Famous 5: On the Case | |
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Written by | Tim Maile Douglas Tuber [1] |
Directed by |
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Theme music composer |
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Country of origin | United Kingdom France |
Original language | French |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 26 |
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Producers | David Michel Laura Clunie [2] |
Running time | approx. 22 minutes (per episode) |
Production companies | Marathon Media Group Chorion |
Original release | |
Network | Disney Channel (UK) France 3 (France) |
Release | 5 April – 27 September 2008 |
Famous 5: On The Case is an animated television series which was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Disney Channel, France 3 in France, and Qubo in the United States. It is a British and French television co-production, [3] loosely based on The Famous Five series of books created by Enid Blyton. At least some of the episodes have been developed for television by Douglas Tuber and Tim Maile, the writers of the former Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire . [1] On 21 June 2008, the show premiered in Italy and Australia on Disney Channel.
The central characters, children of the original Famous Five, embark on a new series of adventures. During these adventures the new Famous Five are able to make use of newer technology such as laptop computers and mobile phones which had never been invented in their parents' day. [4]
The show has attracted criticism from Blyton fans. Vivienne Endecott, a member of the Enid Blyton Society, has said she was "wary" of the show, telling The Daily Telegraph "I don't really see how you can take the Famous Five out of their era, which is 1940s Britain; anybody can write about four children and a dog, and my concern is that modern kids who watch this will think that the Famous Five is all about gadgets and multi-culturalism." [2]
Steve Aranguren, the vice president of global original programming at the Disney Channel, explained that "We wanted to bring the sense of adventure in the original books to a new generation of Famous Five fans, however, we needed to give the characters a contemporary voice." [2] Jeff Norton, of Chorion Limited, the company that owns the television rights to Enid Blyton's works, told the Press Association "We tried to imagine where the original Famous Five would go in their lives." [4] He also stated "we spoke to Enid Blyton's daughter and she thought her mother would love what we have done". [4]
There are 26 episodes and each episode is 22 minutes long. Six years later, it finally premiered in the U.S.
Along with the series, Hodder Books has produced a "flipper" novel of some of the 26 episodes. Each book contains two of the stories and are available in UK bookstores. No other merchandise was ever released. The books are:
According to the online magazine License! Global the series has been sold to several international broadcasters. [3] These are Super RTL (Germany), RTBF (Belgium), the Dutch version of Jetix, and LNK (Lithuania); along with Disney France, Disney Africa, Disney Middle-East and Disney Asia and Australia. [3]
Enid Mary Blyton was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been translated into ninety languages. As of June 2019, Blyton held 4th place for the most translated author. She wrote on a wide range of topics, including education, natural history, fantasy, mystery, and biblical narratives. She is best remembered today for her Noddy, Famous Five, Secret Seven, the Five Find-Outers, and Malory Towers books, although she also wrote many others, including; St. Clare's, The Naughtiest Girl, and The Faraway Tree series.
The Famous Five is a series of children's adventure novels and short stories written by English author Enid Blyton. The first book, Five on a Treasure Island, was published in 1942. The novels feature the adventures of a group of young children – Julian, Dick, Anne, George and their dog Timmy.
Noddy is an English character created by English children's author Enid Blyton. Noddy first appeared in a book series published between 1949 and 1963, illustrated by the Dutch artist Harmsen van der Beek from 1949 until his death in 1953, after which the work was continued by Peter Wienk. Television shows based on the character have run on British television from 1955 to 2020.
Chorion Limited was a multinational media production company with offices in London, New York, and Sydney. The company produced TV shows and feature films, and was best known for its portfolio of entertainment brands. These included children's characters such as Paddington Bear, Peter Rabbit, The Mr. Men, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Olivia, Gaspard and Lisa and Noddy. The company also owned the rights to the Agatha Christie Estate, Raymond Chandler, and Georges Simenon.
The children's books of Enid Blyton were illustrated by a large number of artists, ranging from figures known for other work to humbler commercial artists, who in some cases were anonymous. Since the Blyton texts mainly used very simple language, the work of the illustrators was an important part of the appeal of many of the works.
Make Way for Noddy is an animated television series produced by British studio Chorion in conjunction with American studio SD Entertainment. Based on Enid Blyton's Noddy character, it was originally broadcast on Channel 5 in September 2002. It features music and songs composed by Steven Bernstein and Julie Bernstein, with the musical direction done by Sharon Sampson and Terry Sampson.
Five Go Adventuring Again is the second book in the Famous Five series by the British author, Enid Blyton.
Five Run Away Together is the third book in the Famous Five series by the British author Enid Blyton.
Five Go to Smuggler's Top is the fourth book in the Famous Five series by the British author Enid Blyton.
Five Are Together Again is a children's novel in The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. It was first published by Hodder and Stoughton and in its first edition illustrated by Eileen Soper.
Five Have A Wonderful Time is a popular children's book written by Enid Blyton. It is the eleventh novel in the Famous Five series of books.
Five Get into Trouble is the eighth novel in The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. It was first published in 1949. In this novel, Dick gets kidnapped, mistaken for another boy whose name is Richard.
Five Fall Into Adventure is the ninth novel in The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. It was first published in 1950.
Five Go to Demon's Rocks is the nineteenth novel in The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. It was first published in 1961.
Five Go Down To The Sea is the twelfth novel in The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. It was first published in 1953.
Christopher Good is an English actor best known for his work on television. He was born on May 12, 1956, in Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. In the 1970s he made a stage appearance in a musical version of Jeeves and Wooster. In the 90s he was, according to the Times, one of the most energetic Falstaffs ever. Mr. Good has made many one-off or short-lived appearances in drama and comedy programmes, with Murder Most Horrid, Rumpole of the Bailey, Danger UXB, The Choir and Pie in the Sky being among them. He appeared in The Beast Below, an episode of the 2010 series of Doctor Who.
The Castle of Adventure is a popular children's book by Enid Blyton. It is the second book in The Adventure Series. The first edition of the book was illustrated by Stuart Tresilian.
The Famous Five is a British television series based on the children's books of the same name by Enid Blyton. It was broadcast on ITV over two series in 1978 and 1979. It was produced by Southern Television in 26 half-hour episodes.
The Famous Five is a British television series based on the children's book series of the same name by Enid Blyton. It was first broadcast on Tyne Tees and Harlech Television (HTV) from 10 September 1995 onwards, and on CITV from 1 July 1996 onwards; there were two series between 1995 and 1997, produced by Zenith North and Tyne Tees in 26 twenty-five-minute episodes.
Famous Five is a 2012 German children's film. Directed by Mike Marzuk, it is a film adaptation of The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton, which is based primarily on the 1947 book Five on Kirrin Island Again.