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Gordon
the
Garden Gnome
(2005)
producers:
Collingwood O'Hare for the BBC
animation: 2D
animation
episodes:
52 x 11 minutes
"Let's
get mucky!"
Gordon is a green fingered garden gnome
who loves his plants and animals and
all-things environmental. Which is handy,
because those same plants and
animals, and his gnome friends, need constant
care and attention and affection.
There's always something that needs
pruning, clearing, sowing or sprucing -
and Gordon can count on his companions
to help him through. Well, most of
them anyway, because if Lez and Dez
slug have their way, there'd be nothing
left in the garden to tend to!
Gordon was created by cartoonist/writer
Alan Plenderleith (The Odd Squad)
and
developed and animated by Collingwood
O'Hare (Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto!,
etc).
In an inspired move, the creators brought
in Britain's busiest gardener, Alan
Titchmarsh, to voice the lead. He even chips
in with the catchy theme tune!
The production was first announced in
the Summer of 2002, and a pilot episode
"The Smelly Wellies" used
to snare a big commission from the BBC. At the
time, only Gordon and his animal friends
were revealed to viewers. But as the
series developed, so did Gordon's world.
Now there are gnomes-a-plenty.
Our pointy-hatted pals are kept in order
by the Chief Gnome, who travels
beaten all the gardens by magical means,
and young gnomelets have to
graduate from Gnome Academy before they are
allocated their own garden
patch to tend to and nurture. And in
the gnomes' world, "Turnip Tuesday" and
"Meadow Mow Day" are a cause for
celebration...
So far 26 episodes are scheduled for
broadcast, with the last of these
featuring something of a cliffhanger,
because Gordon receives an invitation
to leave his garden world and head up
the Gnome Land theme park. It's an
offer he hopefully won't take, because
a further batch of 26 stories are already
in the pipeline!...
» Gordon's
very first garden engagement began in August 2002, when he
joined forces with
Eureka! - The Museum for Children in Halifax. The
fellow became
an interactive guide for "Our Global Garden", an exhibition
looking at gardens
around the world...
» The series
was launched in the UK on 6th June 2005, and special trailers
aired on the
BBC in the run-up to transmission, featuring Gordon in a
live-action garden...
» Green-fingered
Gordon shouldn't be confused with DC Thomson's Gordon
Gnome, a chap who
appeared in "The Beano" back in the early 1980s...
Gordon's
gnomes
Percy
The gadgeteer. He's forever inventing new
devices and contraptions to assist
around the garden. At least, that's the theory.
His inventions include "Floaty Leaf
Spray", and a "Dangle-a-Gnome"
device - handy for avoiding slugs..
Ian
A trainee young gnome, keen to follow
in his elders' footsteps...
Rosie
Rosie's Wood is a popular haunt, with its
splendid Play Tree. Which makes it
particularly sad when the tree is blown
down in "The Storm"...
Jerome
Jerome likes to do things his own
way, usually with other people's equipment
and tools which he regularly "borrows"!...
The Chief Gnome
The Chief makes all the Big Decisions, and
carries out various municipal
duties with bluster and gusto...
Gladioli
The Chief's h'ever so haughty wife...
Gordon's
animal pals
Andrew
Andrew worm is Gordon's closest friend
- literally - because he lives inside
Gordon's pointy hat and pops out via a little
trapdoor, when he chooses.
At night, Andrew sleeps in a flowerpot
by Gordon's bed...
Morris
Morris mole, is a helpful little tunneller
and hole-maker...
Lez & Dez
Slugs with attitude, eager to eat the
greenery, chew the vegetables and
protest at the actions of the gnomes,
when e'er they can. Lez is the bigger
purple one and Dez the conniving pink
one...
Daphne
A keen squirrel...
Mimi & Fifi
Two young birds with bows on their heads...
Chirpy
A baby bird, hatched inside Gordon's watering
can in "Feathered Friends"...
Vincent
A bat with a head cold, and a faulty sonar
who features in "Vincent the Bat"...
