Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

alleywayambush I remember seeing the 1st episdoe of this back in early 1993, and sure it had everything you could want from a kids' cartoon; charming animals, drama, moral naturalistic persuasion and heroic triumphs. I think the creators were trying to get kids interested in animals and the environment; back in the day they did a highly informative magazine series based on the show. The 1st series was by all means quite easy, charming and delightful, but the subsequent series were rather sinister; the grim reality of the food chain was enbraced, and there was that unforgivable scene where a baby rabbit is shot dead by a farmer, leaving the parent rabbits in tears (they'd NEVER get away with that on kids' TV now !)I can appreciate this show for its honest and relatively neutral, unbiased portrayal of the ecological system. Unlike Bambi, cute as it is, the food chain and human intervention with nature are portrayed in a neutral way that doesn't specifically make heroes or villains of any particular party. For example, the snake is clearly portrayed as a dominant predator, with a personality of both slyness and integrity. I think this show captures a good balance between the traditional childhood portrayal of animals as cute, whimsical and innocent, and a more realistic portrayal af them as predators, prey, savages and aggressors.I'll give this show 7/10 since it wasn't a favourite a such - that vote goes to Maid Marian & Her Merry Men ! - but still a versatile show capturing nature's beauty, charm, drama, dilemmas, realities and potential demise.

XxXPETEXxX As a child I was used to watching such programs as Postman Pat but this was different, it depicted reality and truthfulness through being scary and emotional unlike the vast majority of programs.As a general comment it's fair to say that AOFW rocked, but like any book-to-television program there were changes, like the sex of some animals. There are three series of this, the first one is the journey to White Deer Park and the second and third are at WDP.Like many other people said the first series was probably the best having me on tender hooks. We meet all the animals, and what an unforgettable bunch they are. We had Fox being courageous as the leader and Badger as his faithful 'right hand man'. Owl as the wise one, Kestrel as the scout of the group, Rabbits as the clumsy ones, Hares as the more selfish creatures, Weasel who provided the humour and many more. Along the way we met Vixen and Whistler. Series one saw the deaths of the Newts, Pheasants, baby Mice and a Rabbit, which as a child was quite frightening. But the saddest moment of the series was the Hedgehogs getting run over - makes me well up. At the end they eventually arrive at White Deer Park.Series Two showed how they struggled to fit in at WDP and the new dangers that faced them i.e. Scarface, the dangers of winter and what Spring has to bring. The covered topical issues in S2 i.e. hunting, racism (red/blue foxes). The Charmer/Ranger storyline as the Montague/Capulets worked very well. Scarface was the main threat of S2 - killing Mrs Vole, Mrs Hare and Mrs Rabbit as well as one of Fox's cubs - Dreamer. The series ended with Adder killing Scarface - ending his reign of terror. S2 also followed the story of Fox Cub Bold who, after arguing with Fox, left the Park. We followed his amazing journey and how he was struggling and eventually returning to the Park with his mate - who was carrying his cubs - to die after making peace with his Dad. S2 also saw the death of Mole and the arrival of his son. The saddest moment of S2 was Badger dying as he represented the oath of mutual protection. His last scenes were the most heart wrenching one can watch.Series 3 as people have said was the worst. There was some happiness as Adder found a mate. The series began with Weasel and Owl - original FW characters leaving the park to go start a family. In my opinion, this was a bad idea as too much of the story was set outside WDP. It also saw the death of the Great White Stag and the takeover of Trey - an ignorant Deer. Many characters disappeared between the last two series - Kestrel, Friendly, Hare, Speedy. I didn't like this as Kestrel and Hare were my personal favourite characters. S3 saw the takeover of Rats in the park, which was a weak storyline and wasn't very climatic. Several friendships joined in the series - Plucky/Dash, Spike/Toad - which was nice to see as the original friendships from S1 - Owl/Adder, Weasel/Badger, Mole/Badger, Rabbit/Hare - had now been split up. The arrival and death of Sinous (Adder's Mate) showed us a different side to the snake. We saw Weasel give birth to Cleo and Fido - which provided lots of humour and we saw Owl meet a mate (Hollow) before being encased in cement and freed before returning to WDP. The rats eventually left and Fox declared that Plucky will be the new leader of the AOFW. The end had a montage of the journey to White Deer Park, which was sad to watch. Highlights included Owl going death and talking to Mrs Vole, Rabbit's hiccups, Badger dying, Hare/Rabbits scenes, drunk Weasel, Kestrel being 'so very embarrassed' and pretty much most the series.All in all, a fantastic series, just a shame kids nowadays don't have the opportunity to watch things like this.

manxineen I grew up with the animals of farthing wood I don't know how i would have turned out if i hadn't had the ultimate joy of experiencing it.I have all 3 series on video as well all the original books and all the magazines too.I still watch them now and again and they still have that same wonderful effect on me. I love the characters so much. There's so much you can relate to in the story; you have the fear of something, courage to stand up, forbidden love, rebelling against your parents and most especially friendship and looking after others.I thing i didn't like about the series is that in series 2 and more noticeably in series 3 the animals movement became more cartoon like and less animal like, so you have fox giving a big over dramatic yawn, then noticing that owls there suddenly sits up with big shocked eyes, it's just very unanimal-like. I think that because of this some of the animals like mosey lost their adroability when they became more cartoon like.Either way though it was a fantastic show and i want the complete set to come out on DVD - it would be soooooo much handier than video.

Zeuss101 The Animals of Farthing Wood is an animated children's series following the journey of a group of animals as they leave their original habitat due to it being destroyed by man, and travel to the safety of a nature reserve. Three series' of the show were produced, the first showing the journey, and the latter two focusing on the animals lives after arriving in White Deer Park.Rather than using comedy and humour to attract the attention of it's audience, AoFW uses its strong storyline and characters, the two things for which the show is best remembered and still far above any children's show even today.During the series multiple main characters are killed off, often in violent ways, and because they were so well written and voiced, the deaths were even more emotional. Anyone I talk to about this show today remembers the moment the Hedgehogs were run over even if they can't recall anything else, and remember it as something which when they watched as a small child made them cry a lot.I applaud the storyline for being as realistic as possible and not hiding the grim realities of nature, like so many other kids shows. Animals of Farthing Wood taught children about the difficulties faced by animals in their struggle to survive, such as the numerous threats posed by man and nature, two things which claimed many lives across the series. Even the basic premise of the show was a result of mankind destroying the animals home.This is probably why this show is so well remembered and popular today, because it told it like it is and had a brilliant narrative, actually teaching children something important about animal cruelty and nature. I can only guess at the number of children who watched this or read the book and were deeply affected by it, but I know I was one of them.I liked the first series the most. The great journey to White Deer Park was the most varied and entertaining, and the part of the show which most people remember. Series 2 was also good, but it tried to include too many characters, and so some of the originals such as Mole ended up getting neglected. Series 3, with it's different animation style, weaker story, and only a handful of original cast was the worst of the 3, however was still watchable, and ended well.I hope some day this is released on DVD and constantly re-run on TV, as children today should have the privilege of seeing this pure classic, and experiencing the happiness and sorrow that came with it, as I and so many others did. No other children's show has this much emotional and cognitive impact.