Famous 5: On the Case
| Famous 5: On the Case | |
|---|---|
 The characters, from top left: Jo, Max, Allie, Dylan, and Timmy the dog |
|
| Format | Animated television series |
| Created by | Enid Blyton (original books) |
| Written by | Tim Maile Douglas Tuber[1] |
| Starring | Justin Fletcher Sophie Ash Jon Lee Kath Soucie Skandar Keynes |
| Country of origin |  UK France |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 43 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Laura Clunie[2] |
| Running time | approx. 0:22 (per episode) |
| Production company(s) | Marathon Media Group Chorion Disney Europe France 3 |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | UK Disney Channel |
| Original run | April 05 2008 – present |
Famous 5: On The Case is an animated television series which is currently broadcast in the United Kingdom, on the Disney Channel. It is a British and French television co-production,[3] loosely based on The Famous Five series of books created by Enid Blyton. At least some of the episodes have been developed for television by Douglas Tuber and Tim Maile, the writers of the former Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire.[1] On June 21, 2008 the show debuted in Italy and Australia on Disney Channel.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Jo, Max, Allie, Timmy and Dylan are the children of the original Famous Five[4] - George, Julian, Anne, Timmy and Dick - who live in the town of Falcongate. Max, Allie and Dylan are all cousins whilst Jo is their second cousin.
They, like their parents before them, embark on a new series of adventures. During these adventures the new Famous Five are able to make use of newer technology such as laptop computers and mobile phones which had not been invented in their parents' day.[4]
[edit] Characters
| Jothi "Jo" Mischwa | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Case of the Fudgie Fry Pirates |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Relatives | George Kirrin: Mother Ravi Mischwa: Father Allie Campbell, Dylan and Max Kirrin: Cousins Michael and Sam Mischwa: Brothers |
- Jo Mischwa - Short for Jyothi, a Hindi word meaning light,[4] she is the daughter of George Kirrin who like her mother before her is a tomboy and prefers to shorten her name to a more masculine form. She is of Anglo-Indian descent; her father is a man named Ravi who George met in the Himalayas.[4] Jo is voiced by Ciara Janson in Series 1 and Sophie Ash in Series 2-5.
| Maxwell "Max" Kirrin | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Case of the Fudgie Fry Pirates |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Relatives | Julian Kirrin: Father Brandine Hobbs: Mother Allie Campbell, Dylan Kirrin and Jo Mischwa: Cousins Tara Kirrin: Sister |
- Max Kirrin - Son of Julian Kirrin, a 13 year old adrenaline junkie, who enjoys sports such as mountain biking and skateboarding. He is voiced by Jon Lee.
| Alisha "Allie" Campbell | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Case of the Fudgie Fry Pirates" |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Relatives | Anne Kirrin: Mother Ralph Campbell: Father Dylan Kirrin, Jo Mischwa and Max Kirrin: Cousins Zack, Jack and Alfred Campbell: Brothers |
- Allie Campbell - Daughter of Anne Kirrin, who moved to California after University and who is now a successful Art dealer.[4] Allie, who was born in California before moving to Falcongate, is a happy shopaholic and uses her cellphone to stay in contact with America. She is voiced by Kelly Metzger in Series 1 and Kath Soucie in Series 2-5.
| Dylan Kirrin | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Case of the Fudgie Fry Pirates" |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Relatives | Dick Kirrin: Father Dinah Raftery: Mother Allie Campbell, Jo Mischwa and Max Kirrin: Cousins Oscar Kirrin: Brother Daniella Kirrin: Sister |
- Dylan Kirrin - Son of Dick Kirrin, an 11 year old fan of gadgets and aspiring entrepreneur who likes to look for ways to make money. He is voiced by Lizzie Waterworth in Series 1-2 and Skandar Keynes in Series 3-5.
- Timmy the Dog - The Famous Five's trusty pet dog. He is voiced by Justin Fletcher.
