"Wouldn't
it be nice if we could do something
really special for Wilfred
today..."
It's a bright Spring morning, and the sunshine
is creeping into every nook
and cranny along Brambly
Hedge. That includes the bedroom of young Wilfred
Toadflax, who's a rather restless mouse today, because
it just so happens
to be his birthday. Sure enough, there are some rather
jolly presents waiting
for him, and a pancake breakfast. And soon,
Mr Apple is letting him choose
some Sugared Violets from the Store Stump, and Basil
is giving him a rather
handy whistle lesson. Wilfred has no special plans
for his big day, besides
a bit of adventuring with Teasel or Primrose. So he
has no idea that Mr Apple
has conjured up a surprise birthday picnic. All the
inhabitants of the hedge
have contributed to it, now all they need is for Primrose
to lead unknowing
Wilfred to the rendezvous at Bluebell Bank. Only,
things don't quite go
according to plan, and a mix-up with the picnic
hampers looks like it might
upset their birthday surprise altogether...

"Spring Story" is the second of four
seasonal outings for the Brambly Hedge
inhabitants and Jill Barklem's bright eyed characters
are brought to life
exquisitely by the folks at Cosgrove Hall and
Mackinnon and Saunders.
The mousey stars are impeccably dressed in smocks
and waistcoats and
tight-buttoned jackets and they roam sets dressed
with decoupage that's so
perfectly small at times it beggar's belief. The
Store Stump is furnished with
teeny-tiny jars and treats and adornments that
surely defy even the most
gifted of scalpel-wielders. And not to be outdone,
the animators introduce
at least twenty-two miniature mice at play in
the final picnic scenes. They're
munching on pies, swilling apple wine and basking
in the glow of a
most perfect afternoon.
But the appeal goes beyond mere scale. Wilfred's
whistle lesson with
blustering Basil (voiced so skilfully by Jim Broadbent)
is a joy to behold.
Tiny hands move and signal with such delicacy,
and each pause is
punctuated by the twitching of a whisker and nibbling
of a nose.
Of course, twitching whiskers are something of
a Cosgrove Hall speciality.
But whether they're twitching on a sun-dappled
Riverbank, beneath a
a big green Oak
tree, or here, along a tangling hedgerow, they are
always so unique and distinctly realised. Brambly Hedge
is a gentle
world full of blackberry jam and pastry delights,
of hearty home cooking,
of chilly Winter snowballs followed by homemade
soup and fresh-baked
crusty bread. By the end of each tiny tale, the viewer
is left perfectly full
and fit to snooze, like little Wilfred
in his cart...
Presents
for Wilfred
from his family from
Lord and Lady Woodmouse
a drum a
rucksack
a peashooter
a whistle (his favourite!) from
Mrs Eyebright
a
teddymouse
from Mr Apple
Sugared Violets from
Basil
a surprise birthday picnic a
whistle lesson
from Mr & Mrs Apple
a mouse-in-a-box
See also
Brambly
Hedge (overview)
Further
reading
Brambly
Hedge books at Amazon.co.uk
Brambly
Hedge on DVD
The "Bramble Hedge" films haven't
had a co-ordinated UK release,
as yet. But "Spring Story" has
a standalone appearance, and five more
stories are available:
Brambly
Hedge: Spring Story
Region
2 / HIT Entertainment
/ April 2007
Brambly
Hedge: The Classic Collection
Region
2 / "The Secret Staircase", "The High Hills", "Sea
Story"
and
"Poppy's Babies"
/ HIT Entertainment / January
2004
Christmas
Children's Favourites
This
compilation DVD includes "Winter Story"
Region
2 / HIT Entertainment / December 2005
a Cosgrove Hall film for HIT Entertainment
PLC
in association with the BBC
based on the books by Jill Barklem
exec producers: Theresa
Plummer-Andrews (for the BBC)
Mark
Hall (for Cosgrove Hall)
Kate
Fawkes, Peter Orton (for HIT)
director: Brian
Little
producer
& sup director: Jackie
Cockle
prod design
& art direction: Bridget
Appleby
screenplay: Jocelyn
Stevenson
music: Ernie
Wood
sup animator: Sue
Pugh
animators: Paul
Couvela, Philip Dale, Andy Joule,
Tim
Dowdeswell, Tim Collings, Matt Palmer
puppets: Mackinnon
and Saunders
costumes: Clare
Elliott, Geraldine Corrigan, Karen Betty
props: Owen
Ballhatchet
sets
& decoupage: Jeff
Spain, Richard Sykes, Rick Kent,
Paul Jones, Fiona Randall, Samantha Hanks
miniature
decoupage: Matti
3D Pictures
additional prod
illustration: Barbara
Biddulph, Avril Mockett-Turner
model lighting
camera: Joe
Dembinski
additional
lighting camera: Tim Harper
editor: Zyggy
Markiewicz
dubbing editors: Hullabaloo
Studios
dubbing mixer: Aard
Wirtz
prod consultant: Mike
Robinson
ed consultant: Jane
Fior
voices:
Robert Lindsay (narrator)
Neil
Morrisey (Wilfred Toadflax)
Charlotte
Coleman (Primrose Woodmouse)
Jim Broadbent (Basil)
June Whitfield (Mrs Apple)
Michael Williams (Mr Apple)
Rosemary Leach (Lady Daisy Woodmouse / Old
Mrs Eyebright)
Anton Rodgers (Lord Woodmouse)
Alun Lewis (Mr Toadflax)
Noreen Kershaw (Mrs Toadflax / Mrs Crustybread)
Kate Harbour (additional voices)
David Holt (Teasel Woodmouse / additional
voices)
On
the web
The
World of Brambly Hedge
The official site including some handy
details on the
development of the films...
Cosgrove
Hall Films
The official Cosgrove Hall site...
Mackinnon
& Saunders
They made the mousey models and props...