Toonhound - The Foxbusters (1999-2000)

   The chickens of Foxearth Farm are at the mercy of fox King Voracious and his
   ever-hungry pack. Or they might be, were it not for those dambusting chickens
   of the sky, The Foxbusters. Ransome, Sims and Jeffries are hens with wings,
   defying the Old Wive's Tale that chickens can't fly and always alert to that
   not-so fantastic Mr Fox and friends. When the enemy is spied they are soon
   driven off by a volley of grit pellets, egg bombs and more!

      Sims - big on ideas..     Jeffries - the nutty one...     Voracious - king of the foxes!

   "The Foxbusters" was adapted from the best-selling children's book by author
   Dick King-Smith ("Babe", and many more). Cosgrove Hall's series was developed
   and written by David Freedman and Alan Gilbey. They subsequently formed
   Peafur Productions and went on to bring us thered-hot hilarity of The Mr Hell Show
   and the interstellar delights of Bounty Hamster before going their separate ways.
   David is now an in-demand show-runner and producer, whilst Alan is equally in
   demand for his screenwriting skills.

   The series shares many similarities with Aardman Animation's first full-length
   feature film Chicken Run. There's the regimental nature of the hens, like they've
   stepped out of a WW2 film. There's the flying connection as well as the
   notion of a "Hollywood" voice in the lead role. In Foxbusters' case it's
   comediene and actress Whoopi Goldberg. "Chicken Run" and "Foxbusters"
   also share a voice in the form of Jane Horrocks, who plays Babs in the former
   and Jeffries in this show. What's more, both characters are of the rather
   nutty variety. Then there's Sims, the hen with the Big Ideas, rather like Mac
   in "Chicken Run", isn't she? - That's not to knock either production, though.
   "Foxbusters" stands on its own two chicken feet as a snappy, funny show,
    with bright characters and plots. The series collected a British Animation
    Award for Best Animation 2000 and, even better, went to pick up a BAFTA
    for Best Childrens Animated series. Bally-good stuff, eh?

   Spanish foxes

   The series was actually animated by Alfonso Productions in Spain. They
   had already worked with Cosgrove Hall on Avenger Penguins and Fantomcat.

   Busting foxes

   Note the slight change between the title of the book and that of the series.
   The novel is called "The Fox Busters", with the words written separately.
   Here with the series, the words are run together, so it's "The Foxbusters".

    Awards

    2000 British Animation Award - Best Children's Series
    2000 BAFTA - Best Animated Children's Series

   Broadcast info

   The series premiered on ITV on 9th September 1999....

