Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

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The Blue Fox
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Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by The Blue Fox »

I should have made this topic sooner...folks have mentioned it's subject in the forums a few times already.

Let's discuss all things Animals Of Farthing Wood.

The books and the TV show.

Everything that's awesome and everything that sucked.

I'll start, shall I?

The TV show is by far my favourite cartoon series. Ever. Of all time.

For a start, I love how real it is. Characters actually die from stuff you'd see characters from other cartoons just shake right off like it's nothing.

Bold's death = Saddest scene of any TV cartoon series ever. The Poke'mon scene where Ash's buterfree leaves ain't got nothin' on that.
Coz it's not just the death itself...it's the journey he took...all that effort...just to end up dying practically back where he started.
And Fox doesn't even get to know if his son forgives him!
Just...all my feels, man. ALL MY FEELS!!! :cry:

But there's plenty of epic, happy moments too.
Like when Fox leads those two poachers to the warden...and then the warden's all "All right, you two, hands over your heads!"...then all the animals standing there behind them with THAT music score playing and the warden's all "Well, I'll be blown."
Well, couldn't have put it better myself. :mrgreen:

Of course I'm aware of how much of the books the TV show left out.
I currently have all the books except for the ones of the animals partaking in their epic journey to White Deer Park.

I would LOVE for there to be a re-boot of the TV series...one that follows the books as closely as possible, leaving absolutely everything they can in.
Though charcter perma-deaths are just so taboo in the cartoon TV series world...I dunno if any experienced animating studio out there would be willing to take the risk...unless...the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender are willing to take it on...they're no strangers to shock and awe, that's for sure. They would be ideal. :o

#BringbackAOFW <-Twitter users get that trending now.
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by Sleet »

Well let's see how many British members we actually have. :P

I read about that cartoon series. Kinda makes me wish it was around when I was little (in America).
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by D-Rock »

Looked into the series after a guy I watch on DeviantArt posted some fan art. Seemed pretty good when I found episodes, and bummed that it never aired in the U.S., but I've only seen up to the end of season one. I looked up what happens in the rest of the series, though. Kind of interested in the books as well.
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by Douglas Collier »

Ok, you piqued my interest and I've been watching a marathon of AOFW all day. :shock: I've made it through season 2; making my way through season 3.

First thing I'd like to say: What is it with you Brits and tragedy and death?! More main characters died in two seasons of this than any other show I've seen, let alone a cartoon! :roll: I will give it props, though - this series did do a good job of making those deaths as natural and realistic as possible (seasons 1 and 2 at least - not quite sure about season 3 yet); also, it didn't dwell too much on them (I'm glad they don't reminisce too much about who was lost - it'd just be painful to be reminded of those losses). On the other hand, it seems that a lot of characters are a bit too disposable (Example: Rollo).

I have to agree about Bold - that was tragic (even by the standards previously set). Then again, when I think about it, it was all pretty tragic - season 2, that is.

My advice to you who haven't seen The Animals of Farthing Wood: If you get depressed easily, only watch season 1!

All in all, it sort of reminds me of "Watership Down" (Sorry Hlaoroo, I never finished reading it, but I've read enough to compare)
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by Cesco »

Interesting cartoon series, thanks for letting know. On YouTube there are the first and second seasons in Italian, I'm going to watch it!
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by Deske »

Was it ever released on VHS? I might be able to find it if it was.
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by Hlaoroo »

I believe it is on VHS thought it's probably a struggle to find it nowadays. It is all on Youtube though.

I grew up with AOFW. We get a lot of British shows over here in Australia. We also get a lot of American ones and not too many of our own. I guess we're just too lazy to make them. :P

But I'm getting off topic.

I always did love that show though. The score was fantastic, the animation really well done, the story well written... I could go on and on. I've watched the show right through several times. I've been meaning to find the books too.

Weasel and Measly always crack me up! Weasel is one of my favourite characters!
Weasel: "Measly twerp!"
Measly: "Oh, you're go-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-Orgeous!"
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by Douglas Collier »

Weasel is pretty funny - sort of reminds me of Karishad. :P

One thing I noticed about the show is how a lot of the couples are portrayed as being miserable, tired, and constantly bickering or picking on each other. Not the best example for children.
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by The Blue Fox »

Douglas Collier wrote: First thing I'd like to say: What is it with you Brits and tragedy and death?! More main characters died in two seasons of this than any other show I've seen, let alone a cartoon! :roll:
Actually, as far as I'm concerned, no real "main" characters die in season 1...
The newts are implied, but to be honest, that fire was in the middle of the marshland, and it'd be way more likely for the newts to have remained underwater for the duration of the fire, leaving them unharmed.
The first real death is with the pheasents...and they didn't get many speaking lines to begin with...the male was kind of annoying anyway, thinking too highly of himself.
Then we have a rabbit leveret that almost gets offed by a wire noose, saved, only to wander into a middle of a hunt. Though I swear we only have the panicing mr rabbit and his mate for every other episode that they actually play any kinda role in. (I think there's more than two rabbits in the river scene, but that's about it)
Then the mice have babies, only to have those babies scooped up by that butcher bird. Barely registered as a plot point, really, let alone had time for us to really care about those babies.
Then there's the two hedgehogs getting squished on the motorway...don't curl up...probably the only really upsetting death of the lot.
...that's about it really. Those that died were all pretty much all side characters.
We had a really close call with Fox and Badger getting swept away by all that river debris, though. Any ordinary, real life fox and badger woulda most likely perished right then and there...but I think it's well established that this is no ordinary fox...and heck badgers are pretty big and tough, making them able to take a bit of a beating, so I suppose we can let them get away with that.

