Here’s some great New Year news, straight from Summerton Valley. The second series of Summerton Mill is finally in the bag, and by all accounts, Pete Bryden and his team have brewed and bottled another thirteen magical little adventures for us to savour.
Here’s Mr Bryden himself, enthusing about his recent endeavours:
“We set out to make another 13 episodes that would fit in with the first 13, keeping the charm, without
dropping the standards � and it worked. There are
some true gems in the series, and we�re really happy with every episode.
James Cleland who started Series 1 as our assistant
animator, and was later promoted to animator, came
back to us as Director of Animation. Dan Stirrup was our second animator, and Bournemouth graduates
Abi Mendoza and Hannah Watkins were assistant animators.
We did most of the model-making (props etc) in-house
and, as per the first series, kept the scriptwriting, sound and picture editing and music in-house too…”
As most Toonhound regulars will know, The Hound is a die hard Summerton Millfreak, and that first series has been on constant rotation on his DVD player since it first appeared, back in 2005. So what better way to start the New Year than with news of 13 more singalong stories to treasure?
Pete goes on to tell us that “Summerton Mill” is currently being broadcast throughout the Middle East on Al Jazeera Children�s Channel, which is a bizarre notion indeed, but just goes to show how universal Dan, Fluffa and the gang are in their appeal.
And if you think that’s rather bizarre, apparently, “Mrs Naybhur�s
Vegetables” is one of two pre-loaded toons currently available on the high-flying kids toy, the iTeddy. That’s the tv/media teddy that hit the big time after appearing on “Dragon’s Den”, the entrepreneurial series that airs on BBC2. Summerton Mill on a teddy bear’s teddy? – I bet no one saw that coming!
There’s no news yet on a UK broadcast date, but Pete ensures us that he’ll keep us informed. He’d better, or The Hound will be down there hammering on his Mill door for an answer!
Oh, goodness. Here we are, just shy of the New Year festivities and already 2008 looks set to be a doozy… All together now…
“Let’s meet at the top of the hill…”
More: Summerton Mill
A Likeaball Christmas (24.12.07)
Well, here we are, folks. The Big Day is almost upon us, and The Hound will be offline for most of the forthcoming festivities – probably through to the New Year. So I’ll leave you with an image lifted from my favourite Christmas card of the season. It’s been mailed to me by Jim Quick, the creator of current CBBC favourite The Likeballs, and
it stars that most disagreeable chap, Count Horriball…
Jim’s series is “kicking” at the moment. HIT Entertainment have been appointed as UK and Rest Of World agents for TV and DVD sales, and LMI are on board as licensing agents. But most importantly for us, the first Likeaballs DVD is due to be released in March 2008.
So here’s to you and yours, and let’s hope 2008 is even better than likeable… hugely memorable… unforgettable, even…
See you in the New Year!
More: The Likeaballs
Piggin Christmas (20.12.07)
Yes, so this one’s a little late, but some folks might not know that our favourite little piddy – Peppa Pig – has her very own Christmas Special available on DVD. Peppa’s Christmas actually hit UK stores back in November, but the poor gal got overlooked here as The Hound took his eye off the ball for a while.
The seasonal tale features Peppa and her brother George, having fun in the snow, decorating their tree and – yes – getting to meet Father Christmas, in the flesh. It’s been packaged up with 10 regular stories too, so there’s plenty here to keep us entertained. and it should make the perfect last-minute stocking-filler for your little ‘uns…
More: Peppa Pig
Fluffy Christmas (19.12.07)
Now here’s a cuddly Christmas present for fans of Fluffy Gardens. There’s a half-hour Christmas Special on the way!
This extended festive special takes place three days before Christmas and stars Paolo the Cat. Paolo’s on his way to the Post Office to post his Christmas cards. But when he gets there the place is closed. And so are all the other shops and businesses in Fluffy Gardens. With disaster looming, our clever friend Paolo must use his head and come up with an ingenious plan to save the big day for all his fluffy friends…
“Fluffy Gardens” is just the most precise and perfect tv show. So a 30minute special is a real Christmas treat. Only… it’s being broadcast on RTE2 in Ireland, and not here on the great British mainland. So get on the phone to your Irish pals at once, and get them to set their videos for RTE2, at 8:30am on Christmas Day. And then you can get our your pen and paper and get writing to Santa Claus at once:
“Dear Santa, please could you get a UK broadcaster to put on the Fluffy Gardens Christmas Special, here in the UK. At once. Immediately. Or as soon as possible…”
More: Fluffy Gardens Jason Tammemagi
Singalongashaun (09.12.07)
Actually, if we’re getting technical, we’re singing with comedian and entertainer turned presenter Vic Reeves. You see, he’s the one singing that ridiculously catchy theme song to Aardman’s “Shaun the Sheep” tv series. And it’s so catchy, it’s just been released as a Christmas single for our aural entertainment, with a fine chance of snatching the coveted number one slot over the festive period.
