Windfalls

Last updated

Windfalls
Genre Children's television
Educational television
Created byJenny Kenna [1]
Written byJenny Kenna [1]
Directed byJenny Kenna [1]
Voices of Peter Hawkins
Narrated byPeter Hawkins
Theme music composerJoan Alexis
ComposerJoan Alexis
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producerGraham Clutterbuck
ProducerMaya Kemp
EditorAndi Sloss
Running time5 minutes
Production companies FilmFair
Central Independent Television
Original release
Network ITV
Release14 April (1989-04-14) 
7 July 1989 (1989-07-07)

Windfalls is a British stop motion-animated children's television series created, written, and directed by Jenny Kenna. The Windfalls stories teach children about reading signs in nature, herbal medicine, and the plants of the British countryside. All of the animated characters are real leaves, grasses, and pressed flowers.

Contents

Plot and plant-based characters

The stories follow three friends: Berry, Butterbur, and Rosebay. They are Windfalls, and they live in Windfall Land. They meet many other Windfalls on their adventures. The programme features a cast of 21 supporting characters, each designed from a different plant: Daisy, Evening Primrose, Pampas, Fern Polypody, Thistle, Cowslip, Delphinium, Uncle Onion, Cornflower, Lucky Four Leaf Clover, Vi, Ola, Pansy, Bella Donna, Twitch Grass, Couch Grass, Holly, Ivy, Nettle, Dock, and Daffodil.

Production

Windfalls was produced by FilmFair and Central Independent Television for ITV; it premiered on 14 April 1989, and ran for 26 episodes. Two episodes were transmitted back-to-back for each broadcast. When the series was syndicated on other networks, such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Australia, Knowledge Network and TVO in Canada, Channel 5 in Singapore and TVNZ's Channel 2 in New Zealand, the episodes were broadcast singly. The series was also broadcast on the military channel BFBS in Germany as well as in several countries including Cyprus and the Falkland Islands but with the series transmitted back to back with two episodes just like its original UK television airings.

The programme was animated by Isabelle Perrichon, who later worked on the FilmFair animated series Rod 'n' Emu (1991).

Episodes

Home releases

Little Croft Studios distributed 18 of the 26 episodes of the series on three VHS videotapes, sold separately. Each volume has six stories:

Learn to Love Nature with the Windfalls
"Light and Shade", "The Oak Tree", "The Red Toadstool", "Autumn in Windfall Land", "The Invaders", "Winter in Windfall Land"
Learn to Love the Countryside with the Windfalls
"Country Cousins", "Weather Signs", "Lucky", "Flying Flowers", "Bramble Shrub", "Nettle and Dock"
Learn to Love the Flowers and the Trees with the Windfalls
"Fine Weather Friend", "Bella Donna", "An Evening with Primrose", "Butterbur's Marsh", "Cowslip Needs Protection", "Honey Day"

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "Jenny Kenna". Books by Jenny Kenna. Retrieved 4 January 2013.

Related Research Articles

<i>Dixon of Dock Green</i> British police procedural TV series (1955–1976)

Dixon of Dock Green is a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 1955 to 1976. The central character, George Dixon, first appeared in the film The Blue Lamp (1950). Dixon is a mature and sympathetic police constable, who was played by Jack Warner in all of the 432 episodes.

Chorlton and the Wheelies is an animated children's television series that ran from 26 September 1976 until 17 December 1978 on the British television channel ITV. 40 episodes were produced. The show followed the adventures of Chorlton, an anthropomorphic "happiness dragon", in "Wheelie World".

<i>Oswald</i> (TV series) American-British animated childrens cartoon series

Oswald is a preschool educational children's animated television series created by Dan Yaccarino and developed by Lisa Eve Huberman. The show was co-produced by HIT Entertainment and Nickelodeon. The main character is a thoughtful blue octopus named Oswald who lives in an apartment complex.

<i>Peep and the Big Wide World</i> Canadian-American animated childrens TV show

Peep and the Big Wide World (PATBWW) is an animated children's television series created by Danish-Canadian animator Kaj Pindal. It revolves around the lives of Peep, Chirp, and Quack, as viewers discover, investigate, and explore the world around them.

