The Adventure Series - Disappearing Act!?

[Pele1990]

As the confusing title suggests, i was a little confused myself at this one...

In The Ship Of Adventure, where Philip aquires the adorable Micky the monkey, he actually keeps him and takes him home, unlike many of the other pets heaquires which he sets free at the end. However, in the Circus of Adventure, of the River of Adventure, Micky is nowhere to be seen! What happened to him? I actually think it was quite a shame he was not included in futere books, as I thought he was a highly likable pet! Plus, I see no reason for Philip not keeping him, he seemed pretty houseworthy (by Kiki's standards anyway)! and certainly looked as though he was going to stay and be kept there at the end. Does anyone know of an explanation?

[Pele1990]

Well, i take it nobody does then...

Having read the books again, I have noticed that several pets have gone missing, not just Micky, although he does stand out as it actually SAYS he went home with them. But all of Philip's pets must have done so, (except Huffin and Puffin as the book says they couldnt be taken back) because, after all, the animals would never leave him and he wouldnt be all too keen on leaving them either. So somewhere at home, Philip must be accomodating a monkey, a fox cub, a goat (perhaps thats another that was left behind actually), a lizard, two pet mice, a toad, a snake, and the various others mentioned! Its just a puzzle why they were never mentioned in future books!

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

I'd never thought of that before.

It's certainly The Mystery of the Missing Menagerie!

best wishes

Viv

[Rowena]

In the *real world* customs would have jumped on poor Mickey and slapped him quarantine for rabies or something equally vile so perhaps that's why he never pops up again...

[RainbowJude]

Having read the books again, I have noticed that several pets have gone missing, not just Micky.... So somewhere at home, Philip must be accommodating a monkey, a fox cub, a goat (perhaps thats another that was left behind actually), a lizard, two pet mice, a toad, a snake, and the various others mentioned! Its just a puzzle why they were never mentioned in future books!

Well, I think the fox cub probably was left behind too, maybe with Tassie. I would say the goat was definitely left behind on the farm in Wales. The snake goes missing at the end of The River of Adventure, so that one's accounted for in a way too. As for the others, they seem to be mostly garden animals anyway, so I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up back at home with the Mannering-Cunninghams.



I think the biggest question mark hangs over the head of Micky, because he was central to the plot of The Ship of Adventure. The real-world customs story sounds awful... but maybe he was released into safekeeping after his quarantine...

Later days
David

[Lucky Star]

Maybe he was donated to a zoo? Or more likely Enid Blyton just forgot to include him in the final two books. Dont forget that Ship was supposed to be the last in the series so it must have been a bit of a shock to her to have to write two more. She probably just planned the books with the original, main characters in mind and totally blanked out trivial (to her) details such a monkey from the previous book.

[Rob Houghton]

Also, as the books werent meant to be read in any particular order (it was always noted that each was 'quite complete within itself' or words to that effect) then additions and subtractions of various new pets might have been confusing to the reader if they happened to read the wrong books first!!

[RainbowJude]

Also, as the books weren't meant to be read in any particular order (it was always noted that each was 'quite complete within itself' or words to that effect) then additions and subtractions of various new pets might have been confusing to the reader if they happened to read the wrong books first!!

But the Adventure series is a little more series-focused than some of the others. The Island of Adventure is first because the children meet Bill for the first time. After that, there's usually a reference to the previous adventures early in each book - The Castle of Adventure references The Island of Adventure, The Valley of Adventure references the two adventures from the two previous books, The Sea of Adventure references the adventure in the valley and so on. Then there's also the switch from Mrs Mannering to Mrs Cunningham in the final two books.

So while you might get each adventure complete in itself in a book, the sequence is much less arbitrary than in, say, the "Famous Five" series as a whole.

Later days
David