The Enid Blyton Society

Not sure what to make of this...its very modern and 'wacky' - not at all 'Beatrix potter' - but I really like the way the animal characters have been created and how they look very much like the original illustrations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYxx3aXzDdg

I think it'll be an hit with both the Young & Old, Rob! I hate to say it, but it looks quite good.

I saw the trailer for that a few weeks ago and had only one thought... incredibly vile. But that's just me.

As I say, I'm in two minds. I don't really like the fact its modern and wacky and 'vile' as you say - but I love the animated animals - and the way they fit in with the live action. Its well done - but I don't think I'd like the story...and saying its based on 'the classic story' or whatever it suggests, is going rather too far!

Oh yeah, the animation's fine. It's just that it's absolutely unrecognisable as Beatrix Potter.

When I was in late primary school or so, there was an animated series of Beatrix Potter's stories on TV — BBC, I think, but at any rate we certainly had it in Australia as well. It was quite beautifully done and stuck close to the original books, which incidentally were already almost 100 years old at that stage. Even back then in the early 1990s they could easily have said "nah, this genteel Victorian stuff is too slow and boring for today's kids, let's jazz it up and make it a lot more exciting." They didn't. But I suppose things are different (or assumed to be different) now...

Yes - that was a great series - with the opening filmed at Beatrix Potter's house, Hilltop, in The Lake District. the animation was really good and true to the original illustrations. I think I still have The Tailor of Gloucester (one of my favourites) on an old VHS somewhere!

It sort of sums up the thinking of today - that things need to be jazzed up and made 'funny' - those Famous Five covers are a good example!!

Thought the trailer was brilliant, I'm sure my grandkids would love it.

I agree, Julie. My grandsons would love it too.

Thank you for letting us know, Rob. I absolutely love it. Definitely will watch it.

The recent CBBC series was extremely well animated. This new version looks all right to me, but lacks charm.

The animation of the animals is cleverly done and I'd like to see the film one of these days - when it gets to the stage where it's on TV or a cheap DVD. I remember misjudging Paddington (2014) from the trailer, which focussed on a few slapstick elements and gave an impression of crassness. People also had doubts about Swallows and Amazons (2016) as the trailer put a lot of emphasis on an additional episode that wasn't in the book. There were worries that the film might be too fast-paced and involve too many adult characters. I eventually watched both films on DVD and found Paddington most engaging and quite touching, while Swallows and Amazons captured the tranquil dreaminess of Arthur Ransome's world as well as the spirit of adventure. I liked them so much that I've now watched Paddington twice and Swallows and Amazons three times!

I totally agree with you, Anita. A lot of trailers show the best bits just to draw the audience in, then the actual film itself is disappointing. However, I usually give a film the benefit of doubt before making a judgement. Never judge a book by its cover, as they say!

I agree. Trouble with trailers nowadays they are made to appeal to those who like fast-paced wacky ridiculous action in their movies...and so the rest of us are often put off! Same as the Famous Five books, which I would have avoided like the plague as a kid because of the covers, or those computer generated cartoons like Frozen and The Lorax which looks so cheap and nasty that I just wouldn't give them a second glance.

Well, I didn't like the new Swallows and Amazons!

The problem with Swallows and Amazons is that the 1974 movie was so utterly perfect that there is absolutely no way to improve on it. Unfortunately, that fact didn't stop the BBC from trying.

They added a whole "espionage" subplot, very loosely inspired by Arthur Ransome's own experiences as a British spy. But to make room for this subplot, they had to cut out a lot of what made the original book Swallows and Amazons so appealing.

And the Swallows and Amazons live in a world of imagination. They don't need any "real" spies to have adventures!

Completely agree! I'm not a big swallows and Amazons fan, but I dislike plots being added to just for the sake of it. the 1974 movie was a classic - much like the 1970 version of The Railway Children. You can't remake something as well done as that! Classics just 'happen' and these two already did!