Pappyland is an American half-hour children's television series written by Jon Nappa and broadcast on WCNY-TV in Syracuse, New York and PBS stations from 1993-1999. Thereafter, the show was moved to TLC and began airing new episodes from September 30, 1996, until 1997, with reruns airing until February 21, 2003.

<i>Gerald McBoing-Boing</i> (TV series) Canadian TV series or program

Gerald McBoing-Boing is a Flash-animated children's television series based on the 1950 animated short film Gerald McBoing-Boing. It is produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment, with animation provided by Mercury Filmworks.

<i>The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!</i> 1989 American TV series

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is an American live-action/animated television series that aired from September 4 to December 1, 1989, in syndication. The series is based on the video games Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2 by Nintendo, and is the first of three television series to be based upon the Mario video game series. The animation was provided by South Korean company Sei Young Animation.

<i>Watership Down</i> (1999 TV series) Canadian-British television series

Watership Down is an animated fantasy children's television series, adapted from the 1972 novel of the same name by Richard Adams. The second adaptation of the novel, it was produced by UK's Alltime Entertainment and Canada's Decode Entertainment in association with Martin Rosen, with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit from the Government of Ontario.

On Nature's Trail was a television show produced by the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting in 1978. The show featured Elmer and Jean Worthley observing and discussing plants growing at different locations in Baltimore County, Maryland. Observations were made at the same locations during the Spring, Summer and Fall.

<i>7 Seeds</i> Japanese manga series

7 Seeds is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yumi Tamura. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future, long enough after a meteorite hits Earth that new species have evolved, and follows the struggles of five groups of young adults to survive after they are revived from cryonic preservation. The title comes from five groups of individuals in cryogenic chambers along with supplies, called "seeds", laid down by the Japanese government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna Jackson</span> Fictional character in Holby City

Donna Jackson is a fictional character from BBC medical dramas Holby City and Casualty, played by actress Jaye Jacobs. Donna entered Holby City in its sixth series as a staff nurse, characterised as a wild-child with a chaotic personal life. During her tenure, she grew to take her work more seriously, becoming a ward sister and accepting more personal responsibilities by adopting her half-niece Mia. A tart with a heart character, Donna had many romantic liaisons with her colleagues, including a one-night stand with midwife Mickie Hendrie. She ultimately fell in love with agency nurse Kieran Callaghan, and departed to be with him after he was injured in Afghanistan as part of the Territorial Army.

<i>Little Howards Big Question</i> British TV series or programme

Little Howard's Big Question is a 2009–11 children's edutainment programme starring Howard Read as Big Howard and his six-year-old animated friend, Little Howard. The programme was first broadcast on 8 January 2009, running for a series of 13 episodes. Series 2 began airing on 6 October 2010, and series 3 began on 18 May 2011.

<i>Connie the Cow</i> Spanish-German childrens television series created by Josep Viciana

Connie the Cow is a children's television series created by Josep Viciana, and designed by Roman Rybakiewicz. It was produced by Spain-based studio Neptuno Films, and it aired on TV3 in Catalonia. In the United States, it aired on Noggin.

<i>The Worst Witch</i> (2017 TV series) Fantasy drama childrens television series

The Worst Witch is a fantasy drama children's television series that aired on CBBC and ZDF from 11 January 2017 to 20 April 2020, with each series being later available to stream on Netflix. Based on novel series of the same name published in 1974 by Jill Murphy, the series follows Mildred Hubble and her friends Maud Spellbody and Enid Nightshade and rivals Ethel Hallow, Drusilla Paddock and Felicity Foxglove's adventures and education at Cackle's Academy under caring headmistress Miss Cackle and strict deputy headmistress Miss Hardbroom. It is the fifth adaptation of The Worst Witch series after the 1986 television film, the 1998 television series, the 2001 television spin-off and the 2005 television spin-off.

YooHoo to the Rescue is an Italian-Korean animated children's television series produced by Aurora World and Mondo TV. It is the third TV series based on the YooHoo & Friends franchise, and serves as a revival of the franchise. The show is the first Netflix original series for children from South Korea.

References

. Retrieved 4 January 2013.