The Sparrow Sisters
Twitterpated bird twins...
Horace & Doris
Posh snails who visit the garden in "Horace
& Doris"...
Mervyn
He's Andrew's woodworm cousin who causes
havoc in "Cousin Mervyn"
In
the news
The
Hound: June 2004
Alan Plenderleith talks Gordon
and more ...
The
Hound: July 2002
Gnome, sweet gnome...
Promos/Tie-ins
In February 2006 Slotz the gardening
company launched some rather
splendid garden gnomes, one of Grodon
and one of Rosie. They also
created some miniature plant pegs
for folks to collect...
More info: Slotz
Ltd
Gordon
Gnome on DVD
Spring
Adventures
Region
2 / Paramount / April 2006
Summer
Magic in the Garden
Region
2 / Paramount / June 2006
Gordon
Gnome episodes
The Very Best Garden Competition
Lost
in the Post
Up the Garden Path
Meadow Mow Day
Percy's Prize
The Smelly Boots
Gordon's Leaves
The Fairy Ring
Where's My Hat?
Cousin Mervyn
Attack of the Crows
Vincent the Bat
Into the Wild
That's Magic
Bee Movie
Birdbath Bonanza
Gnomeless
Horace and Doris
A Slug's Life
Back to the Land
Feathered Friends
Percy I Shrunk the Gnome
Gordon's Marrow
Gordon's Gadgets
The Storm
Gordon's Farewell
Water, Water Everywhere
The Veggie Pet
What a Performance
Robo-Gnome
Gordon's Marrow
a
Collingwood O'Hare Entertainment Ltd
production for the BBC
adapated & directed by Tony
Collingwood
produced by Chris O'Hare
idea created by Alan Plenderleith
writers: Tony
Collingwood, Alan Plenderleith,
Jimmy Hibbert, Nigel Crowle,
Andrew Viner,
Moya
O'Shea, Dave Ingham, James Mason,
Diane
Redmond, Christopher Lillicrap,
Laura
Beaumont & Paul Larson,
Adam
Khwaja & Mark Osborne
Jacqui
Merhal
script editor
& casting: Helen
Stroud
music: Roger
Jackson
exec prod: Theresa
Plummer Andrews (for the BBC)
visual dev: Andrea
Tran
charac des: Nikolay
Moustakov, Trevor Ricketts,
Paul
Stone, Isabel Castellano
b'ground des: Michelle
Dabs
prop design: Peter
Mays
clean-up: Chris
Norris, Rachel Feasey,
Aikaterini
Kremasioti
model pack
co-ord:
Alex Dowding
colourists: Al
Douglas, Georgie Soskin
b'ground
painter:
Rachael Stedman
st'board artists: Christian de
Vita, Trevor Ricketts,
Paul
Gunson, Suzy Cunningham,
Kevin
Malloy, Tom Elmes, Ben Bowen,
Michael
Zarb, Andy Erracleous,
Andy
Roper, Vivienme Heath
st'board dir: Paul
Gunson
track b'down
editor: Peter
Corley
Alison Crawford (assistant)
Rocio
Cangfas-Martinez (assistant)
sheet timer: Mike
Longden
Su Zhou Hung
Ying Animation: Tom Pong,
Bobby Hsieh
editor: Fred
Ziecker
sound engineer: David Peacock
post prod: David
Ward, Peter Dixon, Ann Marie Dutton
studio man: Alexander
Lentjes
prod man: David
Elden
prod team: Mueser
Alby, Finola Davis, Juliet Golz,
Josef Reich, Simon Salter
voices: Alan
Titchmarsh (Gordon Gnome)
Rob
Rackstraw (Andrew)
Maria
Darling
Dan
Freedman
David
Holt
Jimmy
Hibbert
Moya
O'Shea
On
the web
Collingwood
O'Hare
Gordon's here at the COH site,
together with the rest of their toon
creations...
Southern
Star Intl
Southern Star are international
sales agents for the series...
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