[edit] Criticism
The show has attracted some criticism from some Blyton fans. Vivienne Endecott, a member of the Enid Blyton Society has said she was "wary" of the show, telling The Daily Telegraph "I don’t really see how you can take the Famous Five out of their era, which is 1940s Britain, anybody can write about four children and a dog, and my concern is that modern kids who watch this will think that the Famous Five is all about gadgets and multi-culturalism.";[2] Blyton's biographer, Barbara Stoney told the Daily Mail "I am not in favour. How can you say it is Enid Blyton when it is nothing like her original stories and the characters are not the same? I don't think Enid Blyton would have appreciated too much the mucking around with her stuff."[5]
Tony Summerfield, also of the Enid Blyton Society, stated "The only loose connection is that they are the Famous Five's offspring. Inevitably, anything that is brought up to date is likely to be different, shall we say."[5] Steve Aranguren, the vice president of global original programming at the Disney Channel stated that "We wanted to bring the sense of adventure in the original books to a new generation of Famous Five fans, however, we needed to give the characters a contemporary voice."[2] Jeff Norton, of Chorion Limited, the company that owns the television rights to Enid Blyton's works, told The Press Association "We tried to imagine where the original Famous Five would go in their lives."[4] He also stated "we spoke to Enid Blyton's daughter and she thought her mother would love what we have done".[4]
[edit] Episodes
There are 130 episodes and each episode is 22 minutes long
[edit] Series 1: 2008
1.The Case of the Fudgie Fry Pirates- 5 April 2008
2.The Case of the Plant That Could Eat Your House- 12 April 2008
3.The Case of the Impolite and Snarly Thing- 19 April 2008 (Note: Dylan wears brown shorts at the beginning of this episode)
4.The Case of the Sticks and Their Tricks- 26 April 2008
5.The Case of the Plot to Pull the Plug- 3 May 2008 (Note: this is the first episode to have snow in Falcongate)
6.The Case of the Thief Who Drinks From the Toilet- 10 May 2008
7.The Case of the Hot Air BA-BOOM!- 17 May 2008
8.The Case of the Stinky Smell- 24 May 2008
9.The Case of the Defective Detective- 31 May 2008
10.The Case of Allies Really Bad Singing- 7 June 2008
11.The Case of the Medieval Meathead- 14 June 2008
12.The Case of the Messy Mucked up Masterpiece- 21 June 2008
13.The Case of the Guy Who Makes You Act Like A Chicken- 28 June 2008
14.The Case of the Felon with Frosty Fingers- 5 July 2008
15.The Case of the Bogus Banknotes- 12 July 2008
16.The Case of 8 Arms and no fingerprints- 19 July 2008
17.The Case of the Flowers That Make Your Body Go All Wobbly- 26 July 2008
18.The Case of the Guy Who Looks Very Good For A 2000 Year Old- 2 August 2008 (Note: Max wears a blue sleeveless shirt in this episode)
19.The Case of the Gobbling Goop- 9 August 2008
20.The Case of the Surfer Dude Who is Truly Rude- 16 August 2008
21.The Case of the Cactus, The Coot and The Cowboy Boot- 23 August 2008
22.The Case of the Seal Who Gets All Up In Your Face- 30 August 2008
23.The Case of the Snow, The Glow and The OH-NO!- 6 September 2008
24.The Case of the Fish That Flew The Coop- 13 September 2008
25.The Case of the Smashed and Tangled Muesem- 20 September 2008
26.The Case of the Golden Medal and the Horse of Steel- 27 September 2008
[edit] Series 2: 2009
27.The Case of the Mysterious Thief- 3 January 2009
28.The Case of the Things That Go Bump In The Night- 10 January 2009
29.The Case of the Underground Frog- 17 January 2009
30.The Case of the Sparkly Trapped Treasure- 24 January 2009
31.The Case of the Moorland Meddler- 31 January 2009
32.The Case of the Finniston Fiddler- 7 February 2009
33.The Case of the Various Valentine- 14 February 2009
34.The Case of the Missing Brooch- 21 February 2009
35.The Case of the Library Ghost- 28 February 2009
36.The Case of the Golden Galeoon- 7 March 2009
37.The Case of the Gibbet Tree- 14 March 2009
38.The Case of the Knights Treasure- 21 March 2009
39.The Case of the Well Robbers- 28 March 2009
40.The Case of the Inca God- 4 April 2009
41.The Case of the Templer's Treasure- 11 April 2009
