoff Dunbar | 20 December 1992 [3] | |
Peter Rabbit goes into Mr. McGregor's garden against his mother's warning. He loses his clothes after an eventful escape, and Mr. McGregor puts them on his scarecrow. The next morning, Peter and his cousin Benjamin Bunny go into Mr. McGregor's garden to rescue the clothes, and get Mrs. Rabbit a present of onions. They find a cat and hide in a basket which the cat sits upon. Mrs. Rabbit is sad that Peter hasn't returned, and Benjamin's father notes that Benjamin has also gone missing. He goes into Mr. McGregor's garden where he fights the cat off the basket and locks her in the garden shed. Then he sends Peter back home. | ||||
2 | "The Tale of Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddle-Duck" | Dave Unwin | 9 April 1993 [4] | |
Tom Kitten and his sisters are all dressed up for their mother's tea party. They lose their clothes while playing and Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit is mad at them for doing so. When her guests arrive, she tells them her kittens are in bed with measles. Meanwhile, Jemima Puddle Duck is trying to lay her eggs and comes across a foxy whiskered gentleman. | ||||
3 | "The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding" | Mike Stuart | 29 August 1993 [5] | |
On baking day, Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit locks her kittens up in a cupboard. But Tom Kitten tries to hide, and goes up the chimney. Tabitha's cousin Ribby comes over to borrow some yeast, and Tabitha tells her that she can't find Tom. They search for him all over the house. Meanwhile, Tom Kitten comes face to face with Samuel Whiskers, an old rat, and his wife Anna Maria who then hold him prisoner in an attempt to make him into a roly-poly pudding. | ||||
4 | "The Tailor of Gloucester" | Jack Stokes and Roger Mainwood (animation director) | 24 December 1993 [6] | |
A tailor is making a coat for the Mayor of Gloucester. He is nearly finished except for some cherry coloured silk. Some mice finish the coat in the night. | ||||
5 | "The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher" | Geoff Dunbar | 1 April 1994 [7] | |
Lucie has lost another pocket handkerchief. She tries to find them, and then comes across a tiny bucket in a waterfall. She meets Mrs. Tiggy Winkle, a hedgehog who does laundry. She has her pocket handkerchiefs. Then Lucie and Mrs. Tiggy Winkle deliver the laundry. They meet Mr. Jeremy Fisher, a frog who has had quite an adventure. He was fishing one day, when he nearly got swallowed by a big fish. | ||||
6 | "The Tale of Pigling Bland" | Mike Stuart | 27 December 1994 [8] | |
Pigling Bland is sent off to market, but he loses his way and ends up at a farm, where he meets a black Berkshire pig named Pig Wig. | ||||
7 | "The Tale of Two Bad Mice and Johnny Town-Mouse" | Roger Mainwood | 26 December 1996 [9] | |
Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca are little mice who break into a doll's house and destroy everything. Meanwhile, Timmy Willie, a mouse who lives in the country, is horrified by things at Johnny Town Mouse's home. | ||||
8 | "The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and Mrs. Tittlemouse" | Dave Unwin and Tony Guy (animation director) | 27 December 1996 [10] | |
Benjamin Bunny has grown up and married his cousin Flopsy. They have a large family, collectively known as the Flopsy Bunnies. They go to Mr. McGregor's rubbish heap and eat the lettuce leaves, then they fall into a deep sleep. Mr. McGregor sees the Flopsy Bunnies when dumping grass cuttings onto the heap, then he puts them into his sack. Benjamin and Flopsy try to rescue them, then Mrs Tittlemouse bites through the sack, setting them free. Benjamin and the bunnies then fill the sack with rotten vegetables. Mrs. Tittlemouse returns home to see Mr. Jackson sitting by her fireplace. Then Mr. McGregor picks up the sack, thinking the Bunnies are still in it. Mrs. McGregor is shocked to find the vegetables in the sack. | ||||
9 | "The Tale of Mr. Tod" | Geoff Dunbar | 25 December 1998 [11] | |
Benjamin and Flopsy leave their children in the care of Mr. Bouncer. Tommy Brock comes by, looking for food. Mr. Bouncer and Tommy Brock both hate Mr. Tod the fox. Tommy Brock puts the Flopsy Bunnies into his sack. When Benjamin and Flopsy returns, they are shocked to find their children missing. Benjamin tells his cousin Peter what has happened. They go to Tommy Brock's house, where they hear the Flopsy Bunnies in the oven. Mr. Tod arrives, shocked to find Tommy Brock sleeping in his bed. He hangs a bucket of water over his bed, but Tommy wakes up before he can be drenched, and the two enemies eventually brawl, allowing Peter and Benjamin to rescue the Flopsy Bunnies, and bring them back to Flopsy. |
When the films were released on VHS, they featured a special mini documentary at the end.
