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Anytime
Tales (1991)
producers: King Rollo Films for
Abbey
Home Media Group
Andersen
Press Ltd
animation: 2D animation
episodes: 10 tales of various length
Ten classic stories by bestselling authors
Tony Ross and David McKee are
brought to life here by King Rollo Films,
Abbey Home
Media and Andersen
Press, and bracketed together as a series of
"Anytime Tales". And they're
very fine adaptations indeed.
"I
Want My Potty" is probably the standout tale, not just
because it's so
beautifully irreverant and charming in the
way it deals with its subject matter,
but also because it marks the first appearance
of a certain Little
Princess,
who's since gone on to even greater things in
her own series.
Tony Ross'
book is, of course, a nursery classic. But
here, in its animated guise, we
even get some fab farty outbursts on the
soundtrack, which are guaranteed
to get you giggling.
Meanwhile, in the other pool of titles from
David McKee, we have the delightfully
colourful "Elmer".
If you've got young kids, you'll know that Elmer is the
patchwork star of a whole series of books and
goodies, and seeing him
walking and talking here, with the help of Johnny
Morris, is a real treat.
Speaking of Mr McKee, let's not forget that
King Rollo Films is the company
he instigated with Clive Juster and Leo
Nielsen, and their award-winning
productions have included adaptations of
Tony Ross’s Towser, Eric
Hill’s
Spot, and
Lucy Cousins’ Maisy books. As you'd expect, these Anytime
adaptations are also quite exemplary, and delightful.
Yes, the animation
is often quite spare, but therein lies the
charm. Each tale is allowed to
unspool, in its own time, without any wham-bang
clutter and effects.
And because each of the ten stories has
a cautionery twist, or a
lovely turn-up at the end, you can't help
but be left with a wry smile
on your face, and a cosey feeling in your
tum...
Those Anytime Tales...
Each author has five famous tales
to his name...
(BBFC running times are in brackets)
Tony Ross
I Want My Potty (5mins 49secs)
A Little Princess has to adjust to using a
new potty, which isn't
always as close to hand as she would like...
I Want
a Cat (6mins 35secs)
Jessie wants a cat, but her Mum and Dad won't
let her,
so she dons a cat suit and puts a special plan
in to action...
Super Dooper Jezebel (5mins 9secs)
Young
Jezebel is just perfect in evey way. So super dooper
perfect, in fact, that she deserves a croctacular
comeuppance...
Oscar Got the Blame (4mins 16secs)
Oscar's "friend" Billy cause
all sorts of mischief...
I'm Coming to Get You (5mins 19secs)
A
loathsome space monster causes havoc on a far-flung planet,
before making its way to Earth, and the
home of little Tommy Brown...
David McKee
Not Now, Bernard (4mins 53secs)
Bernard's parents never have time for him,
or the purple monster
who gobbles him up and takes his place...
Elmer (7mins 43secs)
Elmer the patchwork elephant is fed up with
being different...
The Sad Story of Veronica who Played the
Violin (10mins 7secs)
Veronica's violin playing brings tears to the
eyes of her teachers, her family,
and the great wild world...
The Hill and the Rock (8mins 25secs)
Mr and Mrs Quest are deflated when they shift
a rock from atop
of their happy hilltop home...
Two Can Toucan (4mins 57secs)
The Aesop-like tale of a jet black bird who
seeks an identity...*
* This was actually David McKee's very
first published tale.
Anytime cameos
» In
"Not
Now, Bernard" Bernard's TV is playing an episode
of Towser...
» Also,
in the same film, when the purple monster is reading one of
Bernard's comics,
you can clearly see an Elmer soft toy on Bernard's
toy shelf, beneath
him...
» In
"The
Hill and the Rock", one of the young visitors to
Mr and Mrs
Quest's high home is dragging
a toy Elmer on wheels, behind him...
»
And finally, in "Two
Can Toucan" there's even a house being painted
Elmer-style, in bright
patchwork colours...
Anytime Tales on DVD
Anytime
Tales
Region
2 / all ten tales / Abbey Home Media / June 2004
based on the books by Tony Ross
published by Andersen Press
director: Leo
Nielsen
exec producers: Anne
Miles, Klaus Flugge
producer: Clive
Juster
music: Duncan
Lamont
animation: Andy
Wagner
backgrounds: David
Bull, Martin Hazelgrave
camera: David
Bull
editing: Clive
Juster, John Hewett
dubbing: Bob
Jackson
voices: Victoria
Wood
Steve
Steen
based on the books by David McKee
published by Andersen Press
director: Leo
Nielsen
exec producers: Anne
Miles, Klaus Flugge
producer: Clive
Juster
music: Duncan
Lamont
animation: Andy
Wagner
backgrounds: David
Bull, Martin Hazelgrave
camera: David
Bull, Nick Price
editing: Clive
Juster, John Hewett
dubbing: Bob
Jackson
voices: Victoria
Wood
Johnny
Morris
Steve
Steen
On
the web
King Rollo
Films
The studio site...
Andersen
Press
The publishers' home...
Abbey
Home Media
Here are the producers and rights
holders...
Abbey
Kids Shop
And this is their very own video store...
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