"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
     a drum
    a peashooter
    a whistle (his favourite!)

    from Mr Apple
     Sugared Violets
    a surprise birthday picnic

    from Mr & Mrs Apple
     a mouse-in-a-box

     from Lord and Lady Woodmouse
    a rucksack

    from Mrs Eyebright
    a teddymouse

    from Basil
    a whistle lesson

 

    See also

    Series overview
    Brambly Hedge: Winter Story
    Brambly Hedge: The Secret Staircase
    Brambly Hedge: The High Hills
    Brambly Hedge: Sea Story
    Brambly Hedge: Poppy's Babies
    
 

     Further reading

    Brambly Hedge books at Amazon.co.uk

 

     Brambly Hedge on DVD

     The "Brambly 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

    voices:                
    Robert Lindsay (narrator)
    Neil Morrisey (Wilfred Toadflax)
    Charlotte Coleman (Primrose Woodmouse)
    Jim Broadbent (Basil)
    June Whitfield (Mrs Apple)
    Michael Williams (Mr Appple)
    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