The Toy Castle
The Toy Castle | |
---|---|
Le Château magique | |
Genre | Supernatural Fantasy Slice of life |
Created by | Katherine Jeans and David Langer |
Based on | The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Andersen |
Developed by | Sound Venture Productions |
Written by | Nancy Trites-Botkin Rick Jones Timothy Spain Mike Laewen Marc Charbonneau |
Directed by | Katherine Jeans and David Langer |
Narrated by | Rick Jones and Marc Charbonneau |
Composer | Andrew Huggett |
Country of origin | Canada |
Original languages | English French |
No. of seasons | 3 + 1 pilot |
No. of episodes | 65 + 1 pilot |
Production | |
Producer | Neil Bregman |
Production locations | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
Editors | Cheryl Gadoury Kevin Kocvar |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Production company | Sound Venture Productions |
Original release | |
Network |
|
Release | 1992 |
Release | 4 September 2000 26 December 2003 | –
The Toy Castle (French: Le Château magique) is a Canadian children's television show that aired on Treehouse TV, SCN, Access, Knowledge Network, TVOntario and TFO.[1] It was aired from September 4, 2000 to December 26, 2003 and produced by Sound Venture Productions. It was inspired by Sound Venture's 1992 Christmas ballet special The Tin Soldier, which starred Frank Augustyn and was based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale.[2][3] It is now shown during the Christmas season on Treehouse, TFO and Noovo. Told through ballet and narration, the stories are about a group of toys in a toy castle that magically come to life when the children are asleep. This series won a Gemini Award in 2003 for "Best Preschool Series".[4]
The series also aired on public television stations in the United States,[5] JimJam in Italy, TF1, France 3, M6 and Piwi+ in France and was rerun in French on TQS. It was distributed worldwide by France Télévisions.[6]
Plot
[edit]The Toy Castle is a show about a group of toys that magically come to life when their children are asleep. When the children are about to wake up, the toys dash around fast until they are back in their former positions. Each episode consists of three story lines, in which the toys all dance around the castle and get into situations which the viewer may relate to.[7]
Characters
[edit]- The Soldier (Jorden Morris) enjoys marching and dancing, and loves the lovely Ballerina. Judging by his accent, he is of British nationality (French nationality in the French-language version).
- The Ballerina (Elizabeth Olds) enjoys dancing and loves the soldier. Judging by her accent, she is of French nationality (British nationality in the French-language version). She is best friends with China Doll and Rag Doll.
- The China Doll (Jennifer Welsman) enjoys dancing and tea. She is shy and prefers quiet activities. She is best friends with Ballerina and Rag Doll.
- The Clown (Keir Knight) is a loud and wild toy. He likes joking around and playing. His best friends are Goblin and Rag Doll.
- The Goblin (Yosuke Mino) enjoys playing pranks on people and teasing. His best friends are Rag Doll and Clown.
- The Rag Doll (Sayaka Karasugi) enjoys twirling and playing. She dreams of being a pretty lady like Ballerina and China Doll. Her best friends are Goblin, Clown, Ballerina and China Doll.
- The Sailor (Raven S. Wilder) likes to tell tales and sail the seven seas. His favorite dance is the jig.
- The Strong Man (David Lucas) likes lifting weights and his stuffed cat, Meow Meow. He may be in love with China Doll, as they dated in one episode, but that was the only time it was shown.
- Freida (Andrea Mislan) enjoys dancing the frog-a-doddle-five and playing with her twin brother, Fredrick. She speaks with a Southern accent (Meridional accent in the French version).
- Fredrick (Sofia Costantini) enjoys dancing the frog-a-doddle-five and playing with his twin sister, Freida. He speaks with a Southern accent (Meridional accent in the French version).
- Mama Mouse (Daiva Preston, Andrea Mistan) is shy. She is married to Papa Mouse, and has three children.
- Papa Mouse (Micheal Flynn) is a caring man. He and his wife have three children.
- Little Mouse (Corinne Vessey) likes playing and imagining he is riding a horse. He was named Baby Mouse in the first season, but with two new siblings coming, they quietly changed his name to Little Mouse.
- The Mouse Twins - They are twins who both cry often. They enjoy quiet things and swinging. They have never been given official names, being referred to simply as 'The Mouse Twins'.
- The Dolly Bird wears extravagant make-up and loves dancing for people. She tends to be insecure about her dancing. She has appeared in the fewest episodes and is never mentioned on the official site.
- The Little Boy (Billy Jeans) sleeps in his bed while the toys are dancing and in motion, but when he turns his head around sleeping, the toys return to their former poses as regular figures. He is only shown in the series' opening, in the ending part of an episode, and in the credits background.
- The Little Girl (Ivy Bregman) sleeps in her bed while the toys are dancing and in motion, but when she turns her head around sleeping, the toys return to their former poses as regular figures. She is only shown in the series' opening, in the ending part of an episode, and in the credits background.
