Film Festival Feature Toy Theatre Documentary

Exciting news to share!

A friend of this blog - and to toy theatre in general - Steve Arnott, has entered his documentary "A Small History of Toy Theatre" in this year's Strabourg Film Festival.

You can see the film online, for a limited time, here.

The Battle of Waterloo Toy Theatre CGI

From Nigel Peever comes this news:

Since completing the fully animated toy theatre production of The Corsican Brothers last year I've been trying to animate The Battle of Waterloo, The Corsican Brothers is usually available to buy on ebay and you can find a few clips here in my videos as a taster to the full 37 minute version.

The Battle of Waterloo will follow the original script again and is currently up to about 22 minutes in length, so still a long way to go! Each day of rendering produces just a few seconds of video.

I've found a site that offers a great deal of royalty free music, so this is almost a test to see if I get nobbled by youtube for using this music after all :-)

Corsian Brothers DVD is Released!

The Corsican Brothers DVD is now out and available on EBay! Rejoice all toy theatre fans (especially those of us who have never seen a live performance and are starved for any kind of recording of one...well, this isn't exactly 'live', but it's the next best thing in my humble opinion.)

Nigel Peevers is the genius behind this production. Nigel is one talented fellow, who is an actor among other talents. Where he finds the time to do all this, I'll never know, but we are the beneficiaries of his toil. Bless you, Nigel...

Corsican Brother's Update

So, you might ask, what's the latest on the Corsican Brothers production by Nigel Peever? Well wonder no more - here's a brief update from Nigel himself, via the Toy Theatre list:

I had a very pleasant afternoon with Peter Baldwin at his home yesterday recording the introduction for The Corsican Brothers, He's also very kindly recorded the judge's voice which is easy to replace in the film. Peter has also let me take photographs of the original stage productions poster to include and other goodies, like photocopying the ghost melody music etc so a cracking day.

He went on to explain he's been very busy professionally (he is an actor) so he's had to wedge in his labor of love when time permits. He has many fans (including myself) avidly awaiting the final results!

Toy Theatre Evolution

Change. It's a good thing.

At least that's my personal opinion. It makes life interesting, challenges us.

Toy theatre is currently undergoing a huge revival as well as evolution. One such recent example (albeit only one among many) was Sandow Birk's animated film adaption of Dante's Inferno.

Another is the currently-in-production of the classic The Corsican Brothers. The man behind it all is Nigel Peever, who among his many talents includes being an actor. How he finds the time for all this is beyond me, but we can be thankful he does, because I can tell it will be an amazing piece of entertainment when complete. I'm excited already just from seeing his trailer.

I'll definitely keep readers appraised. Stay tuned...

Corsican Brothers Poster

This is the poster for the soon-to-be-released toy theatre production (on video) of the classic Corsican Brothers.

Produced by Nigel Peever, who is a veritable one-man production company using 21st century computer technology for an 18th century medium. But hey, I'm all for it. Anything that can spread the word about how amazing toy theatre can be (in its myriad of styles, this being just one) is a good thing in my book!

History Toy Theatre DVD Released

A new DVD has been published by Pollocks Toy Theatres, Ltd in their toy theatre series...
A Small History of Toy Theatre
Producer Steve Arnott says that the DVD includes...

...the recollections of Norman Pollock, grandson of Benjamin
Pollock, Laurie Webb, great-grandson of W G Webb and grandson of H J Webb.

Introduced by Hugo Brown, great-great-great-grandson of J K Green and Eddy Fawdry, grandson of Marguerite Fawdry the founder of Pollock's Museum, also an interview with Robert Poulter of New Model Theatre fame.

As well as rare footage of Benjamin Pollock and his family and of H J Webb making tinsel pictures. The DVD runs for 63 minutes and contains a wealth of images and firsthand accounts that bring the history of Toy Theatre alive.

He says the cost of the DVD is £10 or $20 US and shipping is £2 or $4 US. It can be ordered from Pollock's Toy Theatres Ltd one of four ways - by mail at Number 1 Scala Street, London, W1T 2HL, UK; by phone at 44 20 7636 3452 from outside the UK or 020 7636 3452 from within the UK; in person, at the Scala Street shop, for the price of £10; and with PayPal (using fenmoor_uk@yahoo.com as payee). Other DVDs in the series include, Ali Baba, Cinderella and Pollock's Museum Virtual Tour, all priced at £6.