Danny, the Champion of the World
Encyclopedia
Danny, the Champion of the World is a 1975 children's book by Roald Dahl
. The plot main centers on a young English boy, Danny, and his father, William, who live in a Gypsy vardo fixing cars for a living and partake in poaching
pheasants. The story is based on Dahl's adult short story "Champion of the World" which appears in Claud's Dog. The book was first published in 1975
in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. and in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape
. The book was adapted into a made-for-TV movie
in 1989 by Thames Television
.
motor car to Hazell's Wood, where Danny eventually found William in a pit-trap, disabled by a broken ankle, and brings him home. William is treated by Doc Spencer, who is a friend of theirs and another poacher on Mr. Hazell's estate.
While William is recovering from his injury, he and Danny found out that Mr. Hazell's annual pheasant-shooting party is approaching, which he hosts to curry favor and prestige among the gentry, and decide to humiliate him by luring all the pheasants away from the forest, so there will be no pheasants to shoot. Danny suggests that he and William should put the contents of sleeping tablets prescribed by Doc Spencer inside raisins which the pheasants will then eat; and William dubs this new method the "Sleeping Beauty". Having poached 120 pheasants from Hazell's Wood, William and Danny hide the drugged pheasants at the local vicar's house, while they took a taxicab home. The next day, the vicar's wife delivers the sleeping pheasants in a specially-built oversized baby carriage. As she is walking toward them, the pheasants attempt to escape, but they fall back. With the help of Sgt. Samways, the local constable, William and Danny herd the groggy birds onto Mr. Hazell's Rolls Royce
, where the birds scratch the paintwork and defecate on his car. When the pheasants have woken completely, they depart, and Mr. Hazell drives off in disgrace, his fancy car and shooting party ruined. The book ends when Danny is hailed as "the champion of the world" by William, Doc Spencer, and Sgt. Samways, of whom most acquire several pheasants who had died of taking too many sleeping-pills. William and Danny walk off towards town, intending to buy a new oven for cooking their pheasants. As they go, Danny dwells in his narration on William's imagination and vivacity.
in 1989 by Thames Television
. It was directed by Gavin Millar
and starred Jeremy Irons
as Danny's father and his son Samuel Irons
as Danny, with Robbie Coltrane
as Victor Hazell. It was released to Region 2 DVD
in 2006.
.
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
. The plot main centers on a young English boy, Danny, and his father, William, who live in a Gypsy vardo fixing cars for a living and partake in poaching
Poaching
Poaching is the illegal taking of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws. Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching.It may be illegal and in...
pheasants. The story is based on Dahl's adult short story "Champion of the World" which appears in Claud's Dog. The book was first published in 1975
1975 in literature
The year 1975 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* August 12 — with the 20-year time limit stipulated by Thomas Mann at his death having expired, sealed packets containing 32 of the author's notebooks were opened in Zurich, Switzerland.* Writing under the...
in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. and in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...
. The book was adapted into a made-for-TV movie
Danny, the Champion of the World (film)
Danny, the Champion of the World is a 1989 film starring British Oscar winning actor Jeremy Irons, with his son, Samuel Irons, in the title role. It is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl, and tells of a father and son who conspire to thwart a local businessman's plans to buy...
in 1989 by Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
.
Plot
Danny was only four months old when his mother died and lived with his widowed father William in a Gypsy caravan, where William operates a filling station and garage, which alone of the surrounding land is not owned by the unpleasant local landlord, Mr. Victor Hazell. When Mr. Hazell threatens Danny without cause, William refuses to serve him; whereafter several inspectors visit the station, presumably at Mr. Hazell's direction. When Danny is only nine years old, he discovers that William has habitually taken part in poaching pheasants from Mr. Hazell's estate. William reveals methods of poaching, by placing a raisin inside a "Sticky Hat", so that the pheasant cannot flee, and by having a horse's tailhair, threaded through a raisin, cause the raisin to become lodged in the pheasant's throat. This in turn causes the pheasant to become preoccupied with trying to swallow the raisin, so that a poacher can easily catch it. On one occasion, Danny, waking up at around 2:10 a.m., discovers William's absence, and fearing that some misfortune has befallen him, drives an Austin SevenAustin Seven
There were four Austin Motor Company cars to use the Seven name:* A single cylinder car produced in 1909* The 1922-1939 Austin 7* The original Mini* The launch title of the Austin A30...
motor car to Hazell's Wood, where Danny eventually found William in a pit-trap, disabled by a broken ankle, and brings him home. William is treated by Doc Spencer, who is a friend of theirs and another poacher on Mr. Hazell's estate.