42.The Case of the Incredible Changing Kid- 18 April 2009
[edit] Series 3: 2011
43. The Case of the Evil Sea Monster - 14 September 2011
[edit] Merchandise
Along with the series, Hodder Books has produced a "flipper" novel of all 130 episodes. Each book contains two of the stories and are now available in all good bookstores in the UK. It has not yet been confirmed on whether other merchandise will be released. The books are:
1. Case Files 1 & 2: The Case of the Fudgie Fry Pirates & The Case of the Plant that Could Eat Your House
2. Case Files 3 & 4: The Case of the Impolite Snarly Thing & The Case of the Sticks and Their Tricks
3. Case Files 5 & 6: The Case of the Plot to Pull the Plug & The Case of the Thief Who Drinks from the Toilet
4. Case Files 7 & 8: The Case of the Hot-Air Ba-Boom! & The Case of the Stinky Smell
5. Case Files 9 & 10: The Case of the Defective Detective & The Case of Allie's Really Very Bad Singing
6. Case Files 11 & 12: The Case of the Medieval Meathead & The Case of the Messy Mucked Up Masterpiece
7. Case Files 13 & 14: The Case of the Guy Who Makes You Act Like A Chicken & The Case of the Felon with Frosty Fingers
8. Case Files 15 & 16: The Case of the Bogus Banknotes & The Case of Eight Arms and No Fingerprints
9. Case Files 17 & 18: The Case of the Flowers That Make Your Body All Wobbly & The Case of the Guy Who Looks Pretty Good for a 2000 Year-Old
10. Case Files 19 & 20: The Case of the Gobbling Goop & The Case of the Surfer Dude Who's Truly Rude
11. Case Files 21 & 22: The Case of the Cactus, the Coot, and the Cowboy Boot & The Case of the Seal Who Gets All Up In Your Face
12. Case Files 23 & 24: The Case of the Snow, the Glow and the Oh, No! & The Case of the Fish That Flew the Coop
[edit] International sales
According to the online magazine License! Global the series has been sold to several international broadcasters.[3] These are Super RTL (Germany), RTBF (Belgium), the Netherlands version of Jetix, and LNK (Lithuania); along with Disney France, Disney Africa, Disney Middle-East and Disney Asia and Australia.[3]
[edit] International release
| Region | Network(s) | Series premiere |
|---|---|---|
| Asia | Disney Channel Asia | October, 2008 |
| United Kingdom |
Disney Channel | April 5, 2008 |
 Poland |
Disney Channel | June 14, 2008 |
 Sweden |
Disney Channel | June 14, 2008 |
 Italy |
Disney Channel | June 21, 2008 |
 Turkey |
Disney Channel Turkey | June 14, 2008 |
 Portugal |
Disney Channel, RTP2 | June 28, 2008 |
 Australia |
Disney Channel | July 11, 2008 |
 Ireland |
RTÉ Two | 2011 |
 Spain |
Disney Channel | October, 2008 |
| France |
Disney Channel & France 3 | November, 2008 |
 India |
Disney Channel | November 17, 2008 |
 The Netherlands |
Jetix | January, 2009 |
 Israel |
Kids Channel | September 1, 2009 |
 United States |
Disney Channel | March 13, 2011 |
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Famous Five". Chorion.co.uk. Chorion Limited. Archived from the original on 2008-05-31. http://web.archive.org/web/20080531160727/http://www.chorion.co.uk/chorion/brand/famfive. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
- ^ a b c Martin, Nicole (2008-04-18), "Enid Blyton's Famous Five reborn as cartoon", The Daily Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1582156/Enid-Blyton's-Famous-Five-reborn-as-cartoon.html
- ^ a b c "'Famous 5' Delivered to Disney Channel Europe", License! Global Weekly E-news, 2008-01-21, http://www.licensemag.com/licensemag/Entertainment/lsquoFamous-5rsquo-Delivered-to-Disney-Channel-Eur/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/485747, retrieved 2008-05-28.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Famous Five return for TV series". BBC News (BBC). 2008-04-20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7306752.stm. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
- ^ a b Revoir, Paul (2008-05-20), "Gosh! Look what Disney's done to Enid Blyton's Famous Five", Daily Mail, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-540056/Gosh-Look-Disneys-Enid-Blytons-Famous-Five.html
[edit] External links
- Official site Disney Channel UK
- Official site Chorion Limited
- Famous 5: On the Case at the Internet Movie Database
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