Yes, it’s too darned catchy for its own good. Yes, you’re probably sick to death of it already. But you know, it sure would beat (or, bleat?) another dull and predicatble X-Factor-Idol-Star chart-topper.
By the way, fans of the series may also want to get their paws on the latest DVD release, which features both of Shaun’s DVD releases in one handy box set – it’s on my crimbo list, for sure…
More: Shaun the Sheep
200 at last! (12.11.07)
This time last year, The Hound was celebrating the imminent arrival of a very jolly milestone. He was closing in rapidly on the big 200. That is to say, the 200th animated series to have entered the TvToons index. He had his streamers and party poppers at the ready… The cake was in the oven…
And then, fate intervened. 2007 has been a ridiculously busy year. I’ve been pulled everywhichway, offline and on, and the amount of new additions to the various indexes have slowed to a mere trickle of late…
But finally, twelve months later than planned. We’ve done it. We’ve hit that double century, courtesy of Roger Hargreaves and those fantastic Little Miss, who joined the site this week. And it’s rather apt because, Mr Hargreaves was a masive influence on this dawg’s formative years. His Mr Men books were my first love when I was five, and their elegant simplicity encouraged me to pick up a pen for myself and get drawing… Why, those are just felt pen drawings.. I could do what he did… Easy-peasy…
But of course, that’s the beauty of the Mr Men. They are, in fact, defiantly sophisticated. Oh for sure, my young hand could draw a big wobbly shape, colour it purple and call it “Mr Greedy”. But Mr Hargreaves’ original had such splendid control to it. A perfect smile… dinky little fingers on the tummy… I spent a whole Summer drawing Mr Men over and over, but they were never as good as those originals…. and maybe I’m not alone, given the furore that’s been building over “The Mr Men Show”!
Anyways, let’s not get mired in that debate. Instead, let’s celebrate that 200th addition to the index. Of course, there are still plenty of missing shows – Roger Hargreaves’ “Timbuctoo” amongst them – but you can bet the index will keep growing, slowly but surely. As long as they keep makin’ them, Toonhound will keep on indexing…
British animation news and Summerton Mill updates from December 2007
news
archive »
» »
Summerton
news (31.12.07)
Here’s some great New Year news, straight from
Summerton Valley.
The second series of Summerton
Mill is finally in the bag, and by all
accounts, Pete Bryden and his team have brewed
and bottled another
thirteen magical little adventures for us
to savour.
Here’s Mr Bryden himself, enthusing about
his recent endeavours:
“We
set out to make another 13 episodes that would
fit in with the first 13, keeping the charm, without
dropping the standards � and it worked. There are
some true gems in the series, and we�re really
happy
with every episode.
James Cleland who started Series 1 as our assistant
animator, and was later promoted to animator, came
back to us as Director of Animation. Dan Stirrup
was
our second animator, and Bournemouth graduates
Abi Mendoza and Hannah Watkins were assistant
animators.
We did most of the model-making (props etc) in-house
and, as per the first series, kept the scriptwriting,
sound
and picture editing and music in-house too…”
As most
Toonhound regulars will know, The Hound is a die hard
Summerton Millfreak, and that first series has
been on constant rotation
on his DVD player since it first appeared, back
in 2005. So what better
way to start the New Year than with news
of 13 more singalong stories
to treasure?
Pete goes on to tell us that “Summerton
Mill” is currently being broadcast
throughout the Middle East on Al Jazeera Children�s
Channel,
which is a bizarre notion indeed, but just
goes to show how universal
Dan, Fluffa and the gang are in their appeal.
And if you think that’s rather bizarre, apparently,
“Mrs Naybhur�s
Vegetables”
is one of two pre-loaded toons currently available on
the high-flying kids toy, the iTeddy. That’s
the tv/media teddy that hit the
big time after appearing on “Dragon’s Den”,
the entrepreneurial series
that airs on BBC2. Summerton Mill on a teddy bear’s
teddy? – I bet
no one saw that coming!
There’s no news yet on a UK broadcast date,
but Pete ensures us
that he’ll keep us informed. He’d better,
or The Hound will be down there
hammering on his Mill door for an answer!
Oh, goodness. Here we are, just shy of the
New Year festivities and
already 2008 looks set to be a doozy… All
together now…
“Let’s
meet at the top of the hill…”
More: Summerton
Mill
A
Likeaball Christmas (24.12.07)
Well, here we are, folks. The Big Day is almost
upon us, and
The Hound will be offline for most of the
forthcoming festivities – probably
through to the New Year. So I’ll leave you
with an image lifted from
my favourite Christmas card of the season.
It’s been mailed to me by
Jim Quick, the creator of current CBBC favourite
The Likeballs, and
it stars that most disagreeable chap, Count Horriball…
Jim’s series is “kicking” at the
moment. HIT Entertainment have been
appointed as UK and Rest Of World agents for
TV and DVD sales,
and LMI are on board as licensing agents.
