"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...