Enid Blyton's Famous Five

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antnield
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
Location: Cheltenham, England

Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#1 Post by antnield » Thu May 06, 2010 9:41 am

Latest press release confirms two volumes for the 13th September on DVD:
Enid Blyton’s Famous Five Volume 1: Five on a Treasure Island (1957) – Close to the spirit of the perennially popular first Famous Five novel, this eight part series is full of adventure, mystery and lashings of ginger beer. Volume 2: Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1964) – This second series follows Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog on an adventure to Whispering Island.
IMDb links for Five on a Treasure Island and Five Have a Mystery to Solve.

Chrissie
Joined: Thu May 13, 2010 7:38 pm

Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#2 Post by Chrissie » Thu May 13, 2010 7:57 pm

I'm very much looking forward to get a DVD from "Five have a Mystery to solve"...it was long overdue!
Now if the BFI could finally release some of the better CFF films from the fifties and sixties like "Five Clues to Fortune", "Ambush at Devil's Gap", "Four Winds Island", "The Piper's Tune", , "River Rivals", "Raiders of the River", "The Young Jacobites" and "Valley of the Kings" that would make many baby boomers in England, France and Germany happy (and in Australia as well!). I'm participating in some forums in Germany and France and they would love to buy the older CFF movies on commercial DVDs if they only would be available.

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RossyG
Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 5:50 pm

Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#3 Post by RossyG » Fri May 14, 2010 6:18 am

Seconded I'd love for the BFI to release more CFF stuff from the Fifties to the early Eighties.

Who wouldn't want High Rise Donkey on Blu Ray? :)

Chrissie
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Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#4 Post by Chrissie » Tue May 18, 2010 8:36 am

I wonder if Vol. 2 (Five have a Mystery to solve) will be available separately from Vol. 1 which I already have?
Will the DVD "Five have a Mystery to solve" be released on 9/13 as well or later?

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MichaelB
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Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#5 Post by MichaelB » Thu May 27, 2010 8:58 am

Definitely two separate volumes, both currently scheduled for September 13th.

And to prove it, Play.com is taking separate pre-orders for Volume 1 (Five on a Treasure Island) and Volume 2 (Five Have a Mystery to Solve) already.

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MichaelB
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Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#6 Post by MichaelB » Fri Aug 06, 2010 7:05 am

Full specs announced:
BFI releases two vintage Enid Blyton Famous Five
film serials on DVD on 13 September


Enid Blyton fans, young and old alike, are in for a nostalgic treat when the BFI releases on DVD two rare film serials made in the 1950s and 1960s of the much-loved Famous Five adventure stories.

Five on a Treasure Island (1957) and Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1964) featuring Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog, have been re-mastered to High Definition from original film elements preserved in the BFI National Archive and are released on 13 September 2010 priced £17.99 each, cert U.

Filmed mainly on location in Dorset, both serials were made by the Children’s Film Foundation. They were a highly popular staple of the ‘Saturday Morning Pictures’ and were shown at cinemas around the country, and all over the world. Both volumes feature original illustrations by Eileen Soper on the sleeves and contain comprehensive booklets with essays and biographies. Contributors include Enid Blyton expert Norman Wright, author of The Famous Five: Everything you ever wanted to know!; BFI Curator Vic Pratt and Natalie Morris, Senior Curator of BFI Special Collections.

Five on a Treasure Island, which stays true to the spirit of Enid Blyton's perennially popular first Famous Five novel, is a ripping adventure tale in eight exciting installments. The author herself helped to cast this serial which follows the celebrated chums as they search for buried treasure in the ruins of Kirrin Castle. Will the intrepid Five manage to foil dastardly antique shop owner Luke Undown’s desperate attempt to steal Kirrin’s treasure from under Uncle Quentin’s nose?

Five Have a Mystery to Solve, the Children’s Film Foundation’s second Famous Five serial – with a new cast – sees the Five head off to the discover the secrets of the closely-guarded Whispering Island. Befriending young Wilfred, whose strange gifts include an ability to communicate with animals; the gang find themselves in grave danger when they try to find the truth behind the mystery.

