Exclusive: The long-gestating modern-day movie adaptation of Enid Blyton’s children’s classic The Magic Faraway Tree has got fresh impetus with new financiers and creatives aboard and a start date lined up for June of this year.
Elysian Film Group and Neal Street Productions are behind the project which is scripted by BAFTA winner Simon Farnaby, riding high off the success of box office hit Wonka, which he co-wrote with Paul King.
Ben Gregor (Britannia) is newly aboard to direct the feature, based on the book series by beloved British author Blyton, also known for creating hit kids properties such as Noddy and Famous Five.
Casting is in process on the film, which will be repped for worldwide sales at next month’s EFM by Tamara Birkemoe’s US and UK-based Palisades Park Pictures. CAA Media Finance is co-repping domestic.
Updated for a contemporary audience, The...
Elysian Film Group and Neal Street Productions are behind the project which is scripted by BAFTA winner Simon Farnaby, riding high off the success of box office hit Wonka, which he co-wrote with Paul King.
Ben Gregor (Britannia) is newly aboard to direct the feature, based on the book series by beloved British author Blyton, also known for creating hit kids properties such as Noddy and Famous Five.
Casting is in process on the film, which will be repped for worldwide sales at next month’s EFM by Tamara Birkemoe’s US and UK-based Palisades Park Pictures. CAA Media Finance is co-repping domestic.
Updated for a contemporary audience, The...
- 1/11/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Brian McConnachie, the Emmy-winning writer with the offbeat sense of humor who worked on Sctv Network and Saturday Night Live and appeared in Caddyshack and several films for Woody Allen, has died. He was 81.
McConnachie died Friday of complications from Parkinson’s disease in Venice, Florida, Michael Gerber, editor and publisher of The American Bystander, told The Hollywood Reporter. The duo relaunched the humor magazine in 2015 after McConnachie — an original staff member at National Lampoon — originally got it going in 1981.
“Every day, on every page, he has been our North Star,” Gerber said in a statement. “From his days at National Lampoon, Brian was ‘every comedy writer’s favorite comedy writer,’ crafting an unmistakable one-of-a-kind laid-back eccentricity that inspired generations.
“He is the only person I know who wrote for the Holy Trinity of Seventies Comedy — National Lampoon, SNL and Sctv. This speaks to not only his writing talent, but...
McConnachie died Friday of complications from Parkinson’s disease in Venice, Florida, Michael Gerber, editor and publisher of The American Bystander, told The Hollywood Reporter. The duo relaunched the humor magazine in 2015 after McConnachie — an original staff member at National Lampoon — originally got it going in 1981.
“Every day, on every page, he has been our North Star,” Gerber said in a statement. “From his days at National Lampoon, Brian was ‘every comedy writer’s favorite comedy writer,’ crafting an unmistakable one-of-a-kind laid-back eccentricity that inspired generations.
“He is the only person I know who wrote for the Holy Trinity of Seventies Comedy — National Lampoon, SNL and Sctv. This speaks to not only his writing talent, but...
- 1/9/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Comcast and NBCUniversal are pushing Peacock out of the nest starting Wednesday, April 15, promising to unfurl a rich plume of 15,000-plus hours of streaming content, first for the cable giant’s own TV and internet customers.
Peacock is then slated to be available across the U.S. on July 15 — while NBCU is mulling the possibility of moving that up sooner — in various three tiers across mobile, web and connected-tv devices: paid with ads ($4.99 monthly); paid with no ads ($9.99 monthly); and completely free with ads with a truncated content lineup. With the national launch, Comcast (and Cox) subscribers also will have the option to get an ad-free version of the service for an additional $5 per month.
So what’s on the menu? Peacock will include live and on-demand content across current and past TV shows, movies, news, and late night programming, with some live sports once they resume post-pandemic. Most of...
Peacock is then slated to be available across the U.S. on July 15 — while NBCU is mulling the possibility of moving that up sooner — in various three tiers across mobile, web and connected-tv devices: paid with ads ($4.99 monthly); paid with no ads ($9.99 monthly); and completely free with ads with a truncated content lineup. With the national launch, Comcast (and Cox) subscribers also will have the option to get an ad-free version of the service for an additional $5 per month.
So what’s on the menu? Peacock will include live and on-demand content across current and past TV shows, movies, news, and late night programming, with some live sports once they resume post-pandemic. Most of...
- 4/14/2020
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
Amazon Studios has greenlit production on Do, Re & Mi, an animated musical series for preschoolers, from Kristen Bell, Jackie Tohn, Michael Scharf (Moon and The Son: An Imagined Conversation), Ivan Askwith (Veronica Mars) and Gaumont. The 52-episode 11-minute series will premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in over 200 countries and territories.
