"Moon Carrot Pie, Moon Carrot Pie
     It'll liven you up, bring a gleam to your eye..."
 

    One day, Penelope discovers a talking parcel washed up on the sea shore.
    Inside is a very chatty Parrot who whisks her way on an adventure to
    the land of Mithologia. HH Junketbury, the wizard, is being held by a horde
    of horrible cockatrices, and her sqwauking new friend is determined to
    rescue him...

    This whimsical feature was adapted from the book by Gerald Durrell. It was
    Cosgrove Hall's first feature-length production (though quite a short one).
    The opening song "Moon Carrot Pie", sung by Parrot (Freddie Jones),
    sets the tone for a colourful tale featuring flying trains, sea serpents,
    werewolves, a cockney toad and a horde of weasels - not forgetting those
    mythological cockatrices.

    » "The Talking Parcel" was first published in October 1974.
         Naturalist-come-author Gerald Durrell is probably best known for
         his biographical tale "My Family and other Animals".

    » The film premiered on Boxing Day, 26th December 1978 on ITV.

 

     director:         Brian Cosgrove
    producers:      Brian Cosgrove, Mark Hall
    adapted by:    Rosemary Anne Sisson
                         based on the book by Gerald Durrell
    music:           Woolly Wolstenholme, Davy Rohl 
    animation
     director:        Keith Scoble
    voices:          Lisa Norris (Penelope)
                        Freddie Jones (Parrot)
                        Mollie Sugden (Hortense the Flying Train)
                        Roy Kinnear (Ethelred)
                        Edward Kelsey (HH Junketbury)
                        Windsor Davies (Chief Cockatrice)
                        Michael Horden (Oswald the Sea Serpent)
                        Peter Woodthorpe (Werewolf)
                        Harvey Ashby (Duke Wensleydale)
                        Raymond Mason
                        Daphne Oxenwood

 

      On the web


      Cosgrove Hall Films 
      The official studio site...