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				Dick King Smith's The Foxbusters (1999-2000) producers: Cosgrove Hall Films animation: 2D animation episodes: 26 x 11mins
		The chickens of Foxearth Farm are at the mercy of fox King Voracious and his ever-hungry pack. Or they might be, were it not for those dambusting chickens of the sky, The Foxbusters. Ransome, Sims and Jeffries are hens with wings, defying the Old Wive's Tale that chickens can't fly and always alert to that not-so fantastic Mr Fox and friends. When the enemy is spied they are soon driven off by a volley of grit pellets, egg bombs and more! "The Foxbusters" was adapted from the best-selling children's book by author Dick King-Smith ("Babe", and many more). Cosgrove Hall's series was developed and written by David Freedman and Alan Gilbey. They subsequently formed Peafur Productions and went on to bring us thered-hot hilarity of The Mr Hell Show and the interstellar delights of Bounty Hamster before going their separate ways. David is now an in-demand show-runner and producer, whilst Alan is equally in demand for his screenwriting skills. The series shares many similarities with Aardman Animation's first full-length feature film Chicken Run. There's the regimental nature of the hens, like they've stepped out of a WW2 film. There's the flying connection as well as the notion of a "Hollywood" voice in the lead role. In Foxbusters' case it's comediene and actress Whoopi Goldberg. "Chicken Run" and "Foxbusters" also share a voice in the form of Jane Horrocks, who plays Babs in the former and Jeffries in this show. What's more, both characters are of the rather nutty variety. Then there's Sims, the hen with the Big Ideas, rather like Mac in "Chicken Run", isn't she? - That's not to knock either production, though. "Foxbusters" stands on its own two chicken feet as a snappy, funny show, with bright characters and plots. The series collected a British Animation Award for Best Animation 2000 and, even better, went to pick up a BAFTA for Best Childrens Animated series. Bally-good stuff, eh? Spanish foxes The series was actually animated by Alfonso Productions in Spain. They had already worked with Cosgrove Hall on Avenger Penguins and Fantomcat. Busting foxes Note the slight change between the title of the book and that of the series. The novel is called "The Fox Busters", with the words written separately. Here with the series, the words are run together, so it's "The Foxbusters". Awards 2000 British Animation Award - Best Children's Series 2000 BAFTA - Best Animated Children's Series Broadcast info The series premiered on ITV on 9th September 1999....
		Series One Hen Night Where Ego's Dare Winging it Icky's Sticky Situation A Fete Worse than Death Follow My Leader The Ring Cycle The Trojan Chicken Going Underground See the Dog, See the Dog Run The Long Walk Home Three Hens and a Baby Passing the Buck			Series Two Ackluclalypse Now Big Trouble Day of the Hunter Fear of Flying The Not So Great Escape Love Bites Eggs, Lies and Videotape Of Mice and Hen Some Like it Otter The Prishener Peace One Paw in the Grave In the Beak-ginning
		Further reading "The Fox Busters" was first published in the UK by Gollanz, in 1978. Since then, numerous editions have surfaced, including a 1999 tie-in edition from Puffin Books, illustrated by Jon Miller... The Foxbusters on DVD Series One: episodes 1 - 6 Region 2 / six episodes / Cinema Club / Jan 2003 Series One: episodes 7 - 13 Region 2 / seven episodes / Cinema Club / Jan 2003 based on the book "The Foxbusters" by Dick King-Smith developed for television by David Freedman & Alan Gilbey for Cosgrove Hall Films
			executive producer: producer: script editor: music: animation directors: production managers: production assistants: designers: storyboard artists: layout artists: animators: background artists: line test: checking: computer dept supervisor: scanning: painting: compositing: colourist: online & offline editing: audio post-production: voice recording: voices:	Brian Cosgrove Jon Doyle Oliver Ellis Keith Hopwood & Phil Bush John Offord (UK) Carlos Alfonso (Spain) Laura Duncalf (UK) Alex Alfonso (Spain) Julio Diez (Spain) Hilary Downs, Nicola Davies, Roy Huckerby Steve Maher, Chris Fenna, Chris Coady, Mike Whaite Kepa De Orbe, Alex De Orbe, Alex San Vincente Gorka Aranburu, Alex De Orbe, Javier Vaquero, Alex San Vincente, Eduardo Urrutia, Txenna Diaz, Jon Fernandez, Asier Arrillaga, Dani Zarate, Jon Villabeitia, Joseba Acebes Luisa Sanchez, Sandra Sasu, Julio Altozano, Ismael Arrais, Isabel Fernandez, Marta De La Rosa, Luis Amor, Jose Carlos Rudea, Sacramento Martinez, Cristina Gabriel, Benito Martin, Nieves Castineira, Lourdes Santos, Miguel A Abad, Lius Orellana, Amanda Del Monte, Julio Santos, Juan Perez, Ma Luisa Ruiz, Blanca Ruiz, Pedro Pablo Perez, Cristina Calle, Maribel De Pedro, Victor Rodriguez, Monica Diaz Andres Hernandez, George D Popov, Denitza Deneva, Javier Mota, Carmen Martin, Fermin Rodriguez, Cristina Ray, Concha Munoz, Mar Viejo Mayte Alonso & Eve Montero Fernando A Santiago Jose Maria Lopez Paulino Martin Maribel Lopez, Carmen G Sangrador, Asuncion Tomas, Dolores Torres Juan Manuel Guerrero, Victor Gonzalez Jackie Mitchell Flix Facilities Hullabaloo Studios The Bridge Studio (London) Howard Schwartz Inc. (New York) Whoopi Goldberg (Ransome) Joanna Lumley (Sims) Jane Horrocks (Jeffries) Jimmy Hibbert (Voracious) Rob Rackstraw
		On the web David Freedman One half of Peafur, still going strong... Alan Gilbey And the other, going just as strongly... prev » next »
© Cosgrove Hall Films / F2011