Created by Tohn and Scharf, Do, Re & Mi is about three birdy best friends named Do, Re & Mi who live in a world filled with rhythm, beats and melodies. Along with their day-to-day adventures, the characters model ways for parents and young kids to talk about music and connect these ideas to their social-emotional development. Every episode ends in a song, featuring original tracks performed by Bell (Frozen), Tohn, and other surprise guests.
Bell, Tone, Scharf and Askwith executive produce. Emmy-nominated Corey Powell is serving as showrunner.
Created by Tohn and Scharf, Do, Re & Mi is about three birdy best friends named Do, Re & Mi who live in a world filled with rhythm, beats and melodies. Along with their day-to-day adventures, the characters model ways for parents and young kids to talk about music and connect these ideas to their social-emotional development. Every episode ends in a song, featuring original tracks performed by Bell (Frozen), Tohn, and other surprise guests.
Bell, Tone, Scharf and Askwith executive produce. Emmy-nominated Corey Powell is serving as showrunner.
- 9/11/2018
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
A brand new Noddy series will debut on French television.
Noddy, Toyland Detective has been produced by Gaumont Animation in association with DreamWorks Animation Television, and will premiere on France Télévisions' France 5 in spring 2016.
The series will see a revamped version of the Enid Blyton creation go on adventures in Toyland joined by new and old friends, including Big Ears and Bumpy.
Each episode will have Noddy look for clues to mysteries, showing children how to investigate their own world.
The location of Toyland will expand in the series, with new lands including Fable Fields, Animal Acres and Brickabuild introducing different characters to the show.
Noddy, Toyland Detective will also mark the first time that Noddy's car Revs will come alive as the character's sidekick.
Head of Television for DreamWorks Animation Margie Cohn said: "A whole new generation of children gets to meet Noddy and join him on adventures across Toyland.
Noddy, Toyland Detective has been produced by Gaumont Animation in association with DreamWorks Animation Television, and will premiere on France Télévisions' France 5 in spring 2016.
The series will see a revamped version of the Enid Blyton creation go on adventures in Toyland joined by new and old friends, including Big Ears and Bumpy.
Each episode will have Noddy look for clues to mysteries, showing children how to investigate their own world.
The location of Toyland will expand in the series, with new lands including Fable Fields, Animal Acres and Brickabuild introducing different characters to the show.
Noddy, Toyland Detective will also mark the first time that Noddy's car Revs will come alive as the character's sidekick.
Head of Television for DreamWorks Animation Margie Cohn said: "A whole new generation of children gets to meet Noddy and join him on adventures across Toyland.
- 4/8/2015
- Digital Spy
"Penny Dreadful" producers Neal Street Productions have unveiled plans for a feature film adaptation of Enid Blyton's "The Magic Faraway Tree" book series. Written between 1939 and 1951, all four books in the series have been optioned
Each story takes place in an enchanted forest in which The Magic Faraway Tree grows a tree tall enough to reach the clouds and large enough to contain small houses. The child heroes of the book series discover the tree and forest which is the background for their adventures.
Neal Street's Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris will likely produce the project, but that has not been confirmed as yet. Blyton wrote numerous book series include "Noddy" and "The Famous Five," with more than 500 million copies of her works having been sold.
Source: Variety...
Each story takes place in an enchanted forest in which The Magic Faraway Tree grows a tree tall enough to reach the clouds and large enough to contain small houses. The child heroes of the book series discover the tree and forest which is the background for their adventures.
Neal Street's Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris will likely produce the project, but that has not been confirmed as yet. Blyton wrote numerous book series include "Noddy" and "The Famous Five," with more than 500 million copies of her works having been sold.
Source: Variety...
- 10/21/2014
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Ahead of next month’s MipTV market in Cannes, Gaumont is rebranding its Alphanim label to become Gaumont Animation. Under its new banner, the children’s entertainment producer and distributor has entered a development and production agreement with DreamWorks Classics and France Télévisions for 3D CGI animated series, Noddy, based on the character created in 1949 by Enid Blyton. DreamWorks Animation acquired the rights to Noddy, about a little wooden boy who lives in Toyland, as part of its 2012 purchase of Classic Media. French major Gaumont has increasingly ramped up its television activities. In 2011, it launched Gaumont International Television, a U.S.-based subsidiary that’s producing Hannibal for NBC and Sony/Axn, Hemlock Grove for Netflix, and Barbarella with Canal Plus. The company originally acquired Alphanim in 2007.
- 3/11/2013
- by NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor
- Deadline TV
Award-winning production company Kindle Entertainment are set to bring Enid Blyton's classic childrens book series, The Famous Five, back to our TV screens.
Kindle, the production company behind Leonardo, Some Dogs Bite and Dustbin Baby, will co-produce a new TV series based on the books, with Hachette Books who have acquired the rights to the Enid Blyton literary estate (excluding Noddy).