Episodes
[edit]Pilot (1992)
[edit]No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | French airdate | Prod. code | French viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pilot | "The Tin Soldier" | Katherine Jeans and David Langer | Rick Jones and Marc Charbonneau | December 1992 | December 1992 | 100 | TBD |
Season 1 (2000)
[edit]No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | French airdate | Prod. code | French viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Cinderella" | Katherine Jeans | Rick Jones | September 4, 2000 | TBA | 101 | N/A |
"Duck, Duck, Goose" | |||||||
"Cake Walk" | |||||||
2 | "A Ragdoll's Gift" | Katherine Jeans | Nancy Trites-Botkin | September 9, 2000 | TBA | 102 | N/A |
"A Party for One" | |||||||
"I'm the Boss" | |||||||
3 | "A Frog is a Frog" | Katherine Jeans | Nancy Trites-Botkin | September 10, 2000 | TBA | 103 | N/A |
"Sailor's Delight" | |||||||
"Goldilocks" | |||||||
4 | "London Bridge's Falling Down" | Katherine Jeans | Nancy Trites-Botkin | September 11, 2000 | TBA | 104 | N/A |
"Pirate Pshaw" | |||||||
"Bubble Ballet" | |||||||
5 | "Itsy Bitsy Spider" | Katherine Jeans | Timothy Spain | September 16, 2000 | TBA | 105 | N/A |
"Bluebird" | |||||||
"Strong Not Strong" | |||||||
6 | "Spring Junk Band" | Katherine Jeans | Rick Jones | September 17, 2000 | TBA | 106 | N/A |
"Funny Man" | |||||||
"Camp Out" | |||||||
7 | "Poor Invisible Me" | Katherine Jeans | Timothy Spain | September 18, 2000 | TBA | 107 | N/A |
"Cricklecrack Thoozelah" | |||||||
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" | |||||||
8 | "Private Rag Doll" | Katherine Jeans | Nancy Trites-Botkin | September 23, 2000 | TBA | 108 | N/A |
"Cirque de Ballet" | |||||||
"Lost My Head" | |||||||
9 | "Be My Valentine" | Katherine Jeans | Nancy Trites-Botkin | 2001 | TBA | 109 | TBD |
"Best Friend Ballet" | |||||||
"Perhaps Forever" | |||||||
10 | "Angel Wings" | Katherine Jeans | Nancy Trites-Botkin | September 25, 2000 | TBA | 110 | N/A |
"Copy Cat" | |||||||
"Three Cool Pigs" | |||||||
11 | "Sugar Plums Fairly" | Katherine Jeans | Timothy Spain | September 30, 2000 | TBA | 111 | N/A |
"Alone Not Lonely" | |||||||
"Blunder Bluff" | |||||||
12 | "Bo Bo's" | Katherine Jeans | Timothy Spain | 2001 | TBA | 112 | TBD |
"Dance With Me" | |||||||
"Hide and Seek" | |||||||
13 | "Little Miss Muffett" | Katherine Jeans | Rick Jones | 2001 | TBA | 113 | TBD |
"Little Frog" | |||||||
"Musical Chairs" | |||||||
14 | "Perfectly Perfect Party" | Katherine Jeans | Mike Laewen | 2001 | TBA | 114 | TBD |
"Tea Calamity" | |||||||
"Pick a Picnic" | |||||||
15 | "Tea Party" | Katherine Jeans | Nancy Trites-Botkin | 2001 | TBA | 115 | TBD |
"Waltz for Three" | |||||||
"Phish Phobia" | |||||||
16 | "Twinkle Twinkle" | Katherine Jeans | Nancy Trites-Botkin | 2001 | TBA | 116 | TBD |
"She Shoots She Scores" | |||||||
"Just Say No" | |||||||
17 | "The Pied Piper of Glum" | Katherine Jeans | Timothy Spain | 2001 | TBA | 117 | TBD |
"Anything You Can Do..." | |||||||
"Giggle Girl" | |||||||
18 | "Nutcracker Sweet" | Katherine Jeans | Timothy Spain | 2001 | TBA | 118 | TBD |
"Twelve Days of Christmas" | |||||||
"Season of Lights" | |||||||
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Le Château magique". TQS. Archived from the original on 2004-04-11.
- ^ Swedko, Pamela (June 14, 1999). "Hatzis turns to classifieds to get Spice of Life off the ground". Playback Magazine. playbackmag.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
- ^ Armstrong, Dennis (August 4, 2000). "Theatrical child's play". Archived from the original on 11 November 2016.
- ^ "Art: katherine jeans,Original,Prints;Decor,tote's, home,flowers,beauty". The Art of Katherine Jeans. Archived from the original on 2021-05-19. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
- ^ ""The Toy Castle™" New DVD Series Presents Imaginative Ballet Stories and Encourages Creative Play". PRweb.[dead link]
- ^ "THE TOY CASTLE". Repubblica. 25 May 2022. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ "Sound Venture Productions". www.soundventure.com. Archived from the original on 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
External links
[edit]- PBS Kids shows
- Canadian children's fantasy television series
- Treehouse TV original programming
- TVO original programming
- TFO original programming
- Sentient toys in fiction
- 2000 Canadian television series debuts
- 2003 Canadian television series endings
- 2000s Canadian children's television series
- Fiction about toys
- Fictional fortifications
- Canadian supernatural television series
- Canadian English-language television shows
- French-language television shows
- Christmas television series
- Television shows based on works by Hans Christian Andersen
- Television shows filmed in Winnipeg
- Television shows set in Manitoba
- Canadian television shows featuring puppetry
- Television shows about magic
- Works based on The Steadfast Tin Soldier
- Canadian preschool education television series
- 2000s preschool education television series