The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends
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 (with some of the characters' voices dubbed by actors with more American-like accents).[2]
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends | |
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Genre | Animation |
Written by | Beatrix Potter, Dianne Jackson |
Theme music composer | Colin Towns |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of episodes | 9 |
Production | |
Running time | 24 minutes |
Production company(s) | TVC London Frederick Warne & Co Pony Canyon Fuji Television |
Release | |
Original network | BBC1 (1992-96) BBC Two (1998) |
Original release | 20 December 1992 – 25 December 1998 |
Production
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 US$11 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.
Contents
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 watercolor painting and running home with her pet dog, Kep, or after doing the shopping 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. The animation style of The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends is very close to Potter's artwork in the original books. The main title song for the show is "Perfect Day," sung by Miriam Stockley.
Episodes
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny (20 December 1992)[3]
- The Tale of Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddle-Duck (9 April 1993)[4]
- The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding (29 August 1993)[5]
- The Tailor of Gloucester (24 December 1993)[6]
- The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher (1 April 1994)[7]
- The Tale of Pigling Bland (27 December 1994)[8]
- The Tale of Two Bad Mice and Johnny Town-Mouse (26 December 1996)[9]
- The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and Mrs. Tittlemouse (27 December 1996)[10]
- The Tale of Mr. Tod: The Further Adventures of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny (25 December 1998)[11]
Cast
- Niamh Cusack – Beatrix Potter (live action)
- Mark Lockyer - Peter Rabbit (adult), Alexander
- Rory Carty – Peter Rabbit (young)
- Adrian Scarborough - Benjamin Bunny (adult)
- Andrew Clitheroe – Benjamin Bunny (young)
- Enn Reitel – Mr. Bouncer, Cock Robin, Grocer, Drake Puddle-Duck & Kep
- June Whitfield – Josephine Rabbit
- Richard Wilson/Andrew Robertson – Mr. McGregor
- Richard Griffiths – Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise, Sir Isaac Newton, Mr. Jackson
- Ian Holm – The Tailor of Gloucester (This was Holm's second time playing the Tailor, the first time being in the book's 1989 TV special adaption)
- Dan Russell - Mouse Tailor
- Derek Griffiths - Simpkin
- Hugh Laurie – Johnny Town-Mouse
- Alan Bennett - Timmy Willie
- Prunella Scales – Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle
- Rebecca Hall - Lucie
- Rik Mayall - Tom Thumb
- Felicity Kendal - Hunca Munca
- Alan Bowe - Tom Kitten
- Rosemary Leach - Tabitha Twitchit
- Patricia Routledge - Ribby
- Struan Rodger - Samuel Whiskers
- Sheila Hancock - Anna Maria
- John Gordon Sinclair - John Joiner
- Su Pollard/Sandra Dickinson (US) - Jemima Puddle-Duck
- Pam Ferris - Aunt Pettitoes
- Dinsdale Landen - Mr. Tod
- Don Henderson - Tommy Brock
- Derek Jacobi - Jeremy Fisher
- Chris Lang - Pigling Bland
- Josie Lawrence - Pig-Wig
- Selena Cadell - Rebeccah Puddle-Duck
- Jemima Feyne - Daisy the Maid (live action)
- Sheila Steafel - Flopsy Rabbit (adult), Cook & Nurse
- Jenny Moore - Flopsy Rabbit (young), Moppet, Flopsy Bunnies
- Mary Jane Bowe - Mopsy Rabbit, Mittens, Flopsy Bunnies
- Sarah Woolcock - Cotton-Tail Rabbit, Flopsy Bunnies
- Anna Massey – Mrs. Tittlemouse
- June Watson – Mrs. McGregor
- Suzanne Bonetti - Sarah the parlour maid & the Child
- Anthony Jackson - Policeman
- David Neal - Mr. Piperson the Farmer
- Kim Parker & Nichola Dawson - Flopsy Bunnies
References
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 918–919. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- "The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends - Official Order - All Seasons - TheTVDB.com". www.thetvdb.com. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
- "The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends - BBC One London - 20 December 1992". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- "The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends - BBC One London - 9 April 1993". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- "The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends - BBC One London - 29 August 1993". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- "Beatrix Potter's Tailor of Gloucester - BBC One London - 24 December 1993". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- "Beatrix Potter: the Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and Mr Jeremy Fisher - BBC One London - 1 April 1994". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- "Beatrix Potter: the World of Peter Rabbit and Friends - BBC One London - 27 December 1994". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- "The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends - BBC One London - 26 December 1996". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- "The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends - BBC One London - 27 December 1996". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- "The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends - BBC Two England, 25 December 1998". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
External links
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