The Enid Blyton Society

Yes, I agree with you about her size - she looked a very big girl next to the other children - you're right when you say that she should have been smaller and more sprite-like. She looked too neat and tidy - her hair should have been like a birds' nest! When I said 'her look' was right I meant her face, not her clothes - she should have looked far more raggedy I think, but her dark hair and her face was quite striking, and if she had been made to look more grubby and messy, she would have been perfect I think.

I'm actually watching it again just to watch Buttons
It's amazing how tame he is and how he lets them stroke him and pick him up, he looks so cuddly with that thick red fur!

The eagles were magnificent - very forbidding-looking and so grand!

As you say, wildlife features very strongly, which I love - seeing the baby eagle, and there's a hedgehog and a toad as well!
There's a real sense of being out in the wild countryside there - it's not a tame setting or a studio, it's the real outdoors and it's shot beautifully I think.

Yes, the children did seem very caring towards each other and family-orientated, which was lovely to see.

Tassie is very much on her guard until the children earn her trust, and I think the actress who plays Tassie in the film conveys that well.

If you're fond of foxes, Carlotta, have you ever seen the film The Fox and the Child? It's a peculiar film, almost devoid of any plot - the viewer follows a young girl (aged about 10) as she observes a fox in her local countryside over the course of about a year, and tries to get close to it. The things that happen are so subtle and gradual there's almost a feeling that nothing is happening at all, and yet the whole thing is beautiful. The girl goes to school and lives in a house with her parents, yet once school is over she seems to have complete freedom to roam the countryside in all weathers, moving almost silently through a stunning landscape alone, just drinking in the natural world around her. In that way she reminds me of Tassie.

I bought this film at the last EB day, but have never watched it. Sounds like I really ought to look at it.

I had never heard of it but have just looked it up on Amazon, it sounds amazing, just the kind of thing I like! I've got £5 left on an Amazon gift card so am going to treat myself to it!
Thanks for telling me about it Anita - I wouldn't have had any clue it existed otherwise!

It's nice to have a gift card and be able to treat yourself. I hope you enjoy the film, Carlotta!

Yes it is isn't it, it was a thankyou gift from a friend for some wall art I painted in her house, I used most of it but £5 was left and it's a funny amount because you can't get much for £5 but this film will certainly be a treat!

Are you watching the complete film, Cathy, or the heavily abridged version?

Well it's 120 mins so I was hoping that it was the complete film.

No. I think the original was over 5 hrs! I'll check when I get home.

Crikey that is some adaptation!!!
If only they had given the Famous Five the same treatment!

Hi
First, for those who can't buy the film. It is somehow (not to good) on you tube. Just enter "The Castle of Adventure" and it is from someone called Nigel Sarsfield.

For those who have seen both films (Island and Castle) is one better the the other? How good is "Island"? I have seen it on amazon but it is quite expensive, thats why I ask.

If I remember correctly The castle of adventure is about 3 hours long.

I watched both films, I think they're both worth watching, but they're not very close to the books. Especially in Island of adventure the actors are closer to 20 than 10, though I like Philip's Oxford English.

If anybody still has the old VHS for this, does it credit who the illustrator of the cover art is? Thanks in advance.

Yes I have the video. I'd have to wait until I got home to check for definite, but I always assumed that it was the original Stuart Tresilian illustrations that were used?

It may well be Poppy. I just wanted to check. There is a small image of the back of the VHS on the net and under where it says "All Rights Reserved" it has a credit which is too small for me to read. This may not be for the illustrations at all of course. Many thanks.