The reimagining of Blyton’s much loved children’s stories, in which four young children and their dog have adventures while on school holidays, is planned as a family series, rather than a kids-only show, with Kindle targeting the early Saturday primetime slots filled by the likes of Doctor Who and Merlin.
The pilot follows tomboy George, now a modern girl, tand her dog Timmy, being transported back in time to Kirrin Bay in 1954 where she meets the rest of the gang. Through each episode George will gradually...
Kindle, the production company behind Leonardo, Some Dogs Bite and Dustbin Baby, will co-produce a new TV series based on the books, with Hachette Books who have acquired the rights to the Enid Blyton literary estate (excluding Noddy).
The reimagining of Blyton’s much loved children’s stories, in which four young children and their dog have adventures while on school holidays, is planned as a family series, rather than a kids-only show, with Kindle targeting the early Saturday primetime slots filled by the likes of Doctor Who and Merlin.
The pilot follows tomboy George, now a modern girl, tand her dog Timmy, being transported back in time to Kirrin Bay in 1954 where she meets the rest of the gang. Through each episode George will gradually...
- 7/12/2012
- by noreply@blogger.com (ScreenTerrier)
- ScreenTerrier
Brown Bag Films' animated series 'The Octonauts' and 'Olivia' are among the global media company Chorion's many assets which are to be broken up and sold as lenders behind the company attempt to minimise their losses. Three senior lenders behind Chorion - Bank of Ireland, Ge Capital and Lloyds are to sell Chorion's individual brands, following the resignation of Chorion Chairman Waheed Alli and Deputy Chairman William Astor in late August. DC Advisory Partners have been appointed to sell the assets which include 'Mr Men', 'Noddy', Enid Blyton's 'Famous Five' and the Ifta nominated series 'The Octonauts'.
- 9/20/2011
- IFTN
Children's television series Noddy has been given a digital makeover to celebrate its 60th birthday. The Enid Blyton character, who made his screen debut in 1955, has been computer animated for a new series called Noddy In Toyland, which will air on Five's Milkshake! broadcast from April 20. In a statement, Five's director of children's programmes Nick Wilson said: "Following on from the success Milkshake! had with Make Way for Noddy, we're sure that children will delight in Noddy's new (more)...
- 4/13/2009
- by By Lara Martin
- Digital Spy
Actress Helena Bonham-Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange) has been cast (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article2302852.ece) as novelist Enid Blyton in a BBC4 biopic, author of such famed children's tales as The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, Malory Towers and Noddy. On choosing to accept the role, Helena had this to say: ---Quote--- “It’s a long time since I have read such a well-written script with as complex and fascinating a character as Enid.” ---End Quote--- The film is in production now and will air on BBC4 at the end of the year. We will have more information on it when it is made available.
- 3/6/2009
- by masterofmystery
- Snitchseeker.com
LONDON -- U.K.-based licensing and brand company Chorion said Monday it has acquired rights to such classic Eric Carle books as The Very Hungry Caterpillar via the acquisition of New York-based Silver Lining Prods. for an undisclosed sum. Chorion has also picked up film, television and merchandising rights to other characters including Max & Ruby, Princess Smartypants and Olivia in the deal. The British company, which reported revenues of £24 million last year, will add the characters to its existing kids portfolio -- responsible for delivering net profits of £5.1 million in 2004 -- which includes Noddy and Mr. Men and Little Miss.
- 7/25/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- U.K.-based licensing and brand company Chorion said Monday it has acquired rights to such classic Eric Carle books as The Very Hungry Caterpillar via the acquisition of New York-based Silver Lining Prods. for an undisclosed sum. Chorion has also picked up film, television and merchandising rights to other characters including Max & Ruby, Princess Smartypants and Olivia in the deal. The British company, which reported revenues of £24 million last year, will add the characters to its existing kids portfolio -- responsible for delivering net profits of £5.1 million in 2004 -- which includes Noddy and Mr. Men and Little Miss.
- 7/25/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- Entertainment group Chorion plc said Tuesday that it has signed a stateside distribution deal with PBS for Make Way for Noddy, the CGI animation series based on the classic English book series by Enid Blyton. Announcing the group's half-year results, chairman Nicholas James said that the PBS distribution contract is a "landmark deal" for Noddy, which already airs in 100 broadcast markets around the world. Chorion said it will make new animation elements for the U.S. show, which will air as a half-hour block on PBS's branded kids block as well as daily on the PBS Kids digital channel. James said the group will be putting together a range of merchandising and licensing relationships for the property, which has no publishing track record in the United States.
LONDON -- Noddy and Agatha Christie rights holder Chorion announced Monday to the London Stock Exchange that it has rejected a takeover bid from U.K. rival Entertainment Rights, which owns kids properties including Basil Brush and Postman Pat. Entertainment Rights has tried to buy Chorion before, making an offer last year, but each time the company has rebutted the bid, saying it undervalues its assets.
- 12/9/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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