Season 2's definitely a much different story, though. As well as the aforementioned Bold's death, we got a buncha White Deershot by poachers...we got the young cub, Dreamer...we got Badger, who is definitely more of a main character as far as I'm concerned, succumbing to old age...AND Scarface, the frickin' main antagonist, is taken out by Adder. (Though, to be honest, that's probably the best possible way for the war to have been defused.)

As for "What is it with you Brits and tragedy and death?!"...Despite being a brit, I honestly don't know. =^w^;=

Deske wrote:Was it ever released on VHS? I might be able to find it if it was.
Yes, and if you're lucky you might spot the odd VHS of the show in your local charity shop. There have been demands for a DVD release, but I don't know if they have been met.
Last edited by The Blue Fox on Fri Sep 26, 2014 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by Hlaoroo »

Let's please remember not to reveal spoilers, or at least use spoiler tags for the benefit of those who haven't yet seen the show.

True, but on the other paw, not every couple will always get along smoothly and it's clear that the couples dearly love each other, even when they are bickering. The pheasants, for example. He is lost without her. Love must transcend simple arguments and I think the show does indirectly show that at times. It's something that's too often forgotten in today's society too as is evidenced by how fast relationships come and go. In fact, it's almost become the social norm for a relationship not to last which is sad.

But I'm going off topic again.

Another good example is the hedgehogs. They loved each other so much so that they died together. So there are some good relationships in there and I think the show does have some useful learning moments.

Yeah, the show has characters with a wide range of personalities. It also shows some of them behaving in fairly natural manners like, for instance, Toad's relationship with his girlfriend.
Douglas Collier wrote:All in all, it sort of reminds me of "Watership Down" (Sorry Hlaoroo, I never finished reading it, but I've read enough to compare)
*tsk tsk tsk* :P
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by The Blue Fox »

Hlaoroo wrote:
Douglas Collier wrote:All in all, it sort of reminds me of "Watership Down"
*tsk tsk tsk* :P
I've only seen the Watership Down movie, really, but I can see a LOT of similarities between AOFW and WD. *nods*
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by D-Rock »

The Blue Fox wrote:
Hlaoroo wrote:
Douglas Collier wrote:All in all, it sort of reminds me of "Watership Down"
*tsk tsk tsk* :P
I've only seen the Watership Down movie, really, but I can see a LOT of similarities between AOFW and WD. *nods*
I first heard of Watership Down while browsing through TVTropes. It had something to do with how people were shocked how a movie about cartoon bunnies could be so violent, and the cover image was of the movie. Looked a little into it, learned of the movie's (undeserving) bad reputation, and of the book. Lo and behold, two weeks later at a thrift store, found it on VHS. Another week later, found the book, so read that first. I have to say, the book was really good, and the movie was great (loved the soundtrack!). Heck, I even enjoyed the TV series, which from what I can tell, a lot of fans of the book and movie hate.

Also reminds me, I saw someone on DeviantArt who did crossover stuff with Watership Down and AOFW. Kinda neat.
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by Radio Blue Heart »

I know of AOFW but I have never seen any episodes. But now that everyone is comparing it to "Watership Down" I probably won't be in too much of a hurry to see it. Don't get me wrong, I thought "Watership Down" was an excellent novel and its film adaptation was great but as I have said before it is the "Johnny Got His Gun" of children's literature. I guess that the creative teams behind "Animals of Farthing Wood" and "Watership Down" work by the philosophy of animator Don Bluth. Bluth said that children can handle anything as long as it has a happy ending. Anything!

I watch all kinds of horror films and I am used to seeing all kinds of blood, violence and mayhem against humans, but it still disturbs me to see animals getting hurt. That's probably why I think that Michael Myers was such a vicious and unsympathetic villain because he killed several dogs in the course of the films.
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by The Blue Fox »

Yeah, AOFW and WD definitely aren't for younger kids of, like, 0 - 5 years old...but they can be a great way to teach older kids about the facts of life when they're a little too old to continue believing in all the innocent, magical stuff they tend to believe.

Seriously, I don't know if I'd be as mature as I am without AOFW.
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

Post by Deske »

I still need to see Watership Down. The fact that you all continue to talk it off as not for children makes me want to see it all the more.
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Re: Let's Discuss: The Animals Of Farthing Wood

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Deske wrote:Was it ever released on VHS? I might be able to find it if it was.
I've seen a few VHS tapes floating around Amazon, think it's the first season, though. I was able to confirm this a while ago, but the show did get a DVD release. In Germany. It does have an English audio track option, though. What's stopping me from importing it? Region-locking. So unless you live there, or manage to buy a Region 2 DVD player, you're out of luck. Recall a cousin of mine got a DVD gift from a friend of his who lived in England, but was unable to play it.
Deske wrote:I still need to see Watership Down. The fact that you all continue to talk it off as not for children makes me want to see it all the more.
That's why a lot of us got interested in it. Definitely worth watching, in my opinion. Just don't read Amazon reviews. That got heated way too fast.
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