With enthusiastic and memorable performances from the well-cast young actors and offering a glimpse into gentler, more innocent times, these are two delightful vintage releases which no Famous Five fan should be without.

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antnield
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Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#7 Post by antnield » Sat Aug 21, 2010 11:19 am

HMV is now listing exclusive editions on their website, stating they're "2 DVD Book" exclusives whatever that entails: Mystery to Solve and On a Treasure Island.

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RossyG
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Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#8 Post by RossyG » Sat Sep 11, 2010 10:50 am

Beaver reviews:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/dvd_revi ... island.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/dvd_revi ... _solve.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My copy of Treasure Island hasn't yet arrived, but Mystery To Solve has and I've just watched it. I'd say that, if anything, those screencaps don't do full justice to how good the picture quality is, although the reviewer's right about the tramlines in episode two. I was amazed at his claim that he'd never heard of the Famous Five before.

I really enjoyed the serial. I'd actually argue that it was better than the book it was based on: as a kid, my least favourite of the 21 Famous Five adventures. The kids are really good, although Dick is played more snotty street urchin than upper middle class kid in stark contrast to the others. The three main adult actors are terrific, too; you really can't go wrong casting Michael Balfour as a seedy cackhanded heavy.

More CFF films and serials please, BFI. :)

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RossyG
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Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#9 Post by RossyG » Sat Sep 11, 2010 11:08 am

Article on the Children's Film Foundation from Thursday's Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/sep ... foundation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

bamwc2
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Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#10 Post by bamwc2 » Sat Sep 11, 2010 1:14 pm

RossyG wrote:I was amazed at his claim that he'd never heard of the Famous Five before.
I don't think that the books ever caught on in the US. I could be wrong, but they may not have ever been available. Regardless, my generation (I was born in '80) had its own set of children's books and these may have simply sounded passe to us like the other titles that I mentioned. I'm not saying that as an insult, but they may have never caught on. Nevertheless, these are fantastic releases.

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MichaelB
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Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#11 Post by MichaelB » Sat Sep 11, 2010 1:16 pm

Enid Blyton is universally known in Britain, but I'd be surprised if her work travelled that well. Noddy might have done, but the Famous Five are far more parochial.

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RossyG
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Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#12 Post by RossyG » Sat Sep 11, 2010 2:31 pm

Ah, he's American. Didn't realise.

The Five are hugely popular outside of the UK, though, especially in France and Germany. Both countries employed locals to continue the series after Blyton's death. France came up with 24 new adventures and Germany another 10. Two Famous Five films were made in Denmark in 1969 and '70.

Disney Channel Europe are currently showing the cartoon series Famous 5: On the Case. It's also shown on Disney Channel Asia.

The books still sell one million copies a years worldwide.

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Yojimbo
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Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#13 Post by Yojimbo » Sat Sep 11, 2010 5:06 pm

antnield wrote:Latest press release confirms two volumes for the 13th September on DVD:
Enid Blyton’s Famous Five Volume 1: Five on a Treasure Island (1957) – Close to the spirit of the perennially popular first Famous Five novel, this eight part series is full of adventure, mystery and lashings of ginger beer. Volume 2: Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1964) – This second series follows Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog on an adventure to Whispering Island.
IMDb links for Five on a Treasure Island and Five Have a Mystery to Solve.
I probably read most, if not all of the books by the time I was 9, or so, but I've no desire to check out the DVD, never mind buy it.
I did, mind you, want to check out the serialisation of the Nancy Drew Mysteries on tv, to see did Pamela Sue Martin, live up to my visualisation of Nancy,...and, then again, I was of that age.
But the Famous Five would warrant, at best, a glance if it ever showed up on tv

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MichaelB
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Re: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

#14 Post by MichaelB » Thu Dec 16, 2010 8:01 pm

The Digital Fix on both releases.

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