Documentary | Summary | VHS release | Release date |
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Beatrix Potter's World | Beatrix Potter's stories were inspired by the world around her. | The Tale of Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddle-Duck | 15 March 1993 |
A Victorian Childhood | Beatrix Potter was born in the Victorian era. | The Tailor of Gloucester | 11 October 1993 |
The Story Letters | Many of Beatrix Potter's stories started off as letters written to children. | The Tale of Mrs Tiggy Winkle and Mr Jeremy Fisher | 14 March 1994 |
The Conservationist | As well as writing books, Beatrix Potter protected the land where she lived and left all her property to the National Trust. | The Tale of Pigling Bland | 1 August 1994 |
The Legacy of Beatrix Potter | When Beatrix Potter died, she left us many things. | The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly Poly Pudding | 17 October 1994 |
Helen Beatrix Potter was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit, which was her first commercially published work in 1902. Her books, including 23 Tales, have sold more than 250 million copies. An entrepreneur, Potter was a pioneer of character merchandising. In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy, making him the oldest licensed character.
Peter Rabbit is a fictional animal character in various children's stories by English author Beatrix Potter. A mischievous, adventurous young rabbit who wears a blue jacket, he first appeared in The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1902, and subsequently in five more books between 1904 and 1912. The six books by Potter featuring Peter Rabbit have sold over 150 million copies. Spin-off merchandise includes dishes, wallpaper, painting books, board games and dolls. In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy, making him the oldest licensed character.
The Tales of Beatrix Potter is a 1971 ballet film based on the children's stories of English author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. The film was directed by Reginald Mills, choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton, and featured dancers from The Royal Ballet. The musical score was arranged by John Lanchbery from various sources, such as the operas of Michael Balfe and of Sir Arthur Sullivan, and performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House conducted by Lanchbery. It was produced by Richard Goodwin with John Brabourne as executive producer. The stories were adapted by Goodwin and his wife designer Christine Edzard.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter that follows mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he gets into, and is chased around, the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns home to his mother, who puts him to bed after offering him chamomile tea. The tale was written for five-year-old Noel Moore, the son of Potter's former governess, Annie Carter Moore, in 1893. It was revised and privately printed by Potter in 1901 after several publishers' rejections, but was printed in a trade edition by Frederick Warne & Co. in 1902. The book was a success, and multiple reprints were issued in the years immediately following its debut. It has been translated into 36 languages, and with 45 million copies sold it is one of the best-selling books in history.
The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in October 1908 as The Roly-Poly Pudding. In 1926, it was re-published as The Tale of Samuel Whiskers. The book is dedicated to the author's fancy rat "Sammy" and tells of Tom Kitten's escape from two rats who plan to make him into a pudding. The tale was adapted to animation in 1993.
The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in July 1909. After two full-length tales about rabbits, Potter had grown weary of the subject and was reluctant to write another. She realized however that children most enjoyed her rabbit stories and pictures, and so reached back to characters and plot elements from The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902) and The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (1904) to create The Flopsy Bunnies. A semi-formal garden of archways and flowerbeds in Wales at the home of her uncle and aunt became the background for the illustrations.
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in August 1903. The story is about an impertinent red squirrel named Nutkin and his narrow escape from an owl called Old Brown. The book followed Potter's hugely successful The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and was an instant hit. The now-familiar endpapers of the Peter Rabbit series were introduced in the book.
The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse is a book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in 1910. The book tells the story of a wood mouse named Mrs. Thomasina Tittlemouse and her efforts to keep her house in order, despite the appearance of uninvited visitors. A particularly annoying visitor for Mrs Tittlemouse is Mr. Jackson, a sloppy toad.
The Tailor of Gloucester is a Christmas children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, privately printed by the author in 1902, and published in a trade edition by Frederick Warne & Co. in October 1903. The story is about a tailor whose work on a waistcoat is finished by the grateful mice he rescues from his cat and was based on a real world incident involving a tailor and his assistants. For years, Potter declared that of all her books it was her personal favourite.
