The Talking Parcel
Encyclopedia
The Talking Parcel is a 1974 book by Gerald Durrell
in which children are transported to the fantasy
land of Mythologia to save it from cockatrice. They are aided by a talking parrot
and encounter many other magical creatures, including a mooncalf
.
in 1978, debuting on ITV
. However, the film differs from the book mainly by introducing only one main protagonist, the girl Penelope.
Gerald Durrell
Gerald "Gerry" Malcolm Durrell, OBE was a naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter...
in which children are transported to the fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
land of Mythologia to save it from cockatrice. They are aided by a talking parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
and encounter many other magical creatures, including a mooncalf
Mooncalf
A mooncalf is the abortive fetus of a cow or other farm animal. The term was occasionally applied to an abortive human fetus....
.
Film adaptation
It was made into an animated feature for television by Cosgrove Hall FilmsCosgrove Hall Films
Cosgrove Hall Films was a British animation studio based in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, that once was a major producer of children's television programmes. Cosgrove Hall's programmes are still seen in over eighty countries...
in 1978, debuting on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. However, the film differs from the book mainly by introducing only one main protagonist, the girl Penelope.
Voice Cast
- Lisa Norris ... Penelope
- Freddie JonesFreddie JonesFrederick Charles "Freddie" Jones is an English character actor.Jones was born in the town of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the son of Ida Elizabeth and Charles Edward Jones. He became an actor after ten years of working as a laboratory assistant with a firm making ceramic products,...
... Parrot - Mollie SugdenMollie SugdenIsobel Mary 'Mollie' Sugden was an English comedy actress best known for portraying the saleswoman Mrs. Slocombe in the British sitcom Are You Being Served? from 1972 to 1985. She later reprised this role in Grace & Favour, which ran from 1992 to 1993...
... Hortense, the Flying Train - Roy KinnearRoy KinnearRoy Mitchell Kinnear was an English character actor. He is best remembered for playing Veruca Salt's father, Mr. Salt, in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.-Early life:...
... Ethelred - Edward KelseyEdward KelseyEdward Kelsey is a British actor of stage and screen as well as a voiceover artist. He is perhaps best recognised as the voice of Joe Grundy on the long-running BBC radio soap opera The Archers - a role he took over in 1985.On television, he is known for voicing the characters of Colonel K and...
... H.H. Junketbury - Windsor DaviesWindsor DaviesWindsor Davies is a British actor, well known for playing the part of Battery Sergeant Major Williams in the 1970s/1980s British sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum.-Early life and career:...
... Chief Cockatrice - Michael HordernMichael HordernSir Michael Murray Hordern was an English actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre, which stretched back to before the Second World War.-Personal life:...
... Oswald, the Sea Serpent - Peter WoodthorpePeter WoodthorpePeter Woodthorpe was an English film, television and voice actor who is best known for supplying the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of The Lord of the Rings and BBC's 1981 radio serial...
... Werewolf - Harvey Ashby ... Duke Wensleydale
- Raymond Mason
- Daphne OxenfordDaphne OxenfordDaphne M. Oxenford is an English actress known for her television and radio work.She is possibly best known for being the voice for BBC radio's Listen with Mother from 1950 to 1971, and for being one of the readers on newspaper review programme What the Papers Say for over thirty years...
External links
- The Talking Parcel (1978) at IMDb.