Oddities in 1996 Secret series adaptation.
Posted: 02 Mar 2014, 13:17
Hallo.
I just saw a YouTube clip of the theme for what appears to be a television or film version of the Secret series, dating from 1996. But the information I gleaned from it seemed a bit unexpected, so I thought I'd ask here if anyone knows about it.
The series seems to be German (I saw the title "Die verwegenen vier" [case of initial letters sic]; but the theme song is sung in English. I did learn German at school, but it's more than a bit rusty now, and so I don't know what "verwegenen" means. But the "vier" (four) would seem not to include Prince Paul.
There appears to be a dog in the series, judging from seeing one in a few brief scenes during the theme - yet the original series had no animal at all. This does make me wonder how many other changes they've made to the original stories - such as whether Prince Paul is even included, since the list of what actors played what characters which was displayed didn't include him, although it mentioned a good many other far less important characters, as well as the Arnold children.
The characters listed included the following:
The three Arnold children
Jack Bennett
Bennett? I don't recall any of the books giving him a surname, although I presume he became an Arnold at the end of "The Secret Island" when the Arnold family adopted him.
Laura Arnold
Laura? If this is the children's mother, I don't remember her ever being anything other than Mrs. Arnold, although I suppose it's fair enough to give her a first name in the film or T.V. version.
Thaddeus Arnold
I guess he has to be Capt. Arnold. That sure is an odd first name to give him, though.
Charlotte Clancy
(Who on earth?)
Ruby
(Dimmy, perhaps? Why can't she just remain Dimmy?)
MA O'Moon (M. A. O'Moon?)
(This illustrates one of the disadvantages of the modern practice of dropping punctuation: I don't know whether the "MA" here is meant to be "Ma" (a nickname for "Mother") or "M. A." (initials).)
Fin, Lord Foggo, Drunk
(An odd collection of characters. But a drunk in an Enid Blyton story?)
Uncle Joe
(Why not Uncle Henry? And where is Aunt Harriet?)
Tom
Waiter, Elderly chap, Club member, Farmer, Fisherman, Store owner
Girl on bike 1, Girl on bike 2
I don't remember any of these in any of the books.
Where is Prince Paul?! Could be be one of the above, with a changed name? Fin? Lord Foggo? Could he bave been renamed, and demoted to a Lord? Or maybe these were the credits specifically for "The Secret Island", in which he didn't appear. But I don't think anyone remotely resembling a waiter or a Lord appeared in "The Secret Island", in that case; although they might have in one of the later books.
Can anyone shed any light on any of the above points? Thanks.
The theme music seemed quite inappropriately modern for its subject matter - as did a theme, in very similar style, for the Adventure series, of which I also found a clip.
Regards, Michael.
I just saw a YouTube clip of the theme for what appears to be a television or film version of the Secret series, dating from 1996. But the information I gleaned from it seemed a bit unexpected, so I thought I'd ask here if anyone knows about it.
The series seems to be German (I saw the title "Die verwegenen vier" [case of initial letters sic]; but the theme song is sung in English. I did learn German at school, but it's more than a bit rusty now, and so I don't know what "verwegenen" means. But the "vier" (four) would seem not to include Prince Paul.
There appears to be a dog in the series, judging from seeing one in a few brief scenes during the theme - yet the original series had no animal at all. This does make me wonder how many other changes they've made to the original stories - such as whether Prince Paul is even included, since the list of what actors played what characters which was displayed didn't include him, although it mentioned a good many other far less important characters, as well as the Arnold children.
The characters listed included the following:
The three Arnold children
Jack Bennett
Bennett? I don't recall any of the books giving him a surname, although I presume he became an Arnold at the end of "The Secret Island" when the Arnold family adopted him.
Laura Arnold
Laura? If this is the children's mother, I don't remember her ever being anything other than Mrs. Arnold, although I suppose it's fair enough to give her a first name in the film or T.V. version.
Thaddeus Arnold
I guess he has to be Capt. Arnold. That sure is an odd first name to give him, though.
Charlotte Clancy
(Who on earth?)
Ruby
(Dimmy, perhaps? Why can't she just remain Dimmy?)
MA O'Moon (M. A. O'Moon?)
(This illustrates one of the disadvantages of the modern practice of dropping punctuation: I don't know whether the "MA" here is meant to be "Ma" (a nickname for "Mother") or "M. A." (initials).)
Fin, Lord Foggo, Drunk
(An odd collection of characters. But a drunk in an Enid Blyton story?)
Uncle Joe
(Why not Uncle Henry? And where is Aunt Harriet?)
Tom
Waiter, Elderly chap, Club member, Farmer, Fisherman, Store owner
Girl on bike 1, Girl on bike 2
I don't remember any of these in any of the books.
Where is Prince Paul?! Could be be one of the above, with a changed name? Fin? Lord Foggo? Could he bave been renamed, and demoted to a Lord? Or maybe these were the credits specifically for "The Secret Island", in which he didn't appear. But I don't think anyone remotely resembling a waiter or a Lord appeared in "The Secret Island", in that case; although they might have in one of the later books.
Can anyone shed any light on any of the above points? Thanks.
The theme music seemed quite inappropriately modern for its subject matter - as did a theme, in very similar style, for the Adventure series, of which I also found a clip.
Regards, Michael.