But most importantly for
us, the first Likeaballs DVD is due to be
released in March 2008.
So here’s to you and yours, and let’s hope
2008 is even better than
likeable… hugely memorable… unforgettable,
even…
See you in the New Year!
More:
The Likeaballs
Piggin
Christmas (20.12.07)
Yes, so this one’s a little late, but some folks
might not know that
our favourite little piddy – Peppa Pig – has
her very own Christmas
Special available on DVD. Peppa’s
Christmas
actually hit UK stores
back in November, but the poor gal got overlooked
here as The Hound
took his eye off the ball for a while.
The seasonal tale features Peppa and her brother
George, having
fun in the snow, decorating their tree and
– yes – getting to meet
Father Christmas, in the flesh. It’s been
packaged up with 10
regular stories too, so there’s plenty here
to keep us entertained.
and it should make the perfect last-minute
stocking-filler for
your little ‘uns…
More:
Peppa Pig
Fluffy
Christmas (19.12.07)
Now here’s a cuddly Christmas present for fans
of Fluffy Gardens.
There’s a half-hour Christmas Special on the
way!
This extended festive special takes place
three days before
Christmas and stars Paolo the Cat. Paolo’s
on his way to the
Post Office to post his Christmas cards. But
when he gets there
the place is closed. And so are all the other
shops and businesses
in Fluffy Gardens. With disaster looming,
our clever friend Paolo
must use his head and come up with an ingenious
plan to save
the big day for all his fluffy friends…
“Fluffy Gardens” is just the most
precise and perfect tv show.
So a 30minute special is a real Christmas
treat. Only… it’s being
broadcast on RTE2 in Ireland, and not here on the
great British
mainland. So get on the phone to your Irish pals
at once, and get
them to set their videos for RTE2, at 8:30am
on Christmas Day.
And then you can get our your pen and paper and
get writing
to Santa Claus at once:
“Dear Santa, please could you get a UK broadcaster
to
put on the Fluffy Gardens Christmas Special,
here in the
UK. At once. Immediately. Or as soon as possible…”
More:
Fluffy Gardens
Jason
Tammemagi
Singalongashaun
(09.12.07)
Actually, if we’re getting technical, we’re
singing with comedian and
entertainer turned presenter Vic Reeves. You
see, he’s the one singing
that ridiculously catchy theme song to Aardman’s
“Shaun the Sheep”
tv series. And it’s so catchy, it’s just been
released as a Christmas
single for our aural entertainment, with a fine
chance of snatching
the coveted number one slot over the festive
period.
Yes, it’s too darned catchy for its own good.
Yes, you’re probably
sick to death of it already. But you know,
it sure would beat (or, bleat?)
another dull and predicatble X-Factor-Idol-Star
chart-topper.
By the way, fans of the series may also want
to get their paws on
the latest DVD release, which features both
of Shaun’s DVD releases
in
one handy box set
– it’s on my crimbo list, for sure…
More:
Shaun the Sheep
200 at last! (12.11.07)
This time last year, The Hound was celebrating
the imminent arrival of
a very jolly milestone. He was closing in
rapidly on the big 200. That is
to say, the 200th animated series to have
entered the TvToons index.
He had his streamers and party poppers at
the ready… The cake was
in the oven…
And
then, fate intervened. 2007 has been a ridiculously busy year.
I’ve been pulled everywhichway, offline and
on, and the amount of new
additions to the various indexes have slowed
to a mere trickle of late…
But finally, twelve months later than planned.
We’ve done it. We’ve hit
that double century, courtesy of Roger Hargreaves
and those fantastic
Little Miss,
who joined the site this week. And it’s rather apt because,
Mr Hargreaves was a masive influence on this
dawg’s formative years.
His Mr Men books were my first love when I
was five, and their
elegant simplicity encouraged me to pick up
a pen for myself and
get drawing… Why, those are just felt pen
drawings.. I could do
what he did… Easy-peasy…
But of course, that’s the beauty of the Mr
Men. They are, in fact,
defiantly sophisticated. Oh for sure, my young
hand could draw a
big wobbly shape, colour it purple and call
it “Mr Greedy”. But
Mr Hargreaves’ original had such splendid
control to it. A perfect
smile… dinky little fingers on the tummy…
I spent a whole Summer
drawing Mr Men over and over, but they were
never as good as
those originals…. and maybe I’m not alone, given
the furore that’s
been building over “The Mr Men Show”!
Anyways,
let’s not get mired in that debate. Instead, let’s celebrate
that 200th addition to the index. Of course,
there are still plenty of
missing shows – Roger Hargreaves’ “Timbuctoo”
amongst them –
but you can bet the index will keep growing,
slowly but surely.
As long as they keep makin’ them, Toonhound
will keep on
indexing…