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Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 16 Nov 2014, 13:14
by Lenoir
This story about the filming of the Faraway Tree series was highlighted in the magazine "The Week" (which covers the main stories of the week from the British and international media). Most of it was sourced from an article in The Telegraph.
The article concludes: "It's as true now as it was in the 1960s: if you want children to get the reading habit, give them Enid Blyton. They'll never look back."
Faraway Tree
Posted: 17 Aug 2017, 16:06
by black labrador
Merged with an older topic.
There were media reports a few years ago that a film would be made of the Faraway tree books. Does anyone know anything more about this?
Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 17 Aug 2017, 16:26
by Rob Houghton
The short answer from me is 'No!' - I have been keeping my ears and eyes open but haven't heard anything since the announcement.
Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 20 Nov 2017, 18:00
by pete9012S
Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree to be made into film
Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree is being brought to life on the big screen for the first time.
StudioCanal, which was behind the Paddington films, is joining forces with Sam Mendes' Neal Street Productions, for a live action adaptation of the book series.
The tales follow a group of children's adventures at the top of a tree in an enchanted forest.
Blyton wrote the Faraway Tree books between 1939 and 1951.
The characters in the stories included Silky the fairy, Moonface, Dame Washalot and Saucepan Man.
Simon Farnaby, who will write the adaptation and was also behind the Paddington 2 screenplay, said: "The Magic Faraway Tree books are a firework display of the imagination.
"The pages are lit up with wonderful characters, humour, peril and adventure. Most homes have a well-worn jam-fingerprinted volume somewhere on their shelves.
"I'm very much looking forward to bringing the likes of the Old Saucepan Man and Dame Washalot to the big screen for fans both old and new."
Danny Perkins of StudioCanal UK described Blyton's work as "timeless", saying he'd "loved her writing since childhood".
He added: "Not unlike the work of Michael Bond CBE, we very much look forward to bringing enduring family classics to audiences worldwide."
Blyton is one of the world's best-selling children's authors and her books have sold more than 500 million copies. She died in 1968.
The four novels that have been optioned for film adaptation are The Enchanted Wood, The Magic Faraway Tree, The Folk of the Faraway Tree and Up the Faraway Tree.
Previous films from Neal Street Productions include Oscar-nominated Revolutionary Road, Starter for Ten and Jarhead. It also makes BBC series Call The Midwife.
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Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 20 Nov 2017, 19:22
by Rob Houghton
Interesting, Pete - good to get an update! At least it sounds as if it will be British made, which is a big plus when the story is British in origin. I hope it eventually does get made, as it will probably help the Society a lot!
Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 20 Nov 2017, 21:24
by Rob Houghton
One problem, I think, with making a movie, is that, unlike characters like Paddington, there are no 'definitive' character depictions to use for the film. Each generation grew up with a different image of the characters.
For me, it will always be 'the original' Rene Cloke illustrations -
For older fans (and purists!) it will be the Dorothy Wheeler versions -
Then there are other depictions too -
Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 20 Nov 2017, 21:28
by Rob Houghton
Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 21 Nov 2017, 08:40
by Anita Bensoussane
Very interesting, Pete. I'm a fan of Call the Midwife and I also loved the first Paddington film (I haven't yet seen the second one). Let's hope the film-makers manage to capture the enchantment of the Faraway Tree and its magical lands.
Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 21 Nov 2017, 09:41
by Moonraker
Good to see our Facebook page sparked some comment on this!
Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 21 Nov 2017, 12:51
by Rob Houghton
Hopefully - but I saw Pete's post on here first and not the facebook post - still hardly ever see them on facebook for some reason - though I have seen it since!
Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 02 Dec 2017, 03:02
by walter raleigh
Sadly I think the time has passed for us to see a truly faithful adaptation of the "Faraway Tree" books. I've always thought the best we could have hoped for was an animated series by somebody like Oliver Postage or Cosgrove and Hall back in the 1970's. Some ting in the style of "Noggin the Nog" or "Willo the Wisp" or even the original "Paddington" shorts.
I know the new "Paddington" films are meant to be rather good, but although I personally haven't seen them, from the various reviews I've seen they deviate a bit too far from the originals for my taste. Hopefully the new film(s) will be a bit more faithful to Blyton"s originals but I won't hold my breath.
Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 02 Dec 2017, 11:48
by Rob Houghton
I think we have to be realistic -
1. The characters are unlikely to look like Dorothy Wheeler or Rene Clokes depiction
2. Bessie, Fanny and Jo will be replaced by Beth, Frannie and Joe
3. Dame Slap will either become Dame Snap or will have disappeared altogether
Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 03 Dec 2017, 12:34
by walter raleigh
I'm not that attached to the look of the characters in any of the various illustrations in the books. Even as a child they never matched the images created by my imagination and I doubt the new film or films will either.
I do hope though it all leads to a critical reappraisal of Blyton and elevate her in the public perception to the level of other children's authors like Ransome or Carroll where I feel she belongs.
Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 28 Dec 2017, 16:29
by BeanoMaster
Simon Farnaby is a excellent choice to write the film, his work on Horrible Histories and the Paddington films are amazing. It's also going to be British made, and this company also made the 2016 Swallows and Amazons film, which was very true to the original I felt.
Re: Magic Faraway Tree set for cinema?
Posted: 03 Jan 2018, 23:04
by IceMaiden
I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand I dread it being something modernised or full of cgi nonsense like the Alice in Wonderland film of a few years ago was. On the other the producers make the truly divine Call the Midwife so they obviously can do good stuff that is accurate for it's time and given real thought and attention to. Definitely torn on this one.