The Tale of Mr. Tod is a book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter and was first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in 1912. It features Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny along with several other characters from Potter's previous books including Tommy Brock, a character created by Michael Shaw. An animated film adaptation of the tale was featured on the BBC television anthology series The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends in 1995.
The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and published by Frederick Warne & Co. in October 1905. It tells of a cat called Ribby and a tea party she holds for a dog called Duchess. Complications arise when Duchess tries to replace Ribby's mouse pie with her own veal and ham pie, and then believes she has swallowed a small tin pastry form called a patty-pan. Its themes are etiquette and social relations in a small town.
Commemorative coins have been issued by the Royal Mint in the United Kingdom since 1935. Initially they only came out to mark events of great interest, but since the turn of the millennium have been minted yearly.
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1904. The book is a sequel to The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902), and tells of Peter's return to Mr. McGregor's garden with his cousin Benjamin to retrieve the clothes he lost there during his previous adventure. In Benjamin Bunny, Potter deepened the rabbit universe she created in Peter Rabbit, and, in doing so, suggested the rabbit world was parallel to the human world but complete and sufficient unto itself.
The Tale of Two Bad Mice is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and published by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1904. Potter took inspiration for the tale from two mice caught in a cage-trap in her cousin's home and a doll's house being constructed by her editor and publisher Norman Warne as a Christmas gift for his niece Winifred. While the tale was being developed, Potter and Warne fell in love and became engaged, much to the annoyance of Potter's parents, who were grooming their daughter to be a permanent resident and housekeeper in their London home.
Frederick Warne & Co. is a British publisher founded in 1865. It is known for children's books, particularly those of Beatrix Potter, and for its Observer's Books.
Norman Dalziel Warne was the third son of publisher Frederick Warne, and joined his father's firm Frederick Warne & Co as an editor. In 1900, the company rejected Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit, but eventually reconsidered and in October 1902, published the book to great success. Norman Warne became Potter's editor and they worked together on several subsequent books and related merchandise, such as soft toys and The Game of Peter Rabbit.
Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit is a fictional anthropomorphic cat who features in the books of Beatrix Potter. She is a shopkeeper and the long-suffering mother of three unruly kittens, Moppet, Mittens and Tom Kitten.
Peter Rabbit is an animated comedy children's television series for preschool children that debuted on the Nick Jr. Channel on 14 December 2012, in the United States and on CBeebies and BBC One on 25 December 2012, in the United Kingdom. It is based on the character of the same name from Beatrix Potter's children’s books. The series debuted on American TV and iTunes on 14 December 2012, with the pilot episode debuting as a Christmas holiday special, titled Peter Rabbit's Christmas Tale. The show became a regular series on 19 February 2013, in the USA. The first official DVD of Peter Rabbit was released on 28 May 2013, as a Walmart exclusive. It contains the programmes first eight episodes on a single disc. On 11 October 2013, Nickelodeon ordered a second series of 26 episodes. The series is also on the BBC Alba channel known as Peadar Kinnen. In Wales the series is known as Guto Gwningen dubbed into Welsh on S4C.
Peter Rabbit is a 2018 comedy film based upon the character of the same name created by Beatrix Potter, co-produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Olive Bridge Entertainment, Animal Logic, 2.0 Entertainment, and Screen Australia, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It was directed by Will Gluck, who also produced the film with Zareh Nalbandian, from a screenplay and story written by Gluck and Rob Lieber. James Corden stars as the voice of the title character, with Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, Sam Neill, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste in live-action roles, as well as the voices of Daisy Ridley, Elizabeth Debicki, and Margot Robbie. The film's story focuses on Peter Rabbit as he deals with new problems when the late Mr. McGregor's great nephew arrives and discovers the trouble Peter's family can get into.
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway is a 2021 adventure comedy film directed and produced by Will Gluck, who co-wrote the screenplay with Patrick Burleigh. The film is a sequel to Peter Rabbit (2018). Produced by Sony Pictures Animation, and is based on the stories of Peter Rabbit created by Beatrix Potter. James Corden reprises his role as the title character, alongside Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, and David Oyelowo in live-action roles, and the voices of Elizabeth Debicki, Lennie James, and Margot Robbie.