While William is recovering from his injury, he and Danny found out that Mr. Hazell's annual pheasant-shooting party is approaching, which he hosts to curry favor and prestige among the gentry, and decide to humiliate him by luring all the pheasants away from the forest, so there will be no pheasants to shoot. Danny suggests that he and William should put the contents of sleeping tablets prescribed by Doc Spencer inside raisins which the pheasants will then eat; and William dubs this new method the "Sleeping Beauty". Having poached 120 pheasants from Hazell's Wood, William and Danny hide the drugged pheasants at the local vicar's house, while they took a taxicab home. The next day, the vicar's wife delivers the sleeping pheasants in a specially-built oversized baby carriage. As she is walking toward them, the pheasants attempt to escape, but they fall back. With the help of Sgt. Samways, the local constable, William and Danny herd the groggy birds onto Mr. Hazell's Rolls Royce
Rolls-Royce (car)
This a list of Rolls-Royce motor cars and includes vehicles produced by:*Rolls-Royce Limited *Rolls-Royce Motors , which was owned by Vickers between 1980 and 1998, and after that by Volkswagen...
, where the birds scratch the paintwork and defecate on his car. When the pheasants have woken completely, they depart, and Mr. Hazell drives off in disgrace, his fancy car and shooting party ruined. The book ends when Danny is hailed as "the champion of the world" by William, Doc Spencer, and Sgt. Samways, of whom most acquire several pheasants who had died of taking too many sleeping-pills. William and Danny walk off towards town, intending to buy a new oven for cooking their pheasants. As they go, Danny dwells in his narration on William's imagination and vivacity.
TV Movie
The book was adapted into a made-for-TV movieDanny, the Champion of the World (film)
Danny, the Champion of the World is a 1989 film starring British Oscar winning actor Jeremy Irons, with his son, Samuel Irons, in the title role. It is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl, and tells of a father and son who conspire to thwart a local businessman's plans to buy...
in 1989 by Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
. It was directed by Gavin Millar
Gavin Millar
Gavin Millar is a Scottish film director, critic and television presenter.Millar's early career was as a film critic, most notably for The Listener from 1970 to 1984. He also contributed to Sight and Sound and The London Review of Books. With the film director Karel Reisz, he co-authored The...
and starred Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
as Danny's father and his son Samuel Irons
Samuel Irons
Samuel James Brefni "Sam" Irons is a British photographer and former actor.-Family:He is the son of English actor Jeremy Irons and Irish actress Sinéad Cusack, making him the grandson of Sinéad's parents, actors Cyril and Maureen Cusack. He is a nephew of actresses Sorcha, Niamh and Catherine Cusack...
as Danny, with Robbie Coltrane
Robbie Coltrane
Robbie Coltrane, OBE is a Scottish actor, comedian and author. He is known both for his role as Dr...
as Victor Hazell. It was released to Region 2 DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in 2006.
Relations to Other Roald Dahl Books
Danny recalls a bedtime story that his father used to tell him of a giant called the BFG who captures dreams and blows them into children's bedrooms at night. Roald Dahl had developed the character within the bedtime stories which he used to tell to his own children. He would later use the concept as the basis for the full length novel entitled The BFGThe BFG
The BFG is a children's book written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake, first published in 1982. The book was an expansion of a story told in Danny, the Champion of the World, an earlier Dahl book...
.
Editions
- ISBN 0-435-12221-5 (hardcoverHardcoverA hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
, 1975) - ISBN 0-14-032873-4 (paperbackPaperbackPaperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
, 1988) - ISBN 0-224-03749-8 (hardcover, 1994)
- ISBN 0-14-037157-5 (paperback, 1994)
- ISBN 0-224-06469-X (paperback, 2002)
- ISBN 0-375-81425-6 (hardcover, 2002)
- ISBN 0-375-91425-0 (library bindingLibrary bindingLibrary binding is the term used to describe the method of binding serials, and re-binding paperback or hardcover books, for use within libraries. Library binding increases the durability of books, as well as making the materials easier to use...
, 2002) - ISBN 0-141-31132-0 (hardcover, 2004)