used to play Timmy in the TV series. In the first book Enid discribes Timmy as a large black and tan mongrel whose head was too big and his tail too long. Surely the production companies could have found a dog that resembled Enid's discription of Timmy.
It has always bothered me that Timmy wasn't portrayed how i had imagined him from the discription in the books. If you think about it Timmy is frequently discribed throughout the 21 books as being 'very large and powerful' not really how I would describe a Border Collie.
What does everyone else think?
By the way I'm not anti Border Collies, I own two myself, but I also own a large black and tan mongrel whose head is too big and tail is too long - Any TV producers browsing this forum please take note!!!!!
I quite agree, OotF; that is why I don't like TV adaptations. Blyton was a writer and to appreciate her you need to read the books. I watched the latest Poirot, last night, and there was so much left out......
I have downloaded Tess of the D'urbevilles (free with Radio Times) and see it lasts for 14 hours 25 minutes. The recent TV adaptation is less than 4 hours, a film of it would be less than 2 hours. Need I say more?
TV/film adaptations often fail dismally to live up to the books, I agree. However, there are a few classic adaptations which have taken on a life of their own and really are a work of art. One (in my opinion anyway) is the 1981 TV version of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, starring Jeremy Irons as Charles Ryder and Anthony Andrews as Sebastian Flyte. I think it sticks pretty closely to the original book - at about twelve hours or so it's certainly long enough to include everything! I collected the DVDs of that series given away free with the Daily Mail some months ago, and I'm about halfway through watching it. I last saw it in my early teens and I appreciate it even more now than I did then. The whole mood is exactly right - wistful, melancholy, dreamy, nostalgic, thoughtful... I think that's helped a lot by the fact that Jeremy Irons narrates chunks of the story so beautifully - wow, his voice sends shivers down my spine! I particularly love the scenes set at Oxford and at Brideshead.
Another definitive adaptation is the 1960s black and white TV series The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, with Robert Hoffman in the leading role. That is also a long series (about five and a half hours), giving plenty of scope to explore the major themes in detail. It strays from the book at times but captures the feel of the original story perfectly, again helped by narration and haunting music.
Even when adaptations fall short, they're still interesting to watch in order to see what the producers empahsised, or how they interpreted events and characters.
Sorry - I've wandered far from the topic! I share your opinion that neither Timmy was adequate!
Anita
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Going back to the dogs portrayed in the TV series, yes, I agree it would have been nice to see a dog as described as Timmy in the books, but also at the time, maybe the producers couldn't find a Timmy look a like, that would be able to act, as they say, on command. I would guess only a few dogs are listed for TV work.
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Julie2owlsdene wrote:Going back to the dogs portrayed in the TV series, yes, I agree it would have been nice to see a dog as described as Timmy in the books, but also at the time, maybe the producers couldn't find a Timmy look a like, that would be able to act, as they say, on command. I would guess only a few dogs are listed for TV work.
Yes I would think its pretty much impossible to take an untrained dog and persuade it to do all the tricks, actions and timings needed for a TV show. It would drive everyone batty. As to the dogs actually used I have always thought that Toddy from the '78 series was a reasonable choice. Far better than the undersized mutt they used in the '90's series.
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The dog in the '90s series was the worst choice for Timmy I have ever seen. How was he supposed to protect them from fully-grown men as he does in the books?
As a matter of interest, what sort of dogs did they have in Five On A Treasure Island (1957), Five Have A Mystery To Solve (1963) and the Danish films? (I'd also like to know if these have ever been dubbed into English?)
Last edited by Jeffery Greyling on 28 Nov 2009, 05:04, edited 1 time in total.
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jchk4 wrote:As a matter of interest, what sort of dogs did they have in the Danish films? (I'd also like to know if these have ever been dubbed into English?)
John K
Hi John,
in the Danish films they used an Alsatian (or several).
For me the 78 series was fine, (ok so I'm biased) Collies can be pretty forceful when they like. The 90's series was just embarrassing...
This is one of the main things I don't like with the modern audio books, the older ones Timmy sounds his size, the modern ones sound more like a yappy Yorkshire terrier on helium